Five Weeks, Four Continents: What I Took

Clothes

	Colour 1	Colour 2	Colour 3
Bra	Skin (one pullon)	Black  1 pullon, 1wired
Camis	black
Knickers	Skin x 3	Black x 3
Sox	Black compression	Skin nylon x 2
leggings	White	Purple
Pants	Black yoga	Black dressy, narrow leg	Grey palazzo
Short-sleeved tops	black sparkly	Pink T x 2	purple T, mauve mesh
3/4-sleeved tops	black	white
Jumpers	black merino
Cardi/jacket	Pink mesh	Purple merino	Black supplex
Vest/tank	Purple/black	White/black reversible	Purple mesh
Rain	umbrella
Bathers	Black halter	Black tankini pants
Shoes	Pink slip-on	Purple sandals	Black jewelled thongs
Scarves	Purple pashmina	black/purple/pink sarong
Dress/skirt/tunic	Paisley maxidress	Black/white skirt	Purple, Black tunic
Hats
Gloves

Medications	Maintenance/Repair	Toiletries	Electronics
Inderal	Tweezers	Shampoo/Conditioner	iPhone
Avipro	Blunt tip Scissors	Moisturiser w sunscreen	USB wire and extension
Polaramine	Mending Kit	Toothpaste	iPad
Aspirin	Lint-brush	Toothbrush w cover	Cords
Zovirax	Moleskin	Floss	car double USB port
Imigran	Bandaids	Folding Hairbrush/Mirror	universal plug w 2USB
Lomotil	Blow-up hangers	Nylon washcloth	earbuds
Buscopan	Ziplocks	Nailbrush	USB stick
Maxalon	Washing powder	Makeup palette
Medi-Cream	Skirt hanger	Makeup Remover pads
Betadine	Pencil w duct-tape	Bodywash
Kenacomb otic	Cotton buds

Not used Not taken

 

Five Weeks, Four Continents: How I Packed

The Skymaster mostly contained clothes.  It is a great bag, weighing just over 1Kg, opens flat for easy packing, with two nicely sized compartments with mesh covers inside and a single front pocket with organiser features.  Comfortable backstraps slip into a zipped section on the back, and there is a not-very-good shoulder strap – it slips off, and is too short to use cross-body, but hardware is solid.  Compression straps in main compartment and outside.

I use homemade packing folders to reduce wrinkles, and compress the contents.  A thin, flexible chopping board acts as a folding template and stiffens the bundle. This time I took two, tops in one and pants, skirt and long dress in another. Shoes go into bags made from the same ripstop nylon, and underwear into mesh bags.  My bathers and a thin microfibre towel are in a ziplock bag, with all the air squeezed out..

Main Compartment

Inside lid

Umbrella, waterbottle, washing/mending pack, spare glasses,extra ziplocks and padlock and cable go in the front pocket.

Everything else – itinerary & paperwork (white), toiletries & medications(solid pink), paranoia pack(clear), grooming pack(patterned pink),  jewellery roll(bright blue), iPad, iPhone, wires etc in a mesh bag, neckpouch, wallet(actually a small zipped coinpurse) goes into the ancient black leather messenger-style handbag.  Wipes and mini medpack(aspirin, antihistamine, antispasmodic, antichuck, bandaids and zovirax live there permanently) Nearly forgot the sarong – so it was tied on too.

Neckpouch has passport, drivers licence, load&go debit card, 28Degrees credit card, and $100US.  I wore this around my neck and tucked inside my dress when in the  airport, then changed it to completely under clothes in the plane.  coinpurse had a second load&go and both US and Oz currency , and attaches to a ring I sewed inside my handbag,

Five Weeks, Four Continents: Planning the Trip

This is my proposed itinerary:

Melbourne via Qantas to LA

2 days in LA near the Getty

AA to Washington for conference

5 days a couple of blocks from the White House and all those Smithsonians

Amtrack to New York

4 days near Times Square

Hire car

then it is a fortnight to drift up the coast to Canada, PEI, Quebec & Montreal then back to JFK

Finnair to Helsinki, quick peek around then on to Paris

Four days in Paris on the banks of the Seine

Finnair again to Singapore

Three days to check out the changes in the last couple of decades

Back to Oz on Qantas

We want to do it all with just carry ons. The packing list is currently:

Clothes

	Colour 1	Colour 2	Colour 3
Bra	Skin x 2	Black unwired
Camis	Purple	Pink
Knickers	Skin x 3	Black x 3
Sox	Black merino	Skin nylon x 2
leggings	White	Purple
Pants	Black yoga	Black narrow leg
Short-sleeved tops	black	Pink x 2	purple
Long-sleeved tops	black	white
Jumpers	Purple merino
Cardi/jacket	Pink mesh	Black merino
Vest	Purple/black	White/black reversible
Rain	umbrella
Bathers	Black halter	Black tankini pants
Shoes	Pink slip-on	Purple sandals	White thongs
Scarves	Purple pashmina	b/w sarong
Gloves
Beret/hat
Dress/skirt/tunic	Pink dress	Black/white skirt	Purple, Black tunic

Medications	Maintenance/Repair	Toiletries	Electronics
Inderal	Tweezers	Shampoo	iPhone
Avipro	Scissors	Moisturiser	Charger
Polaramine	Mending Kit	Toothpaste	iPad
Aspirin	Lint-brush	Toothbrush	Cords
Zovirax	Moleskin	Floss	Aircraft/car recharge plug
Imigran	Bandaids	Hairbrush	double adaptor
Lomotil	Blow-up hangers	Nylon washcloth	Multiple USB port
Buscopan	Ziplocks	Nailbrush	USB stick
Maxalon	Washing powder	Eyeshadow
Medi-Cream	Skirt hanger	Mascara
Betadine	Pencil w duct-tape	Makeup Remover pads
Kenacomb otic	Cotton buds	Lipstick & liner

Not used Not taken

Five Weeks, Four Continents: Ready to Go

The big trip went off more or less as planned – even squeezed in an extra day in Washington and Paris.

Travelled carry-on, and the new Caribee Skymaster 40 was brilliant.

All the luggage

What I wore

Leaving home at 5.30 am, outdoor temp about 1C (34F) meant lots of layers (Plus feature – this made  it possible to scrape  under 8Kg for the Skymaster.)

Inside out:

Knltted nylon pull-on bra, microfibre knickers, black compression sox

Purple cotton/spandex tank, violet wicking leggings, pink leather slip-on shoes

Black wicking stretch pants, Pink stretch cotton tunic

fine black merino jumper

Black viscose/elastane button-thru Aline dress

Plum/pink  marle cardi

Patterned purple pashmina

Into the lounge, off with the cardi and pashmina, stuff them in the bag.

Onto the plane and off with the pants, tshirt and dress, ditto.  This left me in capri leggings. tank and merino.  warm enough and comfy enough for sleeping, and

Before landing in LA, wash, clean knickers, swap leggings for pants, swap merino and tank for tshirt and dress.  Dirty duds into a ziplock and into bag.  Ready for a day at the Getty (33C, 90F) after dropping bag at hotel.