Hope For the Guest

Here it is, all my gear for 240 days or 5,760 hours in Southeast Asia.
I love gear, I’ve always been an obsessive packer. I would pack weeks before a big trip when I was younger. I think it goes along with learning survival skills since I was 9, I can start a fire with sticks but its much easier to carry a lighter.

When I was 15 I did a search and rescue course so I could be a part of the search and rescue operations in the county I lived in. I was already into gear but after that I started to pack my bag for every outing and than come home and unpack. I started to get a good idea about what was actually needed and what wasn’t. I like gear but I really don’t like carrying a lot of it. Everything I have in my pack for this trip is useful but it might not all pass the test of being worth their weight to carry.

I divided my pack into four categories, Clothes, Electronics, Utilities and Hygiene/First aid.
I kept in mind that some things can be bought and replenished along the way and some things are harder to find abroad.

Clothes:

1- Synthetic T-shirt
1-Cotton T-shirt
1-Short Sleeve button up
2-Long sleeve button ups
1-Pair of pants (with passport and credit card hidden pockets)
1-Swim shorts (with zipper pocket for safekeeping smaller items on day trips)
1-Pair of long underwear top and bottoms.
2-Short socks
2-Long socks
3-Pair underwear (synthetic odor resistant, quick drying. lightweight)
1-Hat
1-Pair minimalist shoes (for day trips, water shoes, shower shoes)
1-Pair hiking boots

   
1-Laptop and charging cable
1- Nikon D3300 and charger
1-Shutter remote (for long exposure pictures) 
1-Extra battery for D3300
1-Camera cleaning kit
2-16GB SD cards
1-32GB SD card (good for 2000 pictures without unloading it)
1-Polaroid Xs100 action camera and charging cable (waterproof to 10 meters) 
1-DSLR rain cover
1-Universal plug adapter (kikkerland adapter. good for 160 countries)
1-headphone splitter cable (sharing music on long trips)
1-MP3 player and charging cable
1-1TB external hard drive (For pictures)
  1-headlamp
1-Small flashlight
1-Sewing kit
1-journal
1-Pocket journal  (doubles as wallet)
1-Sharpie
1-Pencil
2-Space pens
1-Tactical pen (For self defense)
1-Pair goggles
1-Tweezers
1-Mosquito head net
1-Sawyer water filter (Filters out everything except viruses)
1- Sweetwater purifier solution (to kill viruses)
5-Extra 1 Quart ziplocs
8- Sandwich ziplocs
1-Sleeping bag liner (55% silk 45%cotton)
1-2 liter water bag
1-Small padlock
1- 15ft paracord (One use is as a clothes line)
1- Wire roll (Good to keep the mosquito net off face)
1-Small roll duct tape
5-Clothes pins
4-Zipties (For repair)
  3-2.5oz mosquito repellent
1-Bottle Excedrin (For headaches )
1-Bottle Aleve
1-Tooth paste
1-Tooth brush
1-Ace bandage
1-Athletic tape
1-bandages (Butterfly and regular)
1-Nail clippers
1-Imodium (For diarrhea)
1-Sunscreen stick
1-Bar of soap
10- Q-tips
1-Shaving razor
1-Floss
1- Chapstick
1-Tube neosporin (Antiseptic)
1-CPR mask
2-Pack Emergen-C


Backpack and Daypack:
1-Osprey Stratos 36L
1-12L messenger bag that I fitted with an anti sway strap.

And after its all packed up:

If you have any questions, I’d love to try answering them.
Gear is a passion of mine so I would be excited to share that.

P.S. here is what the hidden pockets I made for my pants look like:

 I’ve heard that a journey starts when you decide to go, I like that a lot.
Stepping through the gate of decision can make me feel lighter even if the decision is heavy.
In a week I will be taking one of the big steps in my trip to Southeast Asia. Its certainly not the first but it is a very important step and I imagine that stepping onto that plane will start to concrete the feeling of excitement that has been brewing for months.

I worked hard jobs for this.
I quit jobs for this.
I will leave my family behind to do this.
I will miss holidays.
And its what I want to do with my life right now.

I need big steps to remind me I’m still alive. I need to throw myself into the unknown to show myself that I am capable. I let myself get stagnant without my big goals and for me not much feels worse than stagnation.

I will leave at 1:50am from SeaTac international Airport on the 2nd of September.
I have 8 months, or roughly 240 days before I’d like to be back.

Soon I will make a post about my gear and the preparation I’ve done.
I love gear, it calms me down to pack my backpack and Its one of the parts of preparation for travel that I most enjoy.

I’m writing to give a little information about why I made a blog.
My goals are to have a journal-like place to add my learning journey and as a way of opening up connecting with anyone else who’s interest is caught by my thoughts, pictures or anything else I add in the intertwining journey I’m on.

Not to mention I’m leaving on a trip in 9 days and 5 hours so this is a place where I’ll share all sorts of pictures, stories and learning from my trip.

I hope you feel free to ask questions and connect with me here.