Hello friends!
So before I left the race, one of the biggest question I got was “How on earth are you gonna pack for a year of traveling in a backpack!?” and I would say something like “Very carefully” because I actually had no clue. I mean, if I actually packed everything I normally use in a year I would need 5 suitcases, and that’s not at all practical. When you think of packing in terms of “packing for a year”, it makes this endeavor so much more intimidating than it needs to be. There are very few things you need a year’s worth of to survive. Really, you should be packing like you are going on a week-long trip. You don’t need to bring every little thing you think you might need in whatever obscure situation you may be in because if you really need something that specific, you can buy it in country and more than likely, it will be cheaper than in the US anyway.
So, in this blog I would like to offer my advice based on my experience this far on the race. Things I did that I regret, or choices I made that actually helped me a lot, along with my complete list of what is currently in my pack.
*DISCLAIMER: I did NOT pack like the average World Racer, so if you’re not the Charles Schwab/diva cup type of person, this is the blog for you!
So, here is a picture of my original packing plan (minus the dog)
This is too much stuff!! A lot of these things didn’t even make it past launch, and a solid chunk didn’t make it to month 4. I dropped exactly half of my clothes (7 full outfits, undergarments and all), 2 instruments (don’t ask me why I brought 3 to begin with…), my first aid kit, 2 pairs of shoes, 3 packing bags, 2 flashlights, and 2 scarves
Here is a revised picture and list of what is in my pack now (month 4 India) *-picked up on the field. (It looks like about the same amount, but I promise you it is about 10 pounds lighter)
Toiletries:
-150 feminine products -20 bug repellant wipes
-16 shampoo and soap bars -8 soap bars
-2 Deodorant Sticks -2 spray deodorant
-2 packs of baby wipers -2 pack fresheners
-1 box malaria meds -1 bottle altitude
-1 diarrhea medicine -1 container Tylenol
-3 bottles of flonase -1 container Zyrtec
-1 Razor -2 toothbrush*
-1 toothpaste -1 mascara
-2 eye shadow brushes* -1 blush brush
-1 eyeshadow -1 eyeliner
-2 chapstick -2 glasses
-1 suntan lotion -1 bug spray
-2 hand sanitizer -1 headlamp
-1 earplugs -2 glasses cases
-1 bar Laundry detergent*
Clothes:
-1 casual T-shirt -3 plain T-shirt’s*
-2 nice shirts* -1 Jean button up*
-2 dresses* -2 kurta shirts*
-1 capris/shorts -2 fancy patterned pants*
-1 plain black long pants* -1 khaki pants
-2 skirts -2 headbands*
-3 bandanas* -1 sneakers
-1 hiking boots -1 Tevas
-1 black sandals -8 underwear
-2 bras -1 swimsuit
-3 socks -1 compression socks
-1 scarf -2 towels
-1 jewelry box
Miscellaneous:
-2 Notebooks -1 bible
-1 iPad -1 camera
-1 hammock and straps -1 ukulele
-10 colored Pencils* -10 colored pens*
-14 colored markers* -1 tent and footprint
-1 tent poles and stakes -1 sleeping bag
-1 sleeping bag liner -1 sleeping pad
-1 sewing kit -1 Tambourine
-1 Egg Shaker -1 Phone Charger
-1 Headphones* -1 Bluetooth Headphones
-1 iPad charger -4 power converters
-8 clothespins* -1 life straw water bottle
-1 blanket* -1 pillow*
Packing Items
-1 back pack -1 day pack
-1 small book-bag* -1 laundry bag
-1 purse -1 fanny pack*
-1 under shirt pack -2 money pouches
-1 toiletry bag -2 medium stuff sacks
-3 small stuff sacks -1 compression sack
-6 carabiners
So, these are some of my personal recommendations for World Race packing:
-Gear
If you want to see an extended blog on the specific gear I have on my race, click HERE. But for now, I’ll give you the short version. If you’re like me and don’t like near an REI, you already feel at a loss for how to get gear for the race because most racers say “just have a shopping spree at REI!” It is not that simple for us outsiders :’( Amazon is a perfectly sufficient way to acquire gear because YOU CAN RETURN THINGS!! This is how I got most of my gear. We ordered a couple options from Amazon, cross compared, and sent back what didn’t work.
Also, know yourself when you are buying gear. I will always recommend whatever product is the most space efficient. Sure, your air mattress may be slightly less cozy than a real mattress, but when you are lugging everything around on travel days, you will be grateful. However, you may not be able to get a good nights sleep on an inflated paper bag, so then you may have to go with the more bougie option. But you really need to pick your battles. It’s not really worth getting all of the top-of-the line things if you can do without some of the comfort. If you want that super luxe air mattress, you may want to settle for a 1-person tent. This is not necessary, and there are certainly racers who don’t do this, but I know I was grateful for how compact my gear was because I had made some of those sacrifices. After all, you are coming on the race to abandon comfort, take up your cross and be a disciple of the Lord. You don’t need to go crazy on gear.
-DON’T PACK TOO MANY CLOTHES!
Before launch, I packed 14 complete outfits. You DO NOT need that much! Coming into month 4, I only have 8 outfits, and honestly I could drop a few more and still survive. My biggest piece of advice is try not to pack for every culture. I think I regret packing shorts and short dresses the most because I can’t wear them for most of my race. To me, they are not worth the space in my pack to only wear in my room at night. Pro tip, you can also wear clothes FOR MORe THAN ONE DAY!! Just febreeze them if you weren’t too sweaty and you’re golden! Ain’t nobody got time for laundry every other day! And in a lot of cases, ain’t nobody got that much water, either!
I also recommend packing only clothes you are willing to part with. The chance of luggage getting lost or stolen is real, but also, if you pick up a super cute kurta in India, you will need to drop some of your clothes to make room in your pack. Even though I packed way too many clothes, I packed it all with the intent of dropping it or replacing it with clothes I would buy from I’m other countries. However, this does NOT mean bringing your nastiest clothes to get rid of them. You will most likely still be in civilization, so you will feel kind of strange doing college ministry if all you have is paint stained pants and a ratty old t-shirt. I recommend packing as neutrally as possible. A solid colored t-shirt goes a long way.
Also, for my ladies, jewelry is not a waste of space. You may get invited to a wedding or get to go to a nicer church service and you may want to spruce up your plain black t-shirt with a cross necklace and some stud earrings. Bam! Now you look fabulous! This is a lot easier than packing a shirt for every occasion. Just pack 3 or 4 necklaces and earrings and that will make you look slightly less like someone who has been living out of a backpack for a year.
A note for anyone going to India; more than likely you will need to buy kurtas. I bought 2 and got 1 from our training to borrow. They have a donation pile for girls to put their kurtas they used for the month that they don’t want to keep so that future teams who need them can use those instead of buying their own. Don’t make the mistake that our team did and try to buy India-appropriate attire in another country if you need it because more than likely, it will be cheaper to get in India. (400 rupees for a kurta top is about $7 USD)
-Shoes
The stereotype is that World Racers must wear chacos and Birkenstock’s. THIS IS FALSE! You can rock your knock-off tevas and closed-toe hiking shoes and be just as much of a World Racer as Mr. Birk and Mrs. Chaco. Honestly, bringing my waterproof timberland hiking boots was the best thing I brought on the race. They were a bit heavy, but I would just wear them on travel days, and they were great for hiking and they also functioned as my rain boots! It is also nice to have a pair of nicer sandals for those special occasions you may be invited to. If you have nice chacos and don’t mind wearing them with a dress, go for it, but I liked have a pair of “normal shoes”, too.
I also brought converse, and that was a solid decision, too. Honestly, don’t discount the power of sneakers. There are some places you may go where your host recommends you wear closed-toed shoes. Please take those warnings seriously, and even if you hate wearing closed shoes, you will LOVE not having thorns, bacteria, or other bugs and parasites in your feet because you chose to put those beloved chacos on the shelf. #sorrynotsorry
-Money
So what I did for money on the race is a little out of the ordinary. Usually people say to get Charles Schwab or just use a visa debit for ATM’s, but I actually brought most of my currency with me on the race. I had Colombian pesos, soles, Nepalese rupees, Kenyan shillings, Lei and Euros, 100 USD-worth of each, and it was a blessing. Now, let me explain my reasoning for doing this:
1) It’s a much better exchange rate
I have a membership with AAA, and through that, you can get at least $200 of any foreign currency with free shipping and a better exchange rate than most banks can offer. So doing this gives you a lot more bang for your buck.
2) Less ATM fees
This is a moot point for Charles Schwab since they refund ATM, but it was nice going into a country not having to worry about the next time we would need to visit an ATM and the charges I would get from doing that.
3) More secure
Many people argue that cards are more secure when traveling, but with the amount of identity theft skyrocketing world wide, with a simple transaction at the wrong ATM, a criminal could take over your accounts and drain every penny you have before you even notice. With cash, however, if somebody steals that, your identity is not linked to that at all. You may be out $50 but at least that person who stole your cash doesn’t have any access to your bank accounts or your other private information.
I think I was the only person on my squad who actually brought physical currency on the Race other than USD, but I don’t regret it at all. In fact, when we were in situations where there was no ATM and we had just crossed into a new country, the fact that I already had that currency came in clutch in multiple situations.
With that being said, I had to be careful traveling with that much money. I always had it on me in my day pack when traveling hidden deep in my bag, and NEVER in my big pack. Also, keep in mind that at customs you usually have to declare if you are carrying over $10,000 USD in cash. I really HOPE you don’t need to carry that much cash with you for the race, so you shouldn’t have to worry about doing any do-si-do at customs if you carry your currency. So if that is something you would like to do, don’t feel discouraged from doing it. As long as you are smart, it can be extremely helpful and can save you a lot of time and money on the race.
Another money tip, if you need to pay with card at a POS, credit cards are more secure. Since you’re paying with “fake money”, it is easier to dispute fraudulent charges in case someone your steal your cars number or your identity.
-Phones
So about 80% of our squad had apple phones. I was not a part of that 80%. Normally I don’t mind being in the Samsung minority, but having an apple on the race for sure has its advantages, enough that I would dare say you may want to consider investing in an apple phone before the race. The main 2 advantages are airdropping and sharing wifi. Luckily, I had an iPad on the race so I could join in on most air drop parties, as well as sharing wifi passwords. However, this basically made my phone obsolete and I ended up using my iPad for most things. So seriously, apple is great for the race.
Also, make sure you check your international plan with your phone provider. I have Verizon and they have okay international plans. I mostly used the day pass, which you can use call, text data for one day under the terms of your normal phone plan for $10. It seems cheap, but it REALLY adds up after a while. I don’t know much about T-mobile, but I do know that the people on my squad who have T-mobile always have connection because their international plan does not have any restrictions. I haven’t looked into this much, but if you’re not super attached to your phone provider, it may be worth looking into a switch to see if it is worth it for the race
-Water Bottles
So this is an interesting subject. I have a life straw bottle right now and it’s pretty solid. It leaks a little bit but I just make sure to never let it tip over. It’s nice too because in places where tap water is not safe, I can fill up my water in the sink knowing it will be filtered and never have to wait to spend money on water bottles. A lot of people bring hydroflasks or other insulated bottles on the race. Some of them are even able to use life straws, too. Although they keep drinks toasty warm or nice and cool, they are dangerous weapons of mass destruction. Dropping a full hydroflask on your toe during a travel day is not fun, and even if it doesn’t hit anything, the noise of it dropping alone sounds like a crashing cymbal, and the room goes silent for a second right after the bottle is dropped. We joked several times that metal water bottles should be banned from the race. I wouldn’t go quite that far in saying that, but just know that if you want to bring a hydroflask, just know what you are getting yourself into. Be careful and courteous and please oh please, don’t drop it off the ledge of a 4 story building because people will get hurt.
-Instruments
I originally brought a ukulele, a mandolin, a melodica, an egg shaker, a tambourine, and jingle bells on the race. At launch I dropped the mandolin and before month 4 I dropped the bells and the melodica. Having instruments is great, but a simply ukulele can do a lot, so don’t feel like you have to pack a full orchestra to have good worship on the race. Some of our most powerful nights of worship were completely a capella.
Airlines have been pretty chill about instruments as carry-ones so far. A uke is pretty easy to stow in the overheads of airplanes. Baby guitars are a little harder, but know that if you want to bring it, it is possible. And if you want to get the most bang for your buck, you can use the empty spaces in your instrument cases to store all sorts of goodies! I always put an extra set of clothes on the inside of my uke and my snacks on the outside zipper. The case already takes up space, so you might as well cram it with stuff if you can! And bonus, it also protects your instrument from being damaged!
-Airporters
My squad learned really quickly that not all airporters are created equal. The Sea to Summit air porter by far had the best reviews of our squad because it converts to a rain cover so you can easily wear your pack while navigating large international airports. But honestly, the brand doesn’t really matter AS LONG AS your air porter converts! It is MISERABLE walking a half mile to a ministry site with 50 pounds slung over one shoulder. So if you can avoid doing that, please do.
-Small Book-Bag
Initially, I did not bring a small book-bag to use for small adventures to the coffee shop, but 2 weeks into the race I realized how essential this was. Most people have a Kavu for this reason, and I kind of wished I would have brought one, but I bought a small book-bag in Colombia and I have used it just about every day since I got it. It is so much better to carry around than a day pack or even a purse.
-Stuff sacks
I completely underestimated the power of stuff sacks before this trip. Packing cubes are great and all and they keep your stuff organized and neat, but stuff sacks can be used for so much! Especially waterproof ones. They’re great for showers because you can stick your clothes in them and they will stay dry for when you need to change. You can use them to put your stinky laundry in because the material will keep the nasty smell inside, which is great when you are living in tight community. I also have been using mine as a pillow by putting a blanket or some clothes inside.
-Carabiners
Carabiners are amazing. They can keep your zippers locked from pick pockets or they can attach miscellaneous items to the outsides of your pack. Don’t underestimate how useful they can be
-Parachord is a lifesaver
This is something I did not bring and regret. Already in so many circumstances we have used people’s parachord for laundry lines, bed curtains, and so much more. It’s such a tiny, simple thing to bring and for those who brought it, it has been totally worth it.
LADIES ONLY
-Feminine Products
This is a super personal decision, but I just want to give a little of my own insight. I honestly packed a years worth of tampons, and I do not regret it. It is so great to not have to deal with the stress of guessing when you will need what and trying to find a store just in the nick of time. Also, I couldn’t get on the diva cup craze, mostly because I didn’t want to have to try something so new when I wasn’t sure of what living situations would be like. Also, not always knowing that I would have clean water to clean it made me nervous. A lot of people ho use them swear by them, though, so it’s really up to you. I just want you to know that there is no shame in being prepared, especially if you find the tampons that don’t take up a lot of space. It’s not that much weight and the space it takes up was worth it to me.
-Swimsuits
So far in my race, I’ve used my swimsuit several times. I believe on the WR packing list it says that a tankini is fine, but there are a lot of places where that is not, and you need to wear a 1 piece suit. Sometimes you can just wear a t-shirt and shorts, but if you go to a pool or a water park they may not let you swim in that…
I know this is a lot, but I hope this was helpful. Like I said before, I was a little unconventional in my packing tactics, so you can take or leave whatever you want from this blog, but if you have any other questions or anything to add, feel free to comment below!
