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Post by Baz Faz on Sept 6, 2019 19:55:14 GMT 2
Once I get down to packing I know there is a travel adventure ahead. Some people have lists but I rely on habit. Passport, tickets, insurance document, money, credit card and medicines are the only necessities. I'll be wearing clothes so I only need 2 changes of shirt, pants and socks plus travelwash. If necessary I could always buy stuff. Then it is a question of adding things that make the trip more pleasant. I take a Kindle because it is lighter than paperbacks. I have given up on guide books but I sometimes cut out a city map. Microfibre towel, swimsuit, sun cream if it is that sort of holiday. Mosquito spray and insect repellent if it is tropical. Mrs Faz takes a camera and iPad. That's about it.
There was a time about 3 years ago when we were going to Wales for a few days and I packed as usual. When we got to the Gower peninsula and I was unpacking the car - I found I had left my bag in the bedroom at home.
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Post by OnlyMark on Sept 6, 2019 21:33:34 GMT 2
I never have a list but tend to just add on clothes depending on how long I'm away for. The question is though, away from where?
This summer, for the first time for many years I've had everything in one place, i.e. Spain. Normally I'd leave some in the country I've come from to here, be it Zambia, Jordan, Germany or others.
But this time we've ended the rental on the place we were staying in as we were both away for many weeks, and in my case, months, so it was idiotic to keep paying for it.
But, 'going away' usually means for a long time. For example, I leave here in a few days to Zambia, but I wont be back here until middle of December, thus I need to carry some stuff with me.
Whilst away I will probably also spend a bit of time in Namibia, Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe - fortunately the weather will be quite reasonable, but when I come back I'll be driving to Germany for Christmas and the New Year, thus I'll be leaving in a bag already packed some cold weather clothes. I'll pick it up on the way through from Malaga to Frankfurt.
Planning ahead means for the next six months or more as to which clothes I'll take or leave.
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Post by tzarine on Sept 6, 2019 23:05:43 GMT 2
we are the same way
one carry on each.
i always have a beanie & pashmina for warmth
& some kind of windbreaker & one "nice" frock for those times
& a notebook
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Post by Baz Faz on Sept 6, 2019 23:17:51 GMT 2
We'll be going to Thailand and Burma in January and February. It will be winter here. So we'll have a warm coat and thermal vest for the journey to the airport and our overnight stay in Toulouse (it is much, much cheaper to fly BA from Toulouse, connecting at Heathrow, than flying direct from Heathrow). Our little hotel by the Chao Praya river in Bangkok will happily keep a bag with our winter stuff until we return from our travels.
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Post by Netsuke on Sept 7, 2019 0:45:13 GMT 2
We'll be going to Thailand and Burma in January and February. I too will be in Burma, Baz. When will you be there? |
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Post by wikki on Sept 7, 2019 16:40:55 GMT 2
i hate packing and unpacking. I am doing it for the last 15 years on a very very regular basis. When at home packing, you can be sure my place is super clean, sometimes windows get cleaned too, garden is all done.... Then I'm done with packing. Takes me only a day or 2. I can also pack in 5 minutes.
Anyway, I hate it and I'm a specialist in procrastinating.
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Post by Baz Faz on Sept 10, 2019 23:30:36 GMT 2
We'll be going to Thailand and Burma in January and February. I too will be in Burma, Baz. When will you be there? Hi Netsie. Sorry not to have responded but we have had a long weekend in Bruges. Just got back and had dinner. I have booked the Thailand month but not yet the Burma bit. I plan for us to be in Burma from 15 to 25 February. I think we'll fly in to Mandalay, spend 3 nights there. Then take a boat down to Bagan and spend 3 nights there. Then it gets a bit hazy. Possibly fly Bagan-Heho but go down to the bottom of the lake where I have found a nice house on stilts in the lake. Then maybe Kalaw. Then back to Mandalay to catch a flight back to Bangkok. And you? |
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Post by shrjeff on Sept 11, 2019 7:37:55 GMT 2
I too will be in Burma, Baz. When will you be there? Hi Netsie. Sorry not to have responded but we have had a long weekend in Bruges. Just got back and had dinner. I have booked the Thailand month but not yet the Burma bit. I plan for us to be in Burma from 15 to 25 February. I think we'll fly in to Mandalay, spend 3 nights there. Then take a boat down to Bagan and spend 3 nights there. Then it gets a bit hazy. Possibly fly Bagan-Heho but go down to the bottom of the lake where I have found a nice house on stilts in the lake. Then maybe Kalaw. Then back to Mandalay to catch a flight back to Bangkok. i suggest you fly into mandalay and do inle lake round trip by car... then down the river to bagan and fly to yangon to see the shwegadon pagoda... then fly back to bangkok from yangon... |
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Post by Baz Faz on Sept 11, 2019 12:59:46 GMT 2
The Shwegadon pagoda is spectacular and I know it is one of the must-sees in Burma (even in south-east Asia). For this trip I am trying to avoid Yangon. I noted from your journal that you abandoned the trek from Kalaw. Good advice for us. The house on stilts I have my eye on down at the bottom of Inle Lake has positive reviews. Certainly we'll get a car and driver to take us back to Mandalay airport. I have checked and Air Asia has a good flight back to Bangkok on 25 Feb.
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Post by Netsuke on Sept 12, 2019 4:30:58 GMT 2
I too will be in Burma, Baz. When will you be there? Hi Netsie. Sorry not to have responded but we have had a long weekend in Bruges. Just got back and had dinner. I have booked the Thailand month but not yet the Burma bit. I plan for us to be in Burma from 15 to 25 February. I think we'll fly in to Mandalay, spend 3 nights there. Then take a boat down to Bagan and spend 3 nights there. Then it gets a bit hazy. Possibly fly Bagan-Heho but go down to the bottom of the lake where I have found a nice house on stilts in the lake. Then maybe Kalaw. Then back to Mandalay to catch a flight back to Bangkok. And you? Ah, that is disappointing Baz, we shall miss each other by a few weeks. I fly into Burma on the 30th December and fly out on the 19th January. Your trip looks much smoother than mine. I had change my itinerary around now I'm stuck with domestic flight problems. |
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Post by Baz Faz on Sept 12, 2019 10:10:03 GMT 2
Hi Netsie. Sorry not to have responded but we have had a long weekend in Bruges. Just got back and had dinner. I have booked the Thailand month but not yet the Burma bit. I plan for us to be in Burma from 15 to 25 February. I think we'll fly in to Mandalay, spend 3 nights there. Then take a boat down to Bagan and spend 3 nights there. Then it gets a bit hazy. Possibly fly Bagan-Heho but go down to the bottom of the lake where I have found a nice house on stilts in the lake. Then maybe Kalaw. Then back to Mandalay to catch a flight back to Bangkok. And you? Ah, that is disappointing Baz, we shall miss each other by a few weeks. I fly into Burma on the 30th December and fly out on the 19th January. Your trip looks much smoother than mine. I had change my itinerary around now I'm stuck with domestic flight problems. That's a shame. You aren't by any chance flying back via Bangkok? We arrive in Bangkok on 18 Jan and spend 2 nights there. |
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Post by Baz Faz on Jan 11, 2020 0:20:23 GMT 2
It is packing time again. Stuff is already up on a spare bed. It looks an alarming amount, much more than we usually take.
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Post by auntieannie on Jan 11, 2020 21:39:23 GMT 2
why is that?
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Post by Baz Faz on Jan 12, 2020 0:21:42 GMT 2
Mrs Faz has put what she wants to take. I will decide what we need to take - the secret of packing light. |
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Post by shrjeff on Jan 13, 2020 23:27:17 GMT 2
we had a bit of a dilemma this trip: the first week was in new york and connecticut around new years so we had to bring cold weather clothes including very warm coats... then after a couple of days on the boat we've been in tropical weather so switched to t-shirts and shorts... at the end we'll need northern california winter garb... clothes for all seasons at once requires planning and space...
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Post by Baz Faz on Jan 14, 2020 0:16:11 GMT 2
We are flying to Bangkok with a night in Toulouse on the way. So it will be wintry to begin with. In Bangkok we are staying at a guesthouse built out over the river. And on our last nights in Thailand we'll be staying at the same guesthouse. The lady who owns it is very happy to keep a bag with our European winter clothes while we travel. And she doesn't charge unlike other guesthouses in backpackerland.
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