Two Weeks in Australia, One Backpack

I leave for Australia tomorrow.

After weeks of planning flights, hotels, homestays, dinners, walks, cameras, bags and everything else that goes into a trip like this, there was only one thing left to do:

Actually pack.

I’m going to Australia for two weeks, moving between Sydney, the Blue Mountains and Bondi Beach. I wanted to keep the setup relatively simple, but I also know myself well enough to know I’m not going to travel with three shirts and a toothbrush just to prove that I can.

The goal wasn’t to pack as little as possible.

It was to pack what I’ll actually use.

Clothes Are the Easy Part

Clothes are probably the least interesting part of packing for me.

I have enough shirts, shorts, underwear and socks to get through the trip with laundry somewhere in the middle. Nothing revolutionary here. Everything needs to be comfortable, easy to wear and capable of surviving being stuffed into a backpack.

There are also a couple things that might look unnecessary until you know me.

House slippers are coming.

This is strategic.

Hotel and Airbnb floors gross me out, and I don’t like walking around barefoot. Hotels sometimes provide slippers, but I have size 13 feet. The cute little complimentary slippers aren’t exactly built for me.

So I bring my own.

Some Things Are Non-Negotiable

My LOCHBY Pocket Journal and five-year journal are coming with me.

There really isn’t a decision to make here.

I write in both every day. They’re part of my daily routine at home, and traveling halfway around the world doesn’t change that. If anything, those are the days I especially want written down.

Books are a different story.

I have a habit of bringing bigger books on trips because I imagine all this glorious reading time I’m going to have on planes, trains and quiet mornings.

Sometimes I read them.

Sometimes I carry a heavy book thousands of miles around the world and bring it home barely touched.

So I have a new rule: only bring one or two smaller books.

That gives me something to read without dedicating a ridiculous amount of backpack space to the possibility that I suddenly become the world’s most productive vacation reader.

The journals are non-negotiable.

The library is not.

The Electronics Department

This is where packing gets dangerous.

I’m leaving the laptop at home, which removes one of the biggest and heaviest things I’d normally travel with.

But this is also an NRDLIFE trip, so I’m bringing gear to capture it.

The DJI Action 4 and DJI Mic 2 are coming. I’m bringing the HoverAir drone, two disposable cameras and my Sony headphones for the flights.

There will be plenty of phone footage too.

I’m trying to find the balance between documenting the trip and actually experiencing it. I don’t need every moment recorded. I just want enough pieces that I can tell the story later.

Then There Are the Snacks

I take long-haul snacking seriously.

Dried dates. Mango. Beef jerky. Chomps. Fruit bars. Cornbread crisps. Bamba. Chocolate. Sour jelly beans.

This is not an accident.

Flying to Australia means a very long stretch of airports, airplanes and airplane meals. I don’t want to be completely dependent on whatever food happens to appear in front of me.

I want all the flavors – sweet, salty, and sour. And I need protein too! ☺️

Trader Joe’s has a supreme snack selection. For a trip like this, it’s hard to beat. Dried fruit, jerky, chocolate, crunchy things, weird little snacks I probably didn’t need but absolutely wanted — they’ve got the whole operation covered.

Everything Has to Fit

This is the part I love.

You can lay everything out on the floor and convince yourself you’ve completely lost control.

Then the packing cubes come out.

Things disappear.

Zippers close.

And suddenly it looks reasonable again.

That’s it.

My travel backpack. A packable Eddie Bauer tote. A small personal-item bag.

No checked suitcase.

There are definitely things I could leave behind. There are probably things I’ll come home having barely touched. That’s part of figuring out your travel system.

Every trip teaches me something.

What mattered and what didn’t

Things I wished I’d brought.

And the stuff that just took up space.

A few days ago I wrote about how you don’t always need better gear. This feels like the other half of that idea.

You also don’t need the perfect packing list.

You need a setup that works for you.

Mine includes daily journals, a couple small books, camera gear, Trader Joe’s supreme snack selection and a pair of size-13 house slippers.

The planning is done.

The bag is packed.

Now I get to live it.

NRDLIFE.