Pack for the Long Haul: My Complete Packing List For One Year Abroad

Packing. It is one of the most anxiety-inducing elements of travelling for some and an exciting part of the process for others. I'm in the latter category. Figuring out what you need, what you really need, and what you can leave behind is an arduous process for every trip, but for a year-long, around-the-world expedition, it becomes a daunting task. I spent months (about ten) packing, unpacking, and testing my packing list to perfect it before leaving in June of 2023, and even after all that time, I still got some things wrong. My friend Jo was in the same boat, and she changed her wardrobe several times in her travels.

In the end, packing is what you make of it, and everyone has different preferences. Some are militant minimalists (like the crew at PackHacker), while others are notorious over-packers (like Christian over at Backpacking Bananas). I like to think I'm in the middle. I want more than three pairs of underpants, but I want to be able to carry my bag on the plane if at all possible (at least for the airlines that don't weigh your bags!). This packing list is what I ultimately settled on.

Jo's and my bags in the DFW airport as we await our first flight to Paris!

Bags. When travelling the world, your bag is your home. If you love it, everything will be great. If you hate it, every bus stop, train ride, and hostel checkout will be a nightmare. YouTube is saturated with travel bag reviews, and every traveller has their ideas and preferences for what makes a great travel bag. Some want lightweight hiking packs, others want convenient clam shells, while others still like compartmentalisation. There is no ubiquitous right answer for what the best bag for you is; you just have to try them out and find what works for you.

• Erblestock Halftrack. My trusty Halftrack was the best choice for me. When I was in the military, it served as my flyaway bag for helicopter trips across Iraq; now, on the road, it's as much a part of me as my shoes. I like the compartments, as they allow me to keep my shoes separate from my clothes and my less-used items out of the way of the main compartment. The bag is durable, covered in MOLLE straps to clip carabiners and pouches to, and has an adjustable back pad to change where it sits on my back. It has been all over the world with me over the last 7 years, and there is no way I'm giving it up any time soon. The only negative about the bag is its weight. Because it was built for military, police, and other tactical operations, it is built to last with heavy-duty material, which brings it to just over 3kg, which is a lot if you are trying to go carry-on only.

  
  

• Eddie Bauer Stowaway. I bought this bag on a whim at an outlet in Colorado, and I have never looked back. It's durable, water resistant (ish, in light drizzles), and surprisingly spacious. It doesn't pack up super tiny, but I also don't expect it to; my day bag is almost never packed away. I love the separate compartment for a water bladder or computer, its flat bottom, and the two external pouches (which I use for my phones, wallet, and passport when on the move). I have no complaints about this bag at all.

  
  

• Fox Tactical Messenger Bag. Ok, maybe I wanted this bag for the Indiana Jones-esque look it gives, but that doesn't change the fact that it has been my most faithful travel companion for the last almost ten years. This is my computer bag, around town bag, lunch pale, and it even served as my ammunition bandolier on my deployment to Africa. It holds everything I don't want to put in my backpack: computer, notebooks, power banks and cables, Kindle, spare wallet, sunglasses, and the list goes on. It easily fits inside of my Eddie Bauer Stowaway while leaving enough room for things like my towels and the occasional book. I love this bag, and I will be really upset when it finally wears out. Unfortunately, for a lot of good reasons, I have begrudgingly decided not to take in on the upcoming Wayfarer expedition, more for reasons of practicality than anything else while on the long treks.

  
  

• SeaToSummit UltraSil Large Rain Cover. Rain is inevitable, so it's best to be prepared! This rain cover was big enough to cover my backpack even with stuff clipped to the outside.

Clothes. Some will call me a heretic for this one, but I believe in bringing a fair amount of clothes for the length of your trip. I don't mind re-wearing things or doing laundry in the sink, but there is a lower limit to how much I'm willing to live like I'm truly homeless (I am, technically, but that's not the point). I'm also a guy, though, so I can wear the same shirt a few times (or the same colour shirt), and no one will care. In general, I like to wear long pants, an undershirt, and a collared shirt, which was how I planned my wardrobe. For cooler climates, I brought along a couple of long-sleeved Henleys to reinforce the Nathan Drake look, and for beach cities I brought a couple of pairs of shorts. Jo and I did laundry about every two weeks, which meant I would wear pants and shirts four or five times, but in general socks and underwear would only be twice, which was acceptable when using sinks to wash things and airing out clothes overnight instead of packing them away after a long day exploring cities. I changed out some of the polos and pants along the way, but overall, I kept to this wardrobe.

• 5x Under Armour shirts - For undershirts in Europe and outerwear in the Sahara. Can never go wrong with Under Armour!

• 3x Polos - Nothing special. I just like wearing collared shirts.

• 2x APT 9 Henleys - I love Henleys in the cold weather, so these were a natural fit.

• 3x Wrangler Flex Waist Outdoors Cargo Pants - My go-to travel pants. They're just hot enough in the summer, just cold enough in the winter, and they don't look like I should be leading a scouting trip.

• 2x O’Neill Reserve Heather Hybrid Shorts - These doubled as my swim shorts, and I plan on using them as my daily hiking wear on some of the trek for the Wayfarer expedition.

• 1x Basketball Shorts (for sleeping)

• 9x Adidas Performance Underpants - Performance underwear prevents chafing, is moisture-wicking, and doesn't smell (that much)

• 1x George Hoodie - Nothing special. Just a cheap, packable hoodie that has survived WAY longer than is should have.

• 1x Muji Nylon Lightweight Down Jacket - I bought it in New York, so I decided to use it. Any puff jacket will do; this is just the one I had.

• 1x Colombia Glennaker Shell - A MUST. Colombia-brand waterproof jackets are, in my opinion, the best on the market. Mine is oversized, so it fits over my messenger bag.

• 7x Pairs Darn Tough Hiking Socks - You need good socks. I like the Darn Tough brand. Several years later, these socks are still going!

• 1x Brown Belt - It didn't survive, and I replaced it in Australia with a cotton web belt similar to what I wore in the military.

• 1x Cloth Belt - This one is still going, and I use it for my shorts.

Hats. I'm a hat guy, a holdover from my military days. I hate being outside without a hat on. I'll even wear a hat while swimming in the ocean. I started out my journey with two hats, went up to three, back down to two, back up to three, and back down to two again.

• Blue Chair Bay Trucker Hat. My trusty baseball cap that I've had for more than ten years. I don't walk around in a baseball cap all the time, but when I'm in shorts or hiking, I do. Europeans don't like baseball caps, which I get, but that doesn't change anything for me.

  
  

• Goorin Bros Henry Jones. I bought this hat in 2017 for my first trip to Africa for the military, because I needed a crushable, wide-brimmed hat (I wore cowboy hats all the time back then, but flying with them was annoying on a good day). The Henry Jones has been with me ever since, and many people have referred to is as a legend. Crushable, durable, stylish, it broke my heart when I noticed a small hole developing in the crown in Egypt. While it doesn't go on as many adventures these days, it will forever hold a piece of my heart right next to my messenger bag.

  
  

• Akubra Angler. My new wide-brimmed hat may not be crushable, but I don't know if I could have picked a better successor to the Henry Jones. The Angler has a slightly wider brim, which I love as it gives a distinctive traveller-meets-Texas look that so many Spaniards complimented me on during my Aficionado tour. My only complaint about it was the plastic cover over the Akubra logo inside the crown, which trapped heat when traipsing through the jungles in Cambodia. That complaint went away when my friend Andy suggested I cut it out with a razor blade (which he had done with his Akubra). With Akubra's legendary craftsmanship, I'm willing to bet this will be the last travel hat I ever buy

  
  

• Paper straw fedora. Well, it gets hot in Italy and Spain in the summer, so I bought a 12 Euro straw fedora off a street vendor in Pisa to wear out in the sun. I wouldn't have bought it if I didn't like the look, but I did, so I did. It wasn't built to last, though, and it found itself left behind in the Marrakech airport.

  
  

Shoes. Your choice of shoes is your second-most important decision when hitting the road (in my opinion). A good pair of shoes will keep your back, knees, and feet from hurting, while a bad pair will be pain-induced regret every time you put them on. It's easy to overdo it with shoes, especially for women, so discipline and forethought are essential when deciding on which ones you need. In general, I always have three sets of footwear: everyday boots, low-top hiking shoes, and sandals. I've been told to drop one of the sets of boots/shoes, but I like having the alternate pair for different environment, occasions, and outfits.

• Timberland Earthkeepers. My everyday boots in long pants that have far surpassed my expectations. I had only three criteria for my boots: 1) brown 2) high-top 3) moderately durable. Cowboy boots were out of the question for as much walking as we were going to do, and they didn't really work with my Wranglers anyways. I found these Earthkeepers at Dillard’s, and I was sold. They didn't hurt my knee, they looked fantastic, and their reputation online was great. I have zero complaints, and the only reason I didn't buy another pair for the Wayfarer expedition is because I'm taking two pairs of Keen low-top hiking boots instead.

  
  

• Merrell Moab 3 Boots. These were a good idea that turned out not to be. I wanted hiking boots that could handle the street of Paris and the mountains of New Zealand equally well. These boots could certainly do that, but they hurt my bad knee due to their lack of cushion. I eventually opted almost exclusively for my Timberlands, even when wearing shorts, because my knee hurt every time I wore the Merrells. I'm sure they're great for some people; just not me. After San Fermin in 2024 (where they served their final purpose as my fiesta shoes), I dumped them into the bin.

  
  

• Keen Targhee 3 Boots. My replacements for the Merrells, I had a pair of these for hiking when I lived in Colorado. I should have taken them in the first place, because they look good, handle most environments well, and don't hurt my knee. My only complaint about them is their aggressive trail tread can catch on cobblestone streets, which tears up the sole if you're not careful.

  
  

• Astral PFD Sandals. Sandals are sandals. I picked these because of their durable sole and flat design (packing space is always at a premium). Like the Merrells, after a while, they hurt my bad knee, but they were everyday shoes, so I got over it. They're still in my bag today. If I was going to wear sandals all the time (like Jo did), I would opt for a different brand (she loves Tevas), but for my purposes, these work great.

  
  

• 2x Bowling Shoe Covers. For whichever pair of boots was in the bag. These kept dirt, sticky stuff, and God knows what else from getting on the other things in my bag while also allowing me to pack my shoes individually (which shoe bags don't allow).

Electronics. It's a fact of life that we live in an interconnected, digital world. We all travel with electronics every day, especially writers and photographers. They take up a lot of space, so I put a decent amount of thought into what I was going to carry and why.

• Microsoft Surface Go - I like the Surface Go series from grad school. That's all the logic that went into the computer choice.

• Kindle - I like the Paperwhite version

• Google Pixel 7 (Home Phone) - I kept it in airplane most of the time, but I wanted to keep it in case of emergency. Because of its storage capacity, I used this phone for editing and uploading social media posts and YouTube videos.

• Google Pixel 4 (Travel Phone) - My everyday phone that I connected to local cell networks and Wi-Fi across the globe. I used a separate phone for security reasons, a habit I picked up from my military days. For the Wayfarer expedition, I've upgraded to a Pixel 9.

• Old LG Phone (Media) - It has an SD slot, so I could put all sorts of music and movies on it to free up space on my other phones. I used it more like an iPod Touch (dating myself there...) than anything else.

• 2x Power Banks - Lesson learned from my trip to Hawaii: always carry two power banks.

• Picka Power Block - My preferred plug adapter (NOTE: it does NOT convert power, only adapts the plugs).

• Ale-Hop Ear Buds - Cheap wireless ear buds from Madrid that have a surprising lifespan.

• GoPro Hero 8 w/ Media Mod and Tripod - My primary GoPro for recording the adventure! I got it for cheap on a skydiving forum, and everything about it works great. The media mod improves the sound and lets me mount the external microphone.

• GoPro Hero 7 w/ Dive Housing - For diving and rainy days.

• 2x GoPro Battery Chargers - Having six or seven charged batteries really helps when you're on the go!

• GoPro External Microphone - Bought one in Morocco, lost it in Iraq, bought another one in Iraq, it's still going. Great for windy days or direction sound needs.

Identification. Okay, this may seem self-explanatory, but it would surprise you how many people forget their ID cards when they are travelling! I had several, and I kept them all in different wallets and parts of my bag, so I would always have an ID should something happen or one get stolen.

• Passport w/ Cover

• Passport Card

• Driver's License

• Digital Driver's License (on my phone)

• VA ID Card

• 2x Medical Insurance Cards

• 2x Dental Insurance Cards

• 4x Passport Photos

• Clear bag to keep copies of everything in

Toiletries and First Aid. We all have our toiletry needs. These were mine. They're all self-explanatory. I used an attachable MOLLE pouch as my toiletry bag.

• Toothbrush and Toothpaste

• Electric Shaver

• Deodorant

• ZzzQuil Capsules

• Imodium Tablets

• Claritin

• Ibuprofen

• Personal Medication (for PTSD)

• Band-Aids

• Antibiotic Creme

• Athlete's Foot Creme

• Antihistamine (after Cambodia)

• Shot Record (on Yellow Fever Card)

• COVID Card

• Malaria Pills (Malarone)

Other Random Stuff. If only travel was as simple as bags, clothes, and shoes! I carried several other things that I used almost every day (and some that I didn't...).

• Ray-Ban Cockpit Sunglasses

• Vincero Outrider Watch

• Sport Watch

• Mares Smart Dive Computer

• 3x Wallets

• Shemagh

• Fleece Cap

• Buff

• Small Notebook

• Pens

• Headlamp

• Phone Stand

• Sheet

• Pillow case

• SeaToSummit Aeros Pillow

• SeaToSummit Reactor Extreme Sleeping Bag Liner

• Sleeping Mask

• Mask and Snorkel

• Sea to Summit Collapsible Bowl/Cup Set

• Mainstays Silicone Bag

• UCO Spoon/Fork Combination

• Minipresso Espresso Machine

• Minipresso tank+

• 3L Hydration Bladder

• SeaToSummit 2L Dry Bag

• Laundry Bag

• Sashes and Pañuelos (for San Fermin)

• SeaToSummit XL Pocket Towel (for the beach)

• 3x Locks

• Polyte Microfibre Towel (for showers)

• 2x Bungee Cords

• Carabiners

• Various Water Bottles (I lost several along the way)