Trip Preperation, and observations

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In this first blog I intend to lay out exactly what preparations went into planning this trip and our complete packing list and why, since these seem to be the most useful bits of info for any one else who desires to attempt a long term backpacking trip without hiring any travel service to organize your trip, I can not stress enough how much more I enjoy foreign travel when I am in charge of my day to day itinerary, for the amount of time it takes to do your own trip planning, it is repaid a thousand times over in the enjoyment you receive on the road, knowing that this is a trip for Sarah and my self, and not a travel agents! is true freedom, at any point during the trip we will feel comfortable staying in one location longer if we enjoy it, or cutting another location short if we find ourselves disinterested by it, but this kind of total mobile free travel does take a little research to feel comfortable with.

starting from around 8 months or so before departure and all the way up to and including the departure day and the entire extent of the trip I found the following web services invaluable .

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/index.jspa Travel Forum ( Best Place to Start In my opinion )
http://www.travelblog.org/ Picture heavy Travel Blogs (Where your Reading This!)
http://www.travelfish.org/ Asia specific Travel advice
http://wikitravel.org/en/Main_Page Travel Info ( I tend to use this more for Climate / Geography info )
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ Hotel Reviews
http://www.xe.com/ucc/ Universal Currency Converter
Consulate General web sites , you should all ways seek out Visa info directly from the government web site of the country you plan to visit, do not trust a forum post to have up to date info.


caveat - most inexpensive hotels in Asia / India may not be listed on trip advisor, in fact many inexpensive hotels may not even have a web presence, also every review, blog and forum post above should be taken with a grain of salt, some posters may or may not require higher maintenance to be happy while traveling to begin with, and this is travel in what are rightfully designated third world countries, in main city centers like Bangkok or New Delhi you undoubtedly can find hotels and services similar to what are expected in the west, but these amenities may fall off sharply after traveling as little as 10 miles from a capitol city center, I would consider Sarah and myself to fall somewhere between middle to Low maintenance , the above links are simply a good place to get ideas.


Sarah and Mike's travel gear for the next four months
we each took the exact items listed below

1 rain resistant wind breaker
3 tee shirts
1 long sleeve shirt with collar
6 pair of ankle socks
5 pair of undies
2 pair of zip off at the knee pants
1 hiking shorts
1 swim suit
1 pair of hiking sandals
1 pair of tennis shoes
1 toiletry bag
1 pair of sunglasses
1 Canon 50D camera with 18 - 200 lens ( Sarah is carrying )
1 Travel laptop ( Mike is Carrying )
our passports , airline tickets etc.

All of this will pack into bags small enough to bring as carry on luggage for most airlines

1 50 litre back pack - each
1 shoulder messenger bag - each

Since we will actually be wearing one pair of pants , one tee shirt , one pair of shoes etc,
the amount that goes into the bags is substantially smaller then the list would imply.

Below are a couple of our transit photo's through Anchorage and Seattle airports.

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Photos

Sarah
Anchorage Airport

Mike
Anchorage Airport

Sarah
Seattle Airport

MIke
Seattle Airport

Comments

[mom]

Preparation is everything
I love the fact that you are showing how to pack light and practical. When Liz and I packbacked Italy last spring we also had the 50 litre bags. Perfect size for prolong wear and excellent as a carry on. Many airlines still allow the free carry on, yet charge for other luggage. Not only does the backpack save money when flying, it's also the only way to travel when walking is involved. Uneven ground and stairs don't work for most wheeled luggage, but is never an issue for a backpacker! Super smart to pack the zip-off pants as it gives you each extra shorts.