Backpacker's guide to packing a backpack for your back...pack.

T minus 84 hours and counting.

I've finished up my packing and sorting. Things are put away in boxes. Full control of the room has gone over to Jeong. All systems go. (Though a bit nervous of a go.) Today I want to go over the list of essentials for any trip of this magnitude.

On the trip I'll have one large backpack. Sorta like this one, but not nearly as fancy:




It includes a regular sized backpack which I can zip up on it and a very fancy fanny pack with similar features.

When I've got it all packed up, it looks something like this:



so refraining from packing it to the maximum is important.
The packing list, by category:
Clothes:
Jeans- 4 pairs. 2 smart pairs, 2 pairs holy(my preferred type.)
T-Shirts- 5 t-shirts. Only the most comfortable will do.
Various short sleeved collar shirts-2. For the 'beach side bum' look. They are less middle management style and more 'Captain Ron'


2 hoodies/1 jumper-keep in mind South Africa will be winter time in June/July. I can't imagine it'll get too cold, but between that and Budapest in early April, I imagine there'll be a few cool nights I'm in need of something warm. (Plus the hoodies are comfort clothes.)

2 pairs khaki shorts. Not sure I'll need them until August. But prudence is the better part of valour...or something.

7 pair boxer-briefs. Can never have enough underwear, because thrice worn jeans are just getting warmed up, but triple usage of briefs leads to soggy bottom. No one likes that.
(and yes, I just revealed my undergarment of choice.)

5 pairs of socks. Hopefully I'll be wearing sandals for the large majority of the next 6 months, which is good because with my luck, I'll have lost 7 of those 10 socks by the time I reach the airport here in Seoul.

1 smart shirt-because you never know when you'll be invited over to the Governors house for dinner. (However, I wear smart pants for NO MAN!)

4 hats- Can't travel without repping the STL. (And one Broncos as well. Throw back 'n that.)

1 pair jammie pants-because I can't stop wearing my beloved jammie pants. If possible, I'd wear them permanently.

Books: An essential part of this trip. I'll be spending the first 9 weeks on my own. I'm going to need some men with novel ideas to keep me company. (HA! Get the play on words! Novel!)

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintanence-my officially favorite book. Any time I'm feeling low, it'll inspire me to keep driving. Plus, I can pick it up and read any 20 pages and be perfectly happy. I've only read it straight through once, but I've probably covered the whole thing 2 or 3 times now in bits and pieces

Branker to the Poor-It's a memoir by Muhammad Yunus, who was essentially the creator of micro-lending. Which, before I decided to go all hobo on the world, was what I was most interested in making a 'career' out of. I've already got it half done. Interesting enough. I'll finish it on the flight to Budapest probably.

The Best American Science Writing of 2009-because science writing is one of my favorite genres. Sure this will keep me head scratching for a few weeks.

Istanbul-Memories and the City. (Written by Orhan Pamuk, who won a nobel prize in literature.) Can't imagine a more exciting way to make my way through Greece towards Istanbul than reading a book telling me all about it's wonders. (Of course, if the book bores me to tears, it'll be a nice early warning to get out of their quick.)

SUPER EASY TO DO Crosswords-I'm flying a total of 50 hours or so in the next 6 months. I NEED this.

Bathroom supplies:
Deoderant-1 stick, because you can't find it in Korea. I'll pick up more when I go somewhere where the people stink when they sweat.
Bar Soap-it doesn't leak all over my crap.
Shampoo-no squirt dispenser(again, don't want my crap to be leaked all over), but this was actually hard to find. Apparently, squirt dispensers are all the rage these days.
Razor with a fresh pack of blades-which might be the most expensive part of this whole damn trip.
Toothbrush-toothpaste.
That's it. I'm a hippie traveler. I don't need to be well groomed.

Miscellaneous:
Umbrella-always forget it, always regret it

Camera-Not as important to me as to others, I'll have one with me regardless. Hopefully 1 GB is enough.

Multitool-because I never know when I'll need a 3 inch blade/corkscrew/phillipscrewdriver/nailfile/pencilsharpner-in-one.

A super secret hiding pouch for all the important cards(it goes UNDER the underwear. Those perps are really gonna have to work for it.)

Cash-lots of cash-6 months is a long time. (Most of it is going in debit card form.)

And last, but not least, 3 fresh black ball-point pens and writing pad.
The hope of the trip is to manage a collection of short stories from my travels. The point of the trip is to decide if I really have it in me to be a writer or not. If I can't come up with worthwhile material while backpacking across the world, I never will. Put up or shut up time.

And that's it.

I've got about 40% left to capacity in the bag. (Like I said, trying to avoid that.) I'm sure there'll be some knick knacks picked up along the way though, and I'm sure I'll be needing a lot more books. (Not sure what to do about the book situation. I hate giving up books, but I won't be able to carry them all. Think I might ship them home. We'll see.) So I don't have too much wiggle room left in the bags. Only minor necessities, otherwise we'll be leaving pairs of jeans in the airport, or jumpers in the hostel.

Does the list feel complete? Am I missing anything essential? I always forget something, the goal is only to make it as minimal of an "Oh shit! I forgot!" moment as possible.

One more update before I go. A Jerry Springer-esque 'Final Thoughts' moment in reflection of time in Korea. In case you aren't able to read that one though, here's how things ended here:
Going away party for me Saturday night, I finished in my bed halfway through the party with my pants halfway off and my cat licking my face. Figure that's the way you want to go out in any situation: an undignified, inglorious, crash and burn. Who needs classy speeches and hugs goodbye? Like a good wrestler, I went out jobbing to the Korean scene. 1.2.3. IM OUT!