Monday, March 02, 2015

Around the World in a Carry-On Bag: Containers

On Thursday, we will hit the 2-month mark in the countdown to Go Day for our grand RTW adventure. There is giddy excitement in the air and a million and two things that need to be done. I thought it would be fun to mark the occasion with a series of blog posts, answering one of the questions we get a lot: How are you going to travel around the world, entering into all kinds of climates and situations, with nothing but a carry-on apiece? Figuring out this puzzle has been one of the very fun (and slightly frustrating, at times) parts of planning this trip. We may find that we need things we don't have or that we have things we don't need, but all in all, we feel we've done a pretty good job of answering this question. I'm highlighting just my bag, but everyone's bag has similar contents, personalized for the individual. This post deals only with containers, but stay tuned to see the rest of the contents on my RTW bag.



Moving from left to right:

1. Tortuga Backpack--This is the main pack, into which everything else fits. It can be carried like a suitcase or worn as a backpack. It's a 44L bag, with plenty of pockets, including a laptop sleeve. I really love it!

2. Camera Bag/Wallet--I found this little gem at Walmart. The inside pouch is large enough for my camera, while the outside pocket houses an extra battery. There are multiple credit card/id slots inside, as well as a little pocket for cash and a small pen. I removed the wrist strap and replaced it with a shoulder strap to make it more convenient to carry.

3. American Tourister Toiletry Bag--I also found this at Walmart. There is lots of space for all my toiletries, and it hangs, which is perfect for those times when bathroom counter space is limited.

4. New Outlander Daypack--Anything I want to keep close at hand can easily fit in here, or it can be folded up into a very small pouch and left in the main bag, if I don't need to press it into service.

5. Eagle Creek Compression Packing Cubes--Adding these to my bag is what made me feel like I could really do this, because they help me keep all my things separate and organized. I have two larges ones and two small ones. One large one contains all my tops and the other all my bottoms, while the small ones house socks and underwear. I keep mine compressed down, but they can be unzipped to make more space, if necessary.

6. Eagle Creek Compression Sacs--These are amazing! I have two medium-sized sacs in my bag--one for my bulky winter gear and one for dirty clothes. They make all the difference on fitting everything in the bag.

7. Eagle Creek small Pack-It Quarter Cube Bag--This little bag houses all my chargers for my various electronics.

8. Quart-Sized Ziplocs--I have two of these in my toiletry bag--one for my liquids (which is a requirement for flying) and one for bars of soap.

9. The last picture is my bag, all packed up. The only thing visible is the containers (and the shoes, if you were to look closely). Having everything in it's place and easily accessible helps keep me sane.





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