this is an answer from the Q&A blog. feel free to ask more! 🙂
Question: What is the most valuable thing you packed (or, most essential all year), and what is the thing you should have left at home?
Answer: The most valuable thing I packed was a note from my sister, written the morning of my departure, that I re-read maybe ten times a day the first few days and daily for months after. It was the only letter I had (at least at the beginning), and it was a HUGE source of comfort.
There are SO many things that I could have left at home, but the ‘biggest’ was my mess kit. I kept it around till Africa, then left it, unused, in a kitchen.
While we’re here, let’s talk about packing. Keep in mind that everything I say is coming from MY experience from MY Race. People on other squads- people on other TEAMS- will tell you all sorts of different things, and you can choose to listen or not. The best advice I can give you is BRING WHAT YOU LIKE AND LEAVE WHAT YOU DON’T- most other things you can deal with. Also, this will be mostly geared towards the ladies, being one myself. 😉
CLOTHES.
Bring LIGHT (for washing, drying and packing purposes) cotton shirts that are nice enough to pair with a skirt but not too nice to wear in a field. I recommend basic V necks in various colors and some tanks.
Definitely bring a pair of shorts to work out in (yoga capri- type things if you’re in more modest countries like India) and a DIFFERENT pair to sleep in (you never know when you’ll be washing, and it’ll probably be in a bucket, too).
Bring jeans. Someone told me not to and I don’t know WHAT her Race was like, but we wear ours on the daily.
I wish I had brought more cotton dresses and leggings. Depending on what type of girl you are, I’d really recommend this. Great for travel, lounging, preaching, sleeping…
Bring enough underwear for 2 weeks. For me, that meant 14 pairs (be honest with yourself- if you want to change every day, great, if not, you really won’t be judged… at least not by the end). 😉 Someone told me to only bring plain white cotton panties because the boys will see (and wash and fold) your underwear (this is true). I, however, chose not to listen to that advice and didn’t regret it at all. Part of that is because it’s easier to sort if each girl has different underwear, and also sometimes your underwear is the only thing you’re wearing that you actually LIKE or is clean. You don’t have to dress like your grandma just because you’re on a missions trip.
I also brought 3 ‘real’ bras and 3 sports bras- none of them are actually making it home with me but they lasted out the year. Barely.
As far as outerwear goes, that’ll really depend on the weather on your route. I’d say bring a light sweater for layering (like a cardigan). We were in a lot of wintery countries and I really wished I had brought my favorite sweatshirt. I also ended up buying sweatpants.
Make sure your rain jacket is water PROOF, not just water RESISTANT.
Pockets will always be your best friend.
I only brought a pair of chacos and some running shoes. Dumb. Bring flip flops, don’t bring chacos if you hate them but make sure whatever sandal type thing you bring has arch support (trust me). Bring shoes you can wear to church and on days you want to look like a real person (trust me, even missionaries need to shower and look cute once in a while).
Jewelry / makeup / scarves / nail polish etc is kind of your preference. I really thought I was going for a year of baggy pants and frizzy hair so I didn’t bring anything and ended up having meltdowns all over the place till I realized if I started dressing like ME I’d stop freaking out so much, so I bought makeup and jewelry and scarves and nail polish and started wearing them.
Camping Equipment.
I brought a tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad and inflatable pillow. The pad I got was totally inflatable and folded down to REALLY small- I’d do that one again if I had to. It got loud at night, but the people with giant super padded ones always struggled on travel days, and mine was easy and light. Also, when we had ‘mini trips’ for a day or two, my pad came along with and theirs often didn’t.
Get a down sleeping bag- it packs lighter and keeps you warmer. Can’t afford it? Borrow one or find it used. Trust me, it’s worth it.
Most of the people on my squad ended up buying real pillows. Inflatable camping pillows are awful. I actually started stealing airport pillows and stuffing them in a pillowcase to make my own (with a sweater and other soft things). I also bought a sleeping bag liner. That was one of the best purchases I made.
Don’t bring a mess kit, do bring utensils. Lots of people brought travel mugs- if you use them, they’re great.
Definitely bring an aiporter. You’ll really start appreciating it around month 5 when you’re sick of packing so you just dump stuff in there. Make it REALLY OBVIOUSLY YOURS. I put glitter paint on mine and it’s always the first one people grab- I’ve never had an ‘is it lost??’ scare.
TOILETRIES.
I brought Lush shampoo and bar soap- it’s way lighter and it lasts a long time. I’d do that again. I also brought enough face wash to last three or four years- they have face wash (and tooth paste and shampoo) in every country. Promise.
They also have tampons. Bring a month or two and restock when you can, but don’t be the girl at month 6 who still has a giant tampon bag and is trying to give them out. We appreciate it when we’re in a bind, but we also feel bad for you because you’ve been carrying them around this whole time…
The girls who brought hair dryers / straighteners / curlers always seemed to have the easiest time making friends. The research is still out on this one, but if you like those things and you want to be popular…
I brought baby wipes, baby powder and got waterless shampoo- best decision of my life. Month 2 we were in Nepal in the freezing cold with bucket showers. I literally showered 3 times that month.
Random.
Water bottle options- there’s a big Nalgene / metal WB debate. They say the metal ones don’t smell- the Nalgenes definitely DO. I brought a Camelbak and it was AWESOME, I washed it maybe once a month and it never smelled… until month 6 (Mozambique) when I accidentally melted it. Oops. Since then I’ve just purchased a plastic bottle at the beginning of the month and refilled it and I’ve been dehydrated since then. Find a water bottle you like, bring it and use it and don’t try to boil it to sterilize it. 😉
I brought a travel Bible instead of my giant note- filled one. I regretted it at the beginning but as the year progressed I grew to love this tiny little guy. I do recommend a concordance.
I’d also bring old sermons on your laptop / hard drive / USB / whatever for those days they ask you to preach and you just stare back open mouthed.
My ipod was actually an itouch (technically my old iphone on airplane mode)- also brilliant because it was tiny but could still connect to the internet. It also had the app option for entertainment purposes on long bus rides…
A lot of people brought kindles / nooks. I had an app on my ipod but I also really appreciated the books that got passed around the squad. If everyone brings one or two there are plenty to go around, and don’t just bring Christian lit- trust me, you’re going to want a ridiculous story once in a while.
Bring LOTS of pens if you’re into them- some of the biggest dramas were over pens. I brought about 20 which lasted a few months and then had to restock.
Bring a decent camera. I didn’t and have hardly taken ANY pictures.
Packing cubes or compression sacks will save you LOTS of time and energy. Camping towels are miserable but they’re better than the drama of real ones. Bring lots of carabineers- you’ll find all sorts of weird uses for them.
Bring an eno hammock. Seriously.
HOME.
A lot of people had notes from friends and family that they opened along the way- I wish I had had that. Emails are nice, but notes are better, especially when you don’t have internet.
Have pictures- real or on your computer- of people you love. I didn’t and when we had family team times, I felt left out.
Some people had snacks / treats from home that they hoarded… I don’t really recommend that because most things you can find and then you get labeled a hoarder and challenged to share which defeats the whole purpose.
Bring addresses if you’re going to do post cards (I didn’t and don’t really regret it because it’s a HASSLE, but some people made the effort).
