York and I have officially quit our job and will be travelling the world in less than a month’s time! We bought two “Round the World Tickets” that allows us to travel from Australia to South America, Europe, Asia then back.
We also made the decision to pack all our clothes for the year in a 7kg carry-on! Now we have to pack our Antarctica weather gear as well as hot climate clothes for the Amazons jungles in one small bag. If only I didn’t book the Last-Minute Antarctica Cruise, our packing would have been a lot easier. Below is a detailed packing list for long term travel and what we going to survive on for the next year. Before you start off, you’re going to want to keep your baggage safe and identifiable with one of a Laser Engraved Luggage Tag.
How to pack for long-term travel in an 8kg carry-on?
Many good solid backpacks are designed for mountain climbing, not backpacking. The difference is that hikers’ backpacks usually have openings at the top of the bag, which makes it difficult to unpack at a hostel.
There are definitely more options when it comes to York’s bag as he has an average height. Initially we were planning to buy the Tortuga Backpack designed by real travelers. We really love the bag as it is packed full of really thoughtful features, however it was quite expensive as it requires to be shipped to Australia. The second runner-up bag was the Pacsafe Venturesafe 45L GII as it has all the features we wanted especially the anti-thief designs, however the bag is also quite expensive. We ended up getting Osprey Farpoint 40
It is important to choose a back-pack that allows us to open at the front not from the top.
You don’t have to travel in a carry-on size backpack if you don’t feel comfortable with it. The main why we travelling this light is because we try to avoid paying the excess baggage fees when flying budget airlines. If we were not limited to carry-on size, our choice would have been Osprey Farpoint 55
Osprey 40 S/M was perfect for a short person like me as the hip-belt was in the right place. Many of the standard size bags appears to have hip belts slightly too low and they will not support the weight of the bag properly.
Packing cubes are great for keeping your backpack organized and separate different types of clothes and making sure you pack your favorite men’s ultra soft flowy tee. The packing cubes that’s been recommended by a lot of travelers are Eagle Creek Travel Gear Pack-It Cube Set
We bought 3 sets of these Ikea Upptäcka Packing Bags and only used the ones we needed.
Base layers are layers that are close to your skin and can remove any sweat you produced. The two main base-layer materials are “synthetics/ polyester” or “merino
For York’s winter base layer we bought two 100% merino tops.
For base-layer bottom, I choose a pair of polyester material and a pair of 100% wool material for York. As we are travelling to Antarctica it is essential to have these bottom-base layer to keep warm. The polyester material may not be as warm as 100% wool, but it will be a good alternative for sleeping in.
The left one is polyester and the tight one is 100% merino. Merino was 5 times more expensive!
As for the short sleeves tops, we packed five polyester made T-Shirts for York. The reason is polyester materials are light-weight, quick dry and doesn’t retain moisture like cotton T-shirts. We particularly like New Balance Men’s Accelerate Short Sleeve Tee
performance tops packed into the same packing cube as the merino wool.
For underwear we were originally going to get them in quick-dry materials too, however Uniqlo boxers/ briefs were equally as good for the price you pay. So we packed 5 pairs of them into our packing cubes.
I did ask York to change his boxers to normal underwears to reduce space, but he refused.
All 4 pairs of pants and shorts rolled into the packing cube.
The primary purpose of a mid layer is insulation, it suppose to trap as much body heat as possible. It is acceptable to wear more than one mid layer to keep yourself warm. Since we will be going to Antarctica, we packed two types of mid layer- a fleece and a down jacket.
Fleece
Fleece is made of synthetic fibers which are quick dry and retains some insulation even when wet as the material repels small amount of water. The thicker the fleece the more wind-resistant they are, however the thicker the fleece the size and weight increases too so you have to compromise. Fleece is the cheapest mid-layer and I love its versatility when dressing casual!
Fleece is a perfect add-on for any plane rides, since sometimes the temperature on a flight can be a bit cold.
Down Jacket
A packable down jacket is essential for travelling light in winter as they are very warm and light-weight. “Down” is a type of fine feather which has strong insulating properties. A good down jacket can be quite expensive.There are 3 different ways to assess the quality of a down jacket:
The Down Jacket we got for York is from New Zealand’ leading outdoor brand Macpac- Uber Light Down Jacket Mens which has fill power of 650. But if you really want to choose the most value for money down jacket, Uniqlo Down Jackets are the way to go! It’s 90% down and 10% feather with a fill power of more than 640 and usually under USD$100. However if you are looking for a good down Jacket, Berghaus Men’s Ilam Down Jacket
Down jackets are so light and packable it is a winter travel essential.
One of the disadvantages of down jacket is that once it gets wet, it looses its insulation ability and that is why it is important to wear a waterproof layer over them.
The third layer to keep yourself warm in cold weather is the outer layer. Outer layer needs to be windproof or waterproof to keep your inner layers dry, especially if you are wearing a down jacket.
Waterproof Jackets & Pants
There are many different types of waterproof jackets. It is important to look at waterproof ratings (mm) and breath-ability when purchasing. Can read more on “Waterproof Ratings and Breathability Guide” which I found to be very useful. Often the breath-ability of a jacket decreases as waterproof rating increases, it is important to get a garment that is well balanced.
| Waterproof Rating (mm) | Resistance provided | What it can withstand |
| 0-5,000 mm | No resistance to some resistance to moisture | Light rain, dry snow, no pressure |
| 6,000-10,000 mm | Rainproof and waterproof under light pressure | Light rain, average snow, light pressure |
| 11,000-15,000 mm | Rainproof and waterproof except under high pressure | Moderate rain, average snow, light pressure |
| 16,000-20,000 mm | Rainproof and waterproof under high pressure | Heavy rain, wet snow, some pressure |
| 20,000 mm+ | Rainproof and waterproof under very high pressure | Heavy rain, wet snow, high pressure |
Personally I would get a garment that has GORE-TEX®
Kathmandu Gore-tex Jacket.
We particularly like Marmot’s Precip Range, such as Marmot Men’s Precip Jacket
York’s Macpac waterproof pants.
York’s sister told us we must have a good pair of waterproof pants when visiting Antarctica. As they will keep your bottom half dry and trap body heat. It is advisable to have at least 5000 mm waterproof rating on those pants. Again I really like Marmot Men’s Precip Pant
Hiking Shoes
As we will be doing numerous hikes during our journey. We decided to buy Merrell Men’s Moab Ventilator Hiking Shoes for York. The main differences between hiking shoes and hiking boots is that hiking boots offers more ankle support, however the downside is the weight.
York’s Merrell Moab Waterproof Hiking Shoes.
Sandals
We also prepared a pair of light-weight sandals for beach wear and shared bathroom in hostels. Originally we were going to choose a pair of hiking sandals such as Columbia Men’s Techsun Sandal (it was the lightest hiking sandal we could find), however at the end we decided to buy Teva Men’s Original Universal Sandal instead. Even though it wasn’t made for hiking, we figured York probably only wear them at night so it should be good enough.
Teva Original Universal Sandal
Accessories to keep warm. A good pair of gloves, scarf and beanie!
These days a large amount of our luggage space is dedicated to technology products. I must say about 1-2 kg of our luggage weight is given to them. As we will be travelling for a year and will be keeping up a blog, we have to purchase a laptop to use on the road. Ideally the best travel laptop would be Apple MacBook Air 13-inch Laptop
Our Asus Eeebook X205TA and our other technology products.
We also bought a new Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 IV
My new beloved Sony Rx100 M4
I also bought a JOBY GorillaPod
My packing extras to keep us comfortable.
Clothes
Acessaries
Don’t forget to pack medical kit and toiletries. Hopefully this can be a good baseline for your packing list for long term travel..
View Comments
Hi! I've been travelling with only hand luggage for 5 years and one thing I quickly realised is how much heavier your clothes become when they're sweaty or damp (at least 1 extra kg!).
For those that can't keep the weight down, a great tip is to get yourself a duty free carrier bag at the airport and put all your heavy items at the bottom. Most airports require airlines operating from their gates to allow 1 duty free bag on without a weight restriction. Best idea is to maybe buy a bag of crisps or sweets to sit on the top of course.
Regardless, I always identify the heaviest yet most compact items in my hand luggage that I can quickly remove to reduce the weight of my bag (like wearing a jacket and jumper or hanging the gorilla-pod from the sling strap of my camera). I've never once been stopped from carrying on my SLR when wearing the strap or hiding my heavy laptop charge in my back pocket.
Another great tip is to board early - you're less likely to be stopped by the crew and if you are you have time to put extra layers on/reduce your bag weight.
Great list - thank you very much :)