This blog is for all the future racers out there! When I was in your shoes last year, I absolutely loved reading packing blogs from other racers. It always got me so excited. Now that I’m the one on the race, I thought It’d be fun to do a packing blog of my own!
That is, until I remembered something: I suck at packing. Like, packed at midnight the night before, forgot half my stuff, pack-still-ended-up-being-overweight suck at packing. So I think I’ll do you all a favor and not write a packing blog.
But, I still thought it’d be fun to share a few tips and tricks that I’ve learned through trial and error with you guys. Luckily, My squad and I were in the unique situation where we got to go home mid-race and re-pack, so I do have a lot of experience here.
So without further ado, here are some very random but hopefully helpful packing tips from someone who sucks at packing:
Don’t bring clothes you wouldn’t normally wear. This is a big one, and a mistake I made the first half of my race. Don’t buy an all whole new wardrobe of “race clothes”. If you wouldn’t wear it at home (things like dry-fit clothes or anything you get just to fit the “missionary vibe”) then you’re not going to wear it on the race, and it’s just going to take up space and weight in your pack. And, if you wear it all the time at home, bring it! I mean, if it’s within the dress code of course. But having clothes you actually like will save you from a mental breakdown, trust me. So if you like jeans bring jeans and if you like vans bring vans and so on. The world race is just real life in another country, so dress how you would normally dress as best you can.
Bring a water bottle with a straw/straw lid and BRING A STRAW CLEANER. I didn’t bring a water bottle with a straw lid and I regret it so much. A wide-mouth lid is just annoying and half of it spills everywhere when I try to drink out of it. Plus, I heard you drink more water when you drink out of a straw, so that’s cool. Just make sure you bring a straw cleaner and actually use it, because those things get real gross real fast.
Don’t buy the osprey airporter they’re probably going to suggest to you when you go to REI looking for all your world race gear. Almost all of us bought this one, and none of them lasted our first classic, hectic world race travel day. The second they hit the floor, they got holes and rips in them. And, they were awkward and hard to carry. 0/10 would not recommend. The REI brand ones seemed to hold up pretty well and is what I would get if I was doing this again.
BRING DOWNY WRINKLE RELEASER SPRAY. Sorry, I don’t mean to yell. I’m just really passionate about this one. If I could only tell you one thing that you absolutely have to bring on the race, it would be this. Not only does it get rid of the wrinkles your clothes will always have no matter how you pack them, but it also makes them smell better. It’s great for when you can’t decide if something is actually clean or “world race” clean (because your standards for clean clothes are going to change).
Do a packing ‘practice run”, and don’t pack at the last minute. Okay, I’m not going to lie, I packed at the absolute last second both times and it actually worked out pretty well for me in the end. But I still wouldn’t recommend this method. Also, I did do a packing “practice run” during our break where I packed my bag exactly how I was planning to for going overseas, and I realized my bag was going to be ten pounds over the weight limit. I’m super thankful I found that out ahead of time when I was still able to fix it because that saved me $75 in airport luggage fees. And trust me, you’re going to want to spend the day before you leave hanging out with your friends and family, not stressing about how you’re going to fit nine months of your life into a backpack.
Peanut butter cannot get through customs. Apparently, most people know this. I didn’t. How is peanut butter a liquid??? That makes no sense to me. But it is, and it won’t get through security at the airport, so don’t put your JIF peanut butter jar in your daypack’s water bottle holder. I’m also really passionate about this one because I’ve basically lived off peanut butter the last eight months. It’s the perfect world race snack (especially when you have food allergies and can’t eat a lot of regular food like me). So I definitely recommend bringing it, just throw it in your checked bag.
I hope these tips were helpful (or at least humorous!). I’m so excited for all the future racers out there! Good luck with all your preparations, and hopefully you can find a packing blog from someone who actually knows what they’re doing.
Thanks for reading!!
