This post is being updated throughout the trip – scroll to the bottom to see the latest in our packing for a year saga!
One of the most-asked questions we get, is of course, “how did you pack for a whole year!?”
We planned this trip to follow summer, one of the biggest reasons being so we could pack lighter! We’ve also done many a long-term trip, and extending that to 12 months isn’t that different. You just have to do more laundry.
My packing rule-of-thumb for any trip is to pile everything you want to bring in one big pile. Then half it. No matter how painful – half! Using that rule we ended up with two carry-on bags, a weekender/duffel bag, and a backpack each.
How it fits:
Carry-on #1: Adult clothes and Rem’s toiletries
Carry-on #2: Kid’s clothes & toiletries, Aven’s school books, and our contact lenses
Weekender Bag: Meg’s toiletries, our mini-pharmacy (basic medicines and vitamins), coats/rain shells, a few other miscellaneous items.
Grownups:
8 shirts
3-4 bottoms
1 pair of lounge pants (double as pajamas)
1 swimsuit
1 belt
6 underwear
4-5 pairs of socks
2 pairs of shoes (1 sandal, 1 sneaker)
1 puffer jacket
1 rain shell
1 hat
Kids:
8 shirts
8 shorts
1 dress
1 long pant
1 pajamas
1 swimsuit
8 underwear
2 pairs of shoes (1 sandal, 1 sneaker)
1 puffer jacket
1 rain shell
1 blanket
Toiletries are always the hardest part of packing for me. I have minimal hair and makeup supplies but I do love good skincare, which takes up space! I also splurged and brought my Braun hair removal laser and Rem has his razor and trimmer too (we are hairy people, ok?). Another thing that took up more room than we’d like is contact lenses. Packing a year’s worth takes up quite a bit of space!!! One day we’ll be able to splurge for LASIK but alas, that was not before this trip.
Miscellaneous items:
1 bar Dr. Brommers soap (great for laundry)
1 laundry line
1 daypack that folds up really small (we use this as our day pack in each city and fold it up for travel days)
Swim floaties & a few swim toys
Umbrella
Backpacks & Stroller:
Rem carries our electronics, documents, and snacks for travel day in his backpack.
Megan has her DSLR camera, journal, a small crossover purse, diaper bag, and any other travel necessities in her backpack.
The kids get to bring whatever toys fit in their backpacks. If they run out of room, we donate the toys they no longer want.
To bring a stroller or not? It was a big debate pre-trip. We decided to bring one we already had instead of getting a new one, and if we ended up ditching it, we wouldn’t feel bad.
Update 4 months into the trip:
Clothes:
I’m happy to report that we had great base packing plan for this trip! We’ve replaced a few clothing items, but for the most part, have stuck to the original numbers of things (8 shirts, 2-3 pants, etc). Almost all the toiletries have been used and we’re easily replacing those as they run out. Kids toys are also on a pretty steady rotation. Luckily, we haven’t had to use our pharmacy too much.
We thought summer weather = shorts. In Asia, that is not necessarily true. Though hot and humid, everyone here wears long pants and long skirts. So we’ve all swapped our shorts for long pants and long skirts in cooler fabrics.
Souvenirs:
We brought a weekender-sized bag that folds up really small for groceries, laundry, etc., but it’s graduated into our souvenir bag since South Africa (embarrassingly, most our souvenirs are stuffed animals won at claw machines that everyone is very sentimental about). The plan is to send home a box each quarter with that stuff, so we’ll be back down to 3 bags starting next month.
Backpacks:
Remington LOVES his travel backpack, designed by our friend Zach. I, however, would not recommend my TikTok famous travel backpack. It might work for some trips, but the lack of support and how bulky it is once it’s full is just not working for me. Kid’s backpacks have been great!
Stroller:
Has been extremely useful parts of the trip, and a hassle other parts. It’s fantastic in airports though. Talon naps in there pretty well and I think it’s the key to getting us bumped to the front of the line at customs and security (not every airport, the the majority)! So, we’re keeping it for now.
