You have to prepare for this kind of packing. I mean prepare literally by buying some stuff in advance (e.g. comfy backpacks, light towels, etc.) and prepare mentally – everything you take you’ll be carrying yourself. For the whole year. Believe me, the heavier the backpack, the less excitement you’ll have during your trip. This is especially true for women who wish they could take a different dress for each day. Take only those clothes which weight less and take less space in your bag. Otherwise, after several long walks with half of your closet on your back you’ll just throw away the clothes you don’t need. Believe me, been there, done that (look at the picture above).
There is a saying that if you want to travel far you have to travel light. This is damn right. Since our plan was to go far enough, we were seriously counting how many pairs of socks or trousers we could take each. Day and night creams, powder? Forget about that! The best cosmetics you will have will be lots of water, fresh food and the sun.
It’s a myth that for a long journey you have to take more stuff than for a short one. You only need clothes you would usually use for one-week vacation. And after that you just have to wash everything. We both took equal number of clothes: 5 underwear, socks and t-shirts, 1 pair of long trouser, 2 shorts and sweaters, comfy sneakers and flip-flops. And this is absolutely enough to last for half a year. Ok ok, since my husband’s clothes were bigger, I had a bit space left for one light dress.
Also, don’t forget to do your homework and check the weather forecast, furthermore, consider your hobbies and activities you are planning as stuff for those might take some extra space. In our case there was no point to take warm clothes, since we’ll be following good weather, however, we love to take photos, so our gear takes a lot more space than clothes.