Travel Logistics - Packing List

In an earlier post, I wrote about the backpacks we took with us on this trip. We've often been asked how we packed for four months. Packing for four months is really no different from packing from 1 month or for 10 months. You're likely to get really bored with your clothes, but hey! what are shops for? I went shopping in Santiago and picked up a few things when I got really bored of what I was wearing.

Instead of a his and her packing list, I am going to write this list by category. We were still packing up our house until the previous day, so we really didn't have a lot of time to pack our bags well.

Travel Logistics - Backpacks and Luggage

Months before, no years before, our adventure commenced, I obsessed over what to take with us - we bought our backpacks 3 years before we actually left. We ended up using it quite well by taking it with us everywhere we went. However, the reality is that our views and perspectives change so much over a period of time, I have decided that what pack to take and what to put in it are not worth agonizing over.

When we first selected our backpacks, we endlessly thought and considered between a hiking backpack (top loading) and a travel backpack (front loading). After hours of research, we finally bought the Eagle Creek Explorer LT (Men and Women's) at the price of $250 each. These packs are no longer produced, but they last to this day and are extremely practical and worth the money.

Somewhere along the way, we started enjoying multi day hikes as well and got ourselves hiking backpacks too, so we had a choice in what we could take with us on our trip.

Niru's main backpack - Eagle Creek Explorer LT Women's version; 50 Litres. Front loading travel pack. No longer under production. Comes with matching 15L day pack, which I did not take, much to my regret.
Niru's other bag - Ebags Piazza day bag. I also carry a foldable REI day pack in my bag. This is a great bag and is very useful for just around town. Can hold a small water bottle, a note book, a kindle and other essentials.
Swami's main backpack - Gregory Z55 top loading hiking backpack
Swami is also carrying an REI daypack and a small camera bag.

Hiking Backpack vs Travel Backpack while travel backpacking

You may agonize over this endlessly, but in reality, it will not matter what you take. It needs to be something that is comfortable to carry with wide hip belts and good quality shoulder belts. Travel backpacks are easier to pack, but with packing cubes organization is much easier. Hiking packs can take more things than a travel pack - as you tend to stuff more into them and they end up being heavier. They are also easier when your trip involves a multi day trek and you need to carry camping equipment. I carried a travel backpack and Swami carried a hiking backpack - neither of us regret our choice even though we did city travel and multi day hikes.

Daypack - what worked and what didn't

We made some not so great choices in this department. Swami's daypack + camera bag combo did not work for all the gadgets he was carrying (gadgets - a topic by itself). The camera bag shoulder strap dug into his shoulders and did not work well with his main pack. In Colombia we ended up getting another big day pack, which eventually got stolen.

I too found the REI day pack very difficult to pack and take on day trips. If I had to do this differently, I would just take the day pack that came with my eagle creek. Somewhere under 20 litres with pockets for small stuff and one big pocket for big stuff will work really well, especially when the day pack is the stand along luggage (for example: Inca Jungle Trek, where we only took a day pack).

Packing Cubes and other accessories

Packing cubes ROCK! These are our favorite travel accessories. We find the small size and long size ones to be very useful to stuff inside backpacks. I also carried one medium size packing cube in my backpack.

Size of Backpack

We saw a lot of folks carrying enormous backpacks. Ours was one of the smaller ones out there and was often remarked for its size. I found 50 litres to be quite big as I could carry quite a few things in it and found the weight bothersome. In Quito, we shipped quite a few things home and donated some of our clothes too. I found that I could easily have managed with a 40-45 litre backpack and a 15-20 litre daypack.

Wrapping things up and getting to Bogota

We've finally arrived in Bogota! It feels a little intimidating to be thrust in the middle of a country where we dont speak the language and since we've not done any research at all beyond booking tickets, its a very new experience. I spoke a lot more spanish during our past trips to Mexico, but I seem to have forgotten it all this time.

After a busy day in LA which involved getting some last minute purchases done, canceling my cell phone and getting our membership money back from Costco (getting money back is so much fun), and enjoying really awesome chaat with my cousin at Chowpatty in LA, we headed to the airport for our flight to Bogota.

Some pictures leading to our departure from California:

Our really messy apartment just a few days before leaving:

Nearly done now:

Finally done!

Swami's backpack contents, all neatly organized. He'll end up taking around ten pounds out from this pile.

Ready to leave at the airport:

Greeted by a rainbow in Bogota:

Just outside our hostel:

Getting into Bogota - Immigration, Customs and Getting local currency

Once you are out from the airplane, it is very straight forward to get to the immigration line. You'll be handed customs forms along the way. Immigration was pretty simple, but we were the last to be done, even with many other people behind us. I guess they dont see passports with tourist visas often. Most EU and English speaking countries do not need a tourist visa to enter Colombia. From there, customs was a breeze as we only had backpacks with us. You can change money in the 'casa de cambio' which is just past customs. To find an ATM, ask for 'cajero automatico, por favor' and a friendly airport staff will point the way. All amenities are available in the departure area.

Getting a Taxi to the Hostel

Getting a taxi is a very simple matter. Once you exit the customs area, turn right and look for the sign that says 'autorizado taxi' and get in line (we had a long line). At the counter, give your address and the clerk will hand you a slip with the cost. Wait for the taxi handler to get you a taxi, give your address. We showed him the written address and got to our hostel in about 20 minutes.

Our hostel is quite charming, and we've been meeting a lot of friendly and well traveled folks. The wifi is excellent and I've been using the time to hunker down and get some much needed sleep. We've also been browsing through the guidebooks here to figure out what we should do in Bogota. Until next time!

It's finally happening!

For at least three years now, we've been telling our friends that we'll go on our RTW (round the world) trip. We were surely going on our journey, but it felt so far away at times. For the longest time, we really didn't have a concrete idea on when we would actually do it.

Sometime around August 2011, things started falling in place. We zeroed in on a quarter, and then a month, and then a week and finally a date. About two weeks ago, we finally bought our tickets.

We are heading to Colombia on December 4th from Los Angeles. As we cross things off our checklist, reality is sinking in slowly but surely.

In the past 2 weeks, we've made the following rather drastic moves:

• Informed our respective workplaces of our intention to quit
• Notified our landlord
• Bought our air tickets to Bogota, Colombia. (buying a one way ticket would make it more dramatic, but consulates wont like it, so we got a return ticket)
• Started consolidating our finances to a more travel-friendly account
• Obtained credit cards that dont charge a foreign transaction fee
• And going crazy with visa runs

In the next 25 days, we have: friends to say bye to, a house to vacate, belongings to purge, valuables to store and visas to get.

Busy, busy!