It’s pretty daunting to think about packing for a three month trip! That being said, the short answer to what you need to pack is – way less than you think! After all, you’ll almost certainly have a flat with a washer and even possibly a dryer. If you do laundry once a week, you really don’t need to pack more than a week’s worth of clothing. You should easily be able to fit all you need in one checked bag and a carry-on sized backpack – and even that is more than many digital nomads carry around.

My absolute rule is to never pack more than you yourself can handle. Our frequent flyer package allows us two free checked bags, a carry on and a personal item each, but that’s a lot for one person to deal with – and so I just don’t bring that much. I don’t want to have to rely on other people to get me through the airports, never mind fitting all that luggage into taxis or trains. When Al brings his bicycle, it’s a bit more challenging. Even though his bike collapses, it’s a full piece of checked luggage, and he needs extra gear for it, too. But we’ve still been able to keep the baggage down to three bags and two carry ons when he brings his bike now.  After our first trip to York when we WAAAY overpacked, we’ve learned that less really is better.

I started out with a checked bag, a roller carry on, and a small backpack as my personal item. I’ve since switched to a larger backpack instead of a small roller bag as my carry on to keep a hand free, and just have a shoulder bag purse as a personal item.  This way, if I really buy too many gifts and other goodies while I’m there, I can put my purse in a larger bag with other items and I’m still good to go!

I’m a big fan of packing cubes and compression bags. You can really fit a lot in a little bit of space with them! They have changed our concerns with packing from not being able to fit everything in our suitcases to our suitcases weighing too much. If weight becomes an issue, you can usually transfer the heavy stuff into your carry ons. The weight limit for checked baggage is usually 50 lbs (or 23 kilograms) and that’s usually our limiting factor, so buying lightweight baggage is really important.

A good tip for reducing your clothing – limit yourself to one base color. My travel wardrobe is nearly all black, with some white tops. That way, everything goes with everything else. Black shoes. Black belt. Black purse. The color is in a scarf, some jewelry maybe, and a just few tops with color mixed in. This just makes life so much simpler.

If you take prescription medicines, make sure that you have enough.  Contact your doctor about a month beforehand so you can be sure you have enough on hand for the duration of your trip.

Above all, don’t stress too much about forgetting something. There will be stores wherever you go. As long as you pack your passport and a credit card, you’re probably just fine.

Top Ten Non-Clothing Items to Pack

1. A sharp knife or two. I have yet to rent a flat where there is a decent knife in the kitchen.
2. Scissors. Very rare in an apartment and it’s surprising how much you’ll need a pair.
3. An Echo Dot. Maybe this is personal preference, because you may have all you need on your computer, but we use it for our alarm, for news, for weather, for directions and information about our area, and for music. We just find it easier than trying to look up and translate things.
4. A small day backpack – very lightweight. You’ll want one when you tour around, for grocery shopping, and if you need to have more space for going home, you can use it as a personal carry on.
5. A luggage scale. After we had to pack and repack our suitcases three times in the Florence airport to even out the weight between our bags, we made this very important purchase!
6. Universal outlet adapters. A must for anything outside of the Americas.
7. Kindles. You’ll want reading materials, and this way you can bring your entire library.
8. Your favorite guidebook of the city. You can leave it behind when you leave, but it’s really useful to have a print copy on hand.
9. Photocopies of research material you might need for work. Don’t bring entire books or journals. Just copy the pertinent pages and toss them when you’re done.
10. A few small gifts that are local from your area for special people you’ll meet, probably including your landlord. In our case, we have a local candy producer who makes awesome chocolates – a few cans come with us each trip.

10 Items you really don’t need to pack

1. Dressy stuff or more formal clothing. I did this for a long time – thinking I’d maybe go out to a nice place for dinner or a show. Never really happened, and when it did, I found I was able to sufficiently dress up a nice pair of pants and a top without bringing a fancy dress, hose and heels. Lots of places it was just silly – you can’t walk in heels on cobblestones anyway! Al usually brings a sportscoat, worn as a jacket when we travel, but that’s for business meetings by Skype. He’puts it on (often with shorts or even a bathing suit) and has his meeting, and then hangs it up again.
2. Jeans. I admit – I sometimes still bring one pair. But they’re heavy and take a really long time to dry. We’ve evolved to wearing clothing designed for outdoor sports. They are lightweight, dry quickly, pack really small, and are really, really practical. They also have styles that look really nice – you don’t have to look like you’re escaping a backwoods trail.
3. Really bulky clothing, even if you think you’ll need it. Nearly every place you go, there will be inexpensive stores or thrift shops. Buy your snowboots there, and then donate them when you leave.
4. A bathrobe. All that bulk! Bring a long cardigan if you think you really want one – you can wear it as a sweater and bathrobe both.
5. Shoes to match everything. Forget that. Limit yourself to one base color and bring good walking shoes. You’ll pretty much live in those.
6. Hair dryers, curling irons and razors that don’t use the voltage or plugs for where you’re going. Very easy to make this mistake!
7. Power chargers for every electronic you’re bringing, Get one universal and plug them all into that.
8. Any book that’s not a guidebook. Put it on your kindle, or if you can’t do that, photocopy the relevant pages. (I did that with research books I needed for writing.)
9. Lots of shampoos or personal care products you can buy when you get there. It’s a good chance you’ll find your regular brand where you’re going, and if you can’t, really, you’ll adapt to a different brand. You might even like it better.
10. Any cell phone without an affordable overseas package. We talk about options for affordable cell phones overseas here.

Our favorite clothing to pack

We like Kuhl brand slacks and shorts for our trips. They are expensive, but they are really durable and stain resistant. They have some lightweight varieties with lots of pockets that are great for travel.

I really like merino wool long sleeved shirts for layering. I actually found the ones I got in Costco, but never was able to find them there again. They’re terrific because they’re warm and very lightweight and pack down to nearly nothing.

If we’re going somewhere cold, we pack 2 pairs each of long johns, usually black. I can use the tops just as shirts, and the bottoms as tights, but of course also wear them under other things. Very useful. I especially like the lightweight silk ones.

I know they’re expensive, but we’ve found cashmere sweaters are the best for traveling. They are warm without being bulky and can dress up nicely. We bought a bunch of them while we were in Florence and wear them all the time.

My husband is a big fan of Columbia long sleeved shirts. He wears them under nearly everything, and even wears them in warmer weather because they’re so lightweight and keeps the sun off. They can rinse out and dry very quickly.

Costco sells a really great T shirt that is odor resistant and packs down to nearly nothing. They’re great for warmer climates.  Also really affordable.

I’ve learned always to pack a pashima scarf. I can use it with my coat to keep my neck warm, it can dress up a solid top or sweater (even the long john tops!) and in warmer climates, you often need something to put over your head or arms to tour a church. Very useful.

In beach and warmer climates, we recommend crocs. I know they’re not the height of fashion, but they’re so practical. In Bocas, they were practically the national footwear. Tropical climates are very rainy and often very muddy and crocs are pretty much indispensable. While flip flops are good, they don’t protect your feet like the crocs do, and you can use them as water shoes, too.