Maybe one of the best parts of travel is planning. For me, that means making lists. And what’s more fun than making a gear list?
One of the issues I’ve long had is overpacking, especially for things I’m not well-versed in, like long distance hiking. For UintasHike16, my pack probably weighed well in excess of 50 pounds. Ouch.
For work, though, I’ve gotten it down to a science, bringing the bare minimum that I need, which has been helpful overall.
And, last summer’s trip to Lithuania for 12 days was accomplished with just a carry-on bag each. Pretty impressive considering I traveled with 4 children under the age of 16. That wasn’t that hard though, since we had laundry available every few days as needed.
The Laugavegur Trail is a different beast – Missouri Howell and I will be trekking from hut to hut, carrying everything with us that we need. Add in a night of camping and it starts to become a big gear list. But…I’ve already started whittling it down.
I want to bring as little as possible with me, so I’ve already told Jeff that I’m going full on dirtbag (well, #dirtbagyuppie style maybe), with many of the clothes being worn every day. If it doesn’t fit in my carry-on, it’s not coming with me.
After starting big and doing some editing, this is my initial gear list:
- Passport + copies
- 10 essentials
- Backpack: Pacsafe Venturesafe X40 PLUS, Eagle Creek Nat Geo
- Backpack cover
- Sleeping bag/Quilt – Big Agnes McKinnis
- Pillow
- Pad?
- Ozark Trail 1-Person Backpacking Tent
- Boots/Trail shoes – Salewa Men’s Multi Track GTX Speed Hiking Shoe; Mishmi Takin Jampui
- Water shoes: Astral Filipe flip flops
- Socks x 3: merino wool
- Underwear x 3: Icebreaker
- Baselayer shirt x3: merino wool
- Midlayer – TNF Momentum Hybrid
- Hiking/Rain jacket: Mishmi Takin Virunga;
- Hiking/Rain pants – Patagonia
- Bathing suit
- Gloves, beanie
- Tough camera + holder + lens + Batteries + cable for charging
- Power banks
- phone + charger
- wi-fi hotspot (Jeff?)
- Kit bag
- Ear plugs x2
- End of day slippers
- PackTowls
- toilet paper and trowel
- Trekking poles
- Food
Overall I’m pretty happy with it, and in the next week or 2 I’m going to lay it all out and see how it looks and fits into my backpack (yet to be determined). There’s still quite a bit of fluff to be pared away, so that’s going to be fun.
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