Packing - The Skeletons

My entire last 36 hours have been consumed with doing research on packing. I'm not referring to what to bring--oh no--that's a totally other ball of anxiety to deal with. I have spent hours on end researching the shit out of the packing vessels and organizational pieces. Huge props to my girl Sara for pointing me in the right direction on all of this and for sharing in my strategy planing and border-line addiction to Eagle Creek Pack It Cubes.

(Side note: Sara is also teaching in Korea in the exact same time frame as me and we plan on doing a lot of traveling together so prepare to read a lot about her.)

Without further ado, here are the final decisions!

The Exoskeletons:

I have a few pieces already that I'm bringing but I also got/am in the process of getting a few new pieces.

Checked Bags

For one of my two checked bags, I'm bringing a traditional black wheeled suitcase that I've had at least since my Fall 2009 semester in Norway. I don't remember the exact brand and it is in St. Louis right now so I can't take a picture but it is similar to the one below. The biggest difference between this picture and my giant black monster is that my suitcase doesn't have 360 spinner wheels. Whatevs. I'll get a cart at the airport and deal. This suitcase is really spacious but it isn't something that I would ever take on a side trip once I'm over there. It's great for getting from point A to point B but wouldn't be so great dealing with high-travel situations. But I'll get to those high-travel situations later. It's also expandable which is great for people who like to, ahem, acquire more items along their travels. I don't know what the volume capacity is but the dimensions are somewhere around 32'' x 18'' x 14''. That is just a guess based on this similar-looking one.

This thing is a monster is is CRAZY durable!

The second checked bag that I'm bringing is a new one that I just purchased from REI. Sara told me about the wonders of wheeled duffels and it totally makes sense. They weigh less so you have more weight for necessities shoes, they fold flatter so they are better for storage, and they are much more portable for intense travel. I probably wouldn't take this on side trips (again, see further down) but it's great to know that I'd have a super durable, life-long warranty piece if I DID want to. The dimensions are 35'' x 16'' x 14'' and it can hold a whopping 118 liters! The side straps also help compress down AND are an added safety feature for better security. Plus, the guy at REI who was selling this to me (after I was already totally convinced that I wanted it) piled a ton of things in it to show me that it will stand upright even if filled with a large amount of weight. And come on, it was on sale. Yeah, girlfriend lucked out. And as a bonus, if I die on my trip and someone needs an inconspicuous way to hide my body, this can totally double as a body bag.

The totally appropriately named REI Wheely Beast Wheeled Duffel - 35''

Carry-on Bags

I am totally maxing out on space allotted and I'm bringing a roller on the plane with me along with a backpack as my personal item. I got a great roller for the holidays last year and I love love love it. I've taken it on a week-long trip to the Caribbean, several extended weekend trips back to St. Louis (4-5 days), to various places around Minnesota (like my ski trip last weekend), and even to the St. Louis/New York trip that changed my perspective on life (see the first post for clarification). I honestly just don't want to live without this little baby for a full year. I have a matching shoulder bag, too, but I probably won't bring it unless I have extra space to fold it up and stash it. This powerful little dude is 21.5'' x 14.75'' x 8'' and it says that it can hold about 41 liters but it feels WAY bigger. There is some sort of Mary Poppins shit going on with this bag where you can fit way more in than you think. I'm telling you, if you are in the market to buy a carry-on go-everywhere suitcase, this is your jam.

My pride and joy of travel: the Samsonite Hyperspace Spinner: 21.5 Expandable

Now to the part that I've been referencing this entire time: my main man for inter-Asia travel once I'm over there. To say that I've researched this is an understatement. I think I have read more articles on this particular backpack than I did for my honors thesis senior year. Let me be clear: I have a backpack. I have a really hardcore, high-tech backpack that was quite expensive and is technically perfect. I used it for Norway and after traveling with it once to Greece, I swore it off. The reason for this is because I  have a hiking/camping pack and not a travel pack. There is a huge difference! Camping packs are more concerned with evenly distributing weight and gear and pay little attention to ease of use. Most travel packs have u-shaped zippered openings (as opposed to the top-loading drawstring openings of camping packs), and less bells-and whistles for gear. So, to make my travels in Asia significantly easier than in Europe, I am selling my camping pack and buying a new travel pack.

When searching for my ideal pack, I was looking for a few main features: a large spacious main compartment that could hold my plethora of Eagle Creek Pack-It Cubes, hide-able back straps, a zip-off daypack, and a large capacity that can still be counted as carry-on. This one has it all and still comes with the Osprey lifetime warranty. I don't think I have been this excited for a single purchase since my senior year prom dress (refer to Facebook pictures for proof of the cascading waterfalls of white chiffon). The biggest trick to get this over there as a 'personal carry-on item' will be to not pack it full and compress it down. I might end up throwing the zip-off daypack into my Samsonite spinner, too. The main pack is 22'' x 17'' x 13'' and can hold 37 liters and the daypack is 19'' x 11.5'' x 7'' and can hold 15 liters. I've read about people using this as their only item on year-long nomadic worldwide trips so I feel pretty good about it.

What is soon to be my lifeline of travel: Osprey Farpoint 55 Travel Pack

The Endoskeletons:

Y'all are going to think that I am really dumb. For real. It's OK--I did, too, until I looked up reviews of these products. Now I seriously need to contain myself because I want to buy so so so many of these little things. They will be amazing for travel throughout Asia but I need to edit and think about how many I really need just to get over there. I know, it seems pointless to buy little suitcases to put into bigger suitcases but I'm telling you, I tested it out yesterday and I fit four pairs of jeans into 10 liters of space. That's amazing. I also used a small number of these for Norway but I definitely didn't use them to their capacity. The final count of how many of each are yet to be determined but here are the three styles that I'm using:

Eagle Creek Pack-It Cube (14'' x 10'' x 3'')

Eagle Creek Pack-It Half Cube (10'' x 7'' x 3'')

Eagle Creek Pack-It Tube Cube (13'' x 4'' x 3'')

The final item on this list is a no-brainer: compression bags! I have used both Spacebags for travel and Eagle Creek compressors and I have to say, I find the Eagle Creek to be far superior in quality. I plan to use the compression bags JUST for my pillow, sheets, towels (yes I can buy them there but a) I want big towels which are hard to find and b) I want some of my own stuff to feel home-y), and winter coats/ski pants so I'll probably end up getting two of each medium and large. I still have some left over from Norway, if I can find them!

Eagle Creek Pack-It Compressor - 2 Pack

So there you have it: my current plan for the packing structure inside and outside. I plan to document how the actual packing goes, too, so that I will be sure to update with another post on the result.

REI: you love me. And if anyone else has any international-travel packing tips, please let me know!