I have started packing for my trip. I went to KLM's website to see how big my checked bags could be-- and want to figure out how many donations I can take. I am wondering what must have travel/packing tips you have for me. My friend Wendy came up with some unique suggestions I didn't think of and I went to dinner with Cindy, who spent two years in Ethiopia as a Peace Corp volunteer and she suggested rubber boots, hence the new pair from Target pictured above.
Please comment on what you think is important to remember to bring or something you couldn't travel without. Oh and a thank you to Shannan and Jen Fortney for adding themselves as followers.
3 comments:
Hmm...let's see... One thing I definitely was glad I had was bite cream (not sure what it is called- so the bites stop itching). While I didn't see a single mosquito, my mattress was FULL of FLEAS (nasty, I know). Things I didn't need were shorts... it just wasn't appropriate in that culture. I wore long shorts one day (to my knees) and felt uncomfortable even then. Skirts, capris, and mostly pants were what I wore, despite the heat. DO bring a sweater as it gets quite chilly at night and early morning. DO bring a flashlight as power goes out OFTEN. DO bring some snacks (popcorn and granola bars are great and easy) as the food choice is very slim. I usually buy a 2 in 1 shampoo and conditioner when I travel as it is lighter than buying them separately. A bar of soap rather than a big bottle is good for the same reasons. The lighter you pack- the more donations you can bring :)
One really good idea for donations is kids' vitamins. They are fairly light as well. For some things, you may even be better to just bring the money and purchase the stuff there. I plan on doing this for the DR as I want to hand out soap, toothbrushes, and toothpaste. It will be easier to just buy it there as I will have a lighter luggage and will be supporting their economy (in a small way). Bring a notepad and pen. I do this often and keep it with me to jot down things I really want to remember. In Ethiopia, I found this especially great for names, as some of the names are not at all what I am used to so they are hard to remember.
Hmmm.... I can't think of anything else. I will let you know if I do!
Hey!!! We´ve never been to Ethiopia but to go to India we tried to pack as light as possible. It is easier to travel and, once you get there, you realize you don't need much or you can buy it nicer/cheaper at the local places.
I love the great suggestions Nikki gave you. Here are some others we could think of:
- Mosquito/bugs issues: Here in the States you find the best ones. We got those sprays at Walgreens with 25%DEET that smell like strawberries. You can find even 99% DEET but it can be very toxic and sticky. We chose to apply it more often and get the one that stays on skin even with transpiration. Besides, the strawberry smell was our only perfume (don't bring cologne or things like that because it attracts bugs) and we did get quite a few compliments on the nice smell!! :) Oh, we did buy one bottle of stronger DEET concentration just for the peek bites hours. I must admit that local people know well how to deal with mosquitoes and in India we were able to buy “mosquito coils” everywhere. We ended up using them as well. Well, malaria is the last thing you want!
- Cereal bars, nuts, some candies and vitamins for you come in handy. You might be starving one day and not being able to get food... You can even get some 800 cal. tablets! But regular cereal bars will totally do. We took a B-complex and a multi-vitamin tablet each day and we were with full energy even in the hotter days when you don't feel like eating much.
- One thing I wouldn't travel without are the micropur tablets for purifying the water. They don’t take any space on your luggage and they don't add any flavor to the water. We used them all the time and never got sick!! After 2 hours you can drink the water.
- Female sanitary stuffs are usually hard to find, specially tampons, keep that in mind!
- If you are using electronic devices, check out how the power goes, since you might need an adaptor. Also, a little bit of Scotch Adhesive Putty can be very useful because sometimes plugs wiggle and you can fix it with this white thing.
- Ziploc bags are veeeeery useful. And so is a permanent pen.
- Sunscreen, glasses and a hat might be something you can´t easily find over there.
- Will they provide you with towels and bedding? If not, we always carry these great towels: Aquis Adventure Microfiber Towel, Extra Large. And to cover the bed there are these nice bedding-sack that are very useful when you have to sleep in a very ran out mattress…
- For the security stuffs, there are these kidney bags or money waist that you carry underneath your clothes and it totally fits your passport, flight ticket, credit card… For paper money I love the “money belt”. It is a regular belt that comes in different colors with a zipper all along the side you don’t see. You just need to roll the paper and hide it! Also, we always carry a lock, since you never know. I don’t know in Ethiopia, but in India, a rope or a chain (like the ones for the bike) are handy when travelling, since they just throw the backpack on top of the buses or vehicles and with the bumpy roads many just get lost. I always like to tight it somewhere…
- As a daily bag, we just carried a super small backpack (10 litters) that I would either carry on front or in the back (you can see it in our photos).
- For shoes, we carried just a pair of comfortable kind of sandal-shoes we could use with/without socks and would go well even when wanting to look nicer and a pair of flip flops, which we used a lot when taking “bucket showers” in not very clean places…
- For clothing, we just took 2 pants, 2 short sleeves t-shirts, 2 long sleeves t-shirts (1 very light but good to sleep or have arms covered, the other one thicker just in case we are cold), 2 pairs of socks, 5 underwear, 1 jacket. The rest we just bought it once in India. It is what local people wear, it is what you wear best if want to fit in, it is cheap and it is fun!! :)
- Finally, we scanned every single document and email them to ourselves and parents. We also carried everything duplicated and placed in a different bag, just in case. You never know…
HOW FUNNNNN!!!! It is sooo exciting preparing a trip like this!!!!! I’m jealous!!!!
Oo, the past comment totally reminded me- I would go on a search for one or two *very light* long sleeved shirts. Maybe not so much for in the orphanage, but when going out in the city, and ESPECIALLY if you go into rural areas, it would seem much more respectable to be wearing long sleeves and pants.
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