A Peek into my Pack

This post outlines what I packed for our travels. I found it very helpful to look at other travel blogs when compiling this list, and I hope that it may be useful to others.
Some background: we will be spending a week in Australia (Sydney and Melbourne), three days in Malaysia (mainly Kuala Lumpur), ten days in Vietnam (flying in to Hanoi), two nights in Bangkok, two days in London, two days in Lille and then we pick up our car in Paris and the roadtrip starts from there. We decided to bring backpacks for the first leg of the journey, and as it is only about a month between setting off from Auckland and picking up the car, we packed very light.

Packing List
Technology

• iPhone and travel SIM card - for keeping in touch and listening to music in the car
• iPad mini - with books to read including Lonely Planet guides
• Kindle paperwhite
• Chargers for all devices (including the car charger) and power adaptors (Europe and UK)
• 2 pairs of earbuds

Documents

• Moneybelt for keeping passport and money in 
• Passport
• Flight itinerary and travel insurance information
• International driver’s license
• Debit card/cash passport cards
• Copies of all important documents (copies are also kept with family members)

Clothes

Instead of packing cubes (which I could not afford), I used white and yellow plastic shopping bags to differentiate between the sets of clothes. In the front pouch of my backpack I have a white bag for socks and a yellow bag for underwear. In the main part of my backpack a white bag holds my tops, while a yellow bag holds bottoms. I have a black bag in which to hold dirty clothes. 

Tops

• 8 short sleeve/no sleeve tops + 2 singlets (one white, one black for layering)
• 2 light cardigans
• 1 dress 
• Rain jacket

Bottoms

• 1 pair jean shorts, 1 pair sports shorts (Nike running shorts for tramping/more active activities)
• 1 skirt/culottes - long so it can be worn in churches
• 1 pair lightweight jeans - for colder weather/too many mozzies etc

Undergarments

• 1 swimsuit
• 14 undies so can do laundry fortnightly if needed, and 3 bras (one is a lightweight sports bra - for very hot weather/tramping)
• 3 pairs socks, 8 pairs pop socks - small socks to be work with Toms

Shoes

• Sports shoes for tramping/colder weather
• TOMS black shoes for walking around
• Jandals

Accessories

• Belt for jeans
• Sunglasses
• Spectacles and prescription sunglasses
• Sleeping mask for the plane and camping

Toiletries

Essentials

• Nail clippers, tweezers
• Face cleansing wipes
• Spare contact lenses
• Sunscreen SPF 30 + 2 lip balms with SPF 15
• Earplugs for noisy campsites/hostels

Bathroom/shower kit

• Shampoo and body wash
• Toothbrush, toothpaste and flosser
• Deodorant
• Razor
• Contact solution, contact case and eyedrops for dry eyes
• Moisturiser 
• Hair brush/comb + hair ties 

Make-up

• Face powder with little mirror 
• Eyeliner and eyebrow pencil
• Mascara

Medical

• Panadol 
• Plasters
• Hand sanitiser
• Malaria tablets and antidiarrhoeal tablets for Vietnam

Useful items

• Pen
• Pack of normal playing cards and pack of Pairs cards

Camera bag

• Camera and SD cards
• Gorillapod (tripod)

The backpacks we chose are the Macpac Voyager 35. As you can see below, 35 litre backpacks are fairly small, but they should be about right for a month.

Once we pick up the car we will have more space if we need to acquire additional items (I'd like to get a small first aide kit and a chilly bin for keeping cider in). We will also be gaining a traveller - Yannick's sister Fabienne. We will be roadtripping through Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Scandinavia. We'll also be visiting Prague and have to do this within three months of entering France due to the Schengen Area rules. Once it starts to get colder we'll probably drive down to southern France and Spain. That will take us to the end of the year, and we don't yet know where we'll be spending Christmas.
Let the journey begin!