Do not bring an eye mask. Bring a buff. It will work as an eye mask and a hat and a sweat band. If you don’t have an REI close to you, look online. I was able to order mine off amazon with free shipping. $20 is what I paid for mine. A few people on my team actually brought two. I would recommend doing that because it’s really easy to sweat through them and make them smell.
I brought three shirts and one long skirt. That’s plenty for me. If I could do anything different, I would have brought four shirts. I wear one shirt for three or four days, and sometimes we don’t get the chance to wash our clothes for a long time. One skirt is plenty because I’ve had the chance to buy a saree as well as pants. My advice on clothing? Bring what you like but don’t mind eventually throwing away. Don’t bring too much because you will hate the weight. And you will also have the chance to update your entire wardrobe – even in month one.
I don’t care that they are costly. Bring a hammock. We’ve spent a lot of our free time sitting on the floor. How sweet it is to sit in a hammock instead. Such a relief to the buttocks. A hint on hammocks that I just learned. Barred windows are gold. I wish I would have known that from the beginning of India, but now that I know, I will definitely take advantage of it. You can pretty much put a hammock up anywhere. Get creative.
Bring nuts. Protein is something that has been lacking in all of our diets. We shared pistachios today as a team, and they were like manna. I read in blogs that peanut butter was available everywhere. Not calling out those blogs, but, uh, they were lying. We searched all over for peanut butter on Saturday to no avail. It’s heavy, but you’ll thank me. Just pack it.
This is to the ladies. Gentlemen please pass on this paragraph. Girls, I brought only sports bras. I brought three of them. From American Eagle. They have a little padding, so I feel protected and comfortable. I’m so happy I didn’t bring a real bra. It would have been a waste of space. And don’t limit your amount of underwear. I brought probably 15 pairs, and I’m not regretting it.
Bring a neck pillow. I have used it on the plane and to sleep. It has come in handy so many times. I got an inflatable pillow from REI. It was cheap – less than $10. It folds up super small and is really comfortable.
Bring a butterfly chair. A girl on my team has really saved our butts with her chair. The brand is alite. She said it’s like $50, but it is SO worth it. We have struggled with sharing it. It’s lightweight, and your team (and your bottom) with thank you for it.
I am using a little Acer Netbook and have loved it. It’s so small and lightweight. My squad leaders both have them too. I know a lot of people have their macs, but I was nervous to bring mine because it’s so expensive and heavy. A netbook does everything that I need. I got it off craigslist for $200.
Water bottles. Boy, did I make a mistake on mine. It’s a metal water bottle with a small opening. We have to pour our water out of a 22-gallon bottle. It’s difficult to see if the bottle is full or even to get water in the opening. I’ve definitely wasted water by overflowing or missing the opening. The big complaint of Nalgene’s is the smell. We’ve bleached them a few times, but the smell comes back. The perfect water bottle would be a metal see-through bottle with a big lip. That would be perfect. Try to find it.
These are just a few observations I’ve made over the past couple of weeks. I hope it helps. More soon.
