We are leaving for Peru, Bolivia and Chile in a couple of days. We are connecting with a Wild Frontiers tour through Bolivia and will travel on our own in Peru and Chile. This trip has been put together rather quickly for us, not our typical way of doing things. There has been no lead time for excitement and anticipation to build. We are finalizing our packing right now.
This is the first time in three years we are traveling internationally without scuba diving gear. Packing is easy and my bag only weighs about 14 lbs! Here is what I have packed.
First Layer
- Gortex rain jacket
- Technical quick dry pants
- Flip flops
- Icebreaker wool short sleeved shirt
- Icebreaker wool 3/4 length sleeved shirt
Layer Two
- Icebreaker wool long underwear
- Icebreaker wool short sleeved shirt
- First aid kit
Layer Three
- Swimsuit
- Undies – 3 pair
- Sports bra
- Small lightweight backpack
Layer Four
- Malaria pills
- Gloves
- Socks – lightweight and heavyweight
- Headlamp
- Travel towel
Layer Five
- Cosmetic bag (no liquids – they are carried in a ziploc separately)
- Soap
Layer Six
- Midweight Icebreaker sweater
- Cotton blouse
- Sunhat
Finished!
Airplane clothes
I have to dress warmly on airplanes. The chilly air and lack of movement makes me cold very quickly, so I dress in many warm layers.
- Sports bra
- Undies
- Buff for a head warmer
- Socks
- Linen Pants
- Icebreaker wool long sleeved shirts – two!
- Icebreaker heavy layer (I could be an Icebreaker commercial!)
- Scarf
- Hiking shoes (not shown)
That is all my clothes. It is based on layering as we will be in hot weather and chilly weather. The small backpack is a container to put layers as I shed them through the day.
The ziploc of liquids is not shown in the photos. But it is a combination of shampoo, tooth paste, moisturizer, liquid laundry soap, polysporin, nose spray etc and it is divided up between Murray and me.
I am taking a “purse”, a squarish courier bag that I can wear as a cross over bag. (I would have preferred a backpack, but that screams “tourist” too much.) It will house my iPad, camera, kleenex, water and all those little items that I need handy. I will be wearing a necksafe with passport, cash, extra prescription drugs and credit cards inside, plus a money belt, so there will be no money or passports inside the courier bag except a small wallet with only “day money” inside, after all we are going to South America.
Now that I am mostly packed, I can concentrate on building excitement and anticipation for Peru, Bolivia and Chile.