Once again, I am about to head out on the road! This time I am going to Fiji (1 week) & New Zealand (2.5 weeks) for a true vacation with my family, and then I will split off to travel to Southeast Asia solo for 3 months. The beauty of traveling to these locations from Jan to April is I can keep my clothes light & airy, and I don’t need tons of layers & jackets. In general, it’s much easier to pack for hot temperature locations!

Of course I am using my 35L Tortuga Setout backpack 🙂 They don’t sell the exact backpack I have anymore, but here is their latest & greatest! Can’t recommend their bags more. I have used a Tortuga backpack on each of my longterm trips!

Overall tips:

• Use packing cubes!
• Think through how the clothes will feel in heat. Linen & lightweight materials will be best. 
• Make sure that every top works with every bottom and works with every shoes. Use a capsule wardrobe as inspiration.
• Less is more!

PACKING LIST FOR Southeast Asia:

Clothes

• 2 pairs of Lululemon Fast & Free Crop’s – I’m trying to make it easy to workout while on the road this time around.
• 1 pair of Lululemon Align pants – can be used for working out/walking around town or I can dress it up.
• 1 pair of jean shorts
• 1 pair of athletic shorts
• 1 dress
• 1 Romper
• 1 Jumpsuit (Madewell) – I’m obsessed with this jumpsuit. Hopefully it holds up well through the backpacker lifestyle.
• 5 Cute shirts
• 2 sports bras
• 2 athletic shirts (for running + sleeping in). One is from Vuori & one is from Lululemon
• Booty shorts (to sleep in)
• 5 pairs of underwear
• 5 pairs of socks
• 1 black bralette
• Running shoes
• Waterproof sandals (will act as my water shoe as well as my cute shoes- I never said the backpacker lifestyle was glamorous haha)
• Light Patagonia puffer – good for chilly planes/busses & for when I visit countries that are a little cooler, even in the summer. It also smushes down fairly small so it’s a great backpacker jacket. I’ve also used it as a pillow in a pinch.
• 1 Swimsuit (feel free to bring 2-3 if that’s your thing)
• Sunglasses (Warby Parker)
• Rain coat (Patagonia; you can pack it up into it’s pocket so I can easily attach it to the outside of my bag via a carabiner)
• Tortuga Daypack (they don’t sell it anymore sadly). This acts as my personal item for flights and I can use it for adventures during the day. 
• Sling crossbody bag (I put it into my daypack on travel days). I use this out and about on a daily basis. Tortuga just released their version and I can’t wait to check it out!
• Running band

Electronics

• Computer + Charger
• iPad
• iPhone + Charger (I get a 6 ft cord so I can always reach the plug from my hostel dorm bed!)
• AirPod Pro’s
• Headphones (Bose; noise-cancelling for travel days)
• Plug adapter (I use this one)
• Portable charger (like this one)
• AirTag (This is a no brainer these days; provides peace of mind incase I am forced to check my bag or when it’s below me in a bus. Always nice to confirm it’s still with me!)

Toiletries (I use a bunch of little toiletry bags to keep these all organized)

• Toothbrush
• Toothpaste
• Flosser
• Any medication you take
• Retainer
• Deodorant
• Makeup
• Makeup Remover (I’ve become obsessed with cleansing balm for this because it isn’t a liquid, & it’s highly effective at getting makeup off at the end of the day! 
• Razor
• Conditioner + Shampoo (Get containers to put your products into & refill on the road!!)
• Face wash
• Brush
• Pocket Hand Sanitizer– I keep one in my backpack and one in my sling/purse. Great in general, but also for when inevitably there is no soap at a random bus stop bathroom 🙂
• Sunscreen (I love Sun Bum)
• Chapstick (Don’t forget to get one with SPF)
• Ibuprofen
• Hair ties and bobby pins
• Moleskin
• Bandaids
• Cough drops
• Topical steroid cream for bed bug bites or regular bug bites to help with itchiness

Miscellaneous

• Passport – no explanation necessary 🙂
• ID
• Travel Credit Card (no foreign transaction fee; I have the Chase Sapphire Reserve (hello lounge access!)+ Capital One Venture Card)
• Debit Card (Charles Schwab has the best one because it reimburses ATM fees from any ATM in the world 🙂 )
• Record of your plans (I make folders within my email inbox to keep track of everything or you could print out a copy of your itinerary)
• Extra Passport photos
• Thumb drive with all documentation if desired
• Travel Towel (this one has a cool carrier that you can attach to the outside of your backpack with a carabiner)
• Sarong/beach blanket- My roommate got this for me! Perfect for any countries where I need to cover up more as well as the beach or to dry off from a swim. It may be redundant with the travel towel but I brought both so time will tell 🙂
• Water Bottle
• Ear Plug
• Eye Mask (you can either go the classic eye mask route or get one like this that almost acts like your eye mask + ear plug since you can play white noise through the built in bluetooth speaker- pretty cool!)
• Inflatable Neck Pillow (I use a carabiner to hang this on the side of my backpack)
• Lock (for staying in hostels or locking my bag.) Get the combo lock so you don’t have to worry about tiny keys. I take two to be able to lock two different compartments in my bag AND so I can keep my computer/passport/iPad compartment still locked when I use the other one to lock a locker within a hostel.
• 3 carabiners – I just attach them to my backpack and over the course of the trip they will hold everything from my water bottle, shoes, rain jacket and more. You will not regret having a few on hand.
• Pack of playing cards
• Portable neck fan (like this one from Amazon)

Here is everything spread out on a table!

Here is what is packed in each packing cube:

All packed up and ready to go on another adventure!