Can we ever be ready for Round The World Trip ?!

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We thought about it for years, we read about places we wanted to visit and see for months and we had our travel gear ready for many days before the 'The Day'. Despite all of that we never felt it was time to go.....What if we didn't close some things or didn't think of something? It does not matter now anyway;-)

Goodbyes were really hard. Saying 'See you in a year or more' to our friends and colleagues at work was nerve racking. There was a lot of tears ( at least from my side) even though we knew there are amazing days to come. I can see now why people are doing it when at Uni. Nothing to be attached to, no career left behind, no house to be rent to someone and no dog like ours that we will miss like crazy ;-(

Nevertheless, we had an amazing party, goodbye lunch at work each and... we left. Last day in UK was very hectic. Packing for the trip, packing for the time we would spent with family in Poland, packing all of our stuff to clear the house.....packing, packing, packing and cleaning of course. Why haven't we done all of this weeks before??? Wish I had known now ;-)

We read many blogs about what to take and what not to take. The less the better ;-) Every traveler we met during our shorter independent trips said exactly the same – take as little as possible. We are going to carry this around in the end. Also we can buy things when we go along – maybe except for Tomek's XL clothing in Asia hahah We already had small 35L backpacks that we bought years ago and used only once, so our goal was to fit into those ;-) Frankly speaking, I thought it would not be possible. But WE DIT IT;-)

Each of us took: 2 pairs of trousers ( 1 pair zip-offs), 2 pairs of shorts, 2 long sleeve shirts, 7 t shirts (I took combination of vest tops and t shirts), Soft Shell jacket as much lighter than fleece, wind jacket, 7 x underwear and socks, flip flops, sandals, trekking shoes (Tomek took trail running shoes to jog as they are waterproof and they do the job), scarf, hat, regular glasses, sun glasses, swim suit (I took 3 as they are really small ahha), toiletries (i.e. shampoo, lotion, biodegradable soap, deodorant), water bottles (1 with the purifying filter), silk sheet liner, travel towel, money belt, travel pillows and ear plugs, backpack and daypack

Additionally: passports, 2 debit cards, 2 credit cards, pictures for visas, copies of our visas and passports (the rest of documents I scanned and emailed myself), power adapter, universal sink plug, deck of cards, small travel games, Lonely Plates guides for China, SE Asia and printouts for Russia, Asus netbook, basic aid kit, sawing kit, plasters, glue stick, scotch tape, head torch, pocket knife, coffee mug and spoons (for tea, coffee and instant soups on the Trans Mongolian Train), mobile phone for emergencies.

Additionally Tomek took: buttom up shirt, hair trimmer, Ipod, Canon EOS 40D, 5 camera lenses with filters, tripod, hard drive

Additionally I took: 2 dresses, beach top, 3 bras (1 sport), epilator, MP3 player, small Olympus camera, moon cup, leggings, make-up, hair straightener, face cream, face mask (a bit of luxury), nail polish and vanish

I does seem a lot!!! How did we then fit it in? Once I read a website advising on the RTW trip and I found a lot ideas about packing. The one I liked the most was: not to have anything loose in your backpack. Therefore we bought 3 packing cubes (perfect for underwear and small loose items like chargers etc., and , 6 compression bags that don't need a vacuum and the rest we packed into small bags we already had. This way there is not a single item that is loose with the exception of shoes that go into plastic bags. This apparently allows to keep control over your things and never leave anything behind. We will see how it actually works ;-)

We thought about the money saving tips we came across and we decided to invest a bit of money into water purifier bottle that allows you to drink instantly after taking water from anywhere really - it lasts for 3200L and it could save us more than 1000 pounds;-). We also bought travel deodorants that could last for months and I bought the moon cup that should save me some money on tampons etc.

We feel very lucky that we start this trip from family visits as we had another opportunity to review our travel inventory and buy extras that we missed before.

We are currently in Krakow, enjoying doing nothing (just walking and spending time with family and friends) ;-)

Till next one,
B&T

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Photos

Us ready to go
...catching Przemysl - Lviv bus

All of our stuff loose
hard to believe we only took this little for 18 months

The taste of Polish tradition
traditional souvenir stand

Krakow Planty
Park surrounding the main square

Teatr Stary
Krakow's Old Theater

Barbakan
Krakow's Old Gate

Jagielonski University
Main building of the oldest University in Poland

Planty Fountain
One of many to be found in Krakow

Grodzka Street
Way from the Wawel Castle to the Main Square

Reflection
of Mariacki Church in my glasses;-)

Sukiennice
Old Market Building