Once again, I am about to head out on the road! After a whirlwind visit home in California for my 30th birthday(!!!), I am taking off for a slightly different stint of my trip. I have a week in Mexico with my sister for a wedding, but then I take off solo to Colombia where I’ll be staying in Medellin for 6 weeks to study Spanish at a language school! I’ve talked about this before, but at the three month mark of backpacking, I get really burnt out and need to stay still to recuperate. I built this part of the trip in very intentionally. I’ll be staying at an airbnb, where I’ll have my own room and going to class everyday. I’ll be cooking and signing up for a gym. I am SO excited to have a bit of a routine and not have to pack up over & over again. In fact, I get to unpack for 6 weeks!! Truly what a dream.

Because this is quite the different type of trip, I get to pack a little differently. Other than needing outfits for a wedding (which thankfully was casual enough that I could wear clothes that I’ll also wear out & about in Colombia), I only need to pack fairly generic outfits for school, going to the gym, and an outfit or two to go out to dinner, etc. Additionally, I am not going to a bunch of different climates, so overall it’s a relatively simple packing approach.

Big news: I am trying out Tortuga’s newest backpack, the Travel Backpack Lite 40L. It’s the updated version of my last backpack of theirs (the Setout). Nice to travel with a brand new backpack! It’s the perfect carry on size & with their packing cubes, you can optimize every square inch of it. I actually had room leftover when I packed all the below into it. I’ve also added the Tortuga Travel Sling, the new Tortuga Packable Daypack (to replace my 5 year old one), & the Tortuga Tech Organizer, which means I’ve achieved my goal of being a walking evangelist for all Tortuga products haha.

Overall tips:

• Use packing cubes! I love my new Tortuga Compression Packing Cube, as well as their normal 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! I can’t emphasize this enough. You CAN do laundry. You CAN buy anything you feel like you ended up needing on the road. I promise!

If you are planning a longterm trip, don’t forget to check out all the things I wish I had known before setting off on my first big trip!

PACKING LIST FOR Colombia:

CLOTHES

• 3 pairs of Lululemon Fast & Free Crop’s – I’ll be joining a gym while in Medellin so I need more workout leggings than I normally take.
• 1 pair of Lululemon Align pants – can be used for working out/walking around town or I can dress it up.
• 1 pair of Lululemon joggers- since I’ll be living in an airbnb, I wanted a more casual, comfy pair of pants to throw on when I am home in the evenings.
• 1 pair of jean shorts
• 2 Rompers (one is just a copy of the other that I had made in Hoi An)
• 2 jumpsuits I had made in Hoi An (inspired by my Madewell Jumpsuit)
• 2 Cute shirts (one linen for the heat, one basic cute grey shirt)
• 4 sports bras
• 5 athletic shirts (for running + sleeping in). One is from Vuori & one is from Lululemon. I need more of these shirts this time around since I am planning to go to the gym everyday in Medellin
• Booty shorts (to sleep in)
• 5 pairs of underwear
• 9 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)
• Pair of white sneakers (bought these in Japan)
• 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 (I don’t foresee doing much swimming on this trip, but it’s always smart to bring one)
• Sunglasses (Warby Parker)
• Hat
• Rain coat (Patagonia; you can pack it up into its pocket so I can easily attach it to the outside of my bag via a carabiner)
• Running belt – I don’t use it often since my Lululemon Fast & Free’s have a pocket for my phone, but every once in a while it comes in handy.
• Tortuga Packable Daypack – This is their latest version of their daypack! Very excited to try it out. It packs into itself if you don’t want to use it. This is my personal item for flights.
• Tortuga Travel Sling crossbody bag (I put it into my daypack on travel days). I use this out and about on a daily basis. It fits my iPad mini & passport in the back zipper pocket. In the main pocket I can put keys, credit cards, cash, AirPods, chapstick, sunscreen, etc.

ELECTRONICS

• Computer + Charger
• iPad
• iPhone + Charger (I get a 6 ft cord so I can always reach the plug from my hotel 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
• Floss
• Any medication you take
• Retainer
• Deodorant
• Tiny roller perfume
• 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
• Hair 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)
• Tiger balm (I picked this up in Southeast Asia and it’s now a staple in my bag. Great for mosquito bites and just feeling a little sick. It’s kinda like Vick’s vapor rub).
• 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 (I bring my driver’s license)
• 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
• 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. I didn’t bring my quick dry towel with me this time since my apartment/airbnb provided a towel for the duration of my stay.
• 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!)
• 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
• Face mask (I’ve used this while feeling sick as well as on a dusty motorcycle ride)
• 2 pens for writing postcards & for my Spanish classes

Here is what I packed in each packing cube:

Hasta Luego!! 🙂