Essentials

As I close out on my second to last work week before we fly out I find myself reading every article I can about backpacking must-brings, wondering how many different outfits I can make using the clothes I'm planning on packing, and hoping I won't forget to pack those essentials. I think hindsight will be best for this trip and I'll probably post a whole other "essentials" list once we're home, but for now, here's a small portion of what's going in the pack.

Among those essentials are wet wipes, super sudsy all purpose liquid soap, sunscreen and of course bug spray (not pictured). I'm fairly happy with my wardrobe so far, and it includes a few print dresses that won't wrinkle, a casual, could-also-pass-for-dressy black cardigan, a few bright bikinis, and those Levi's shorts I made from a pair of mens jeans found in a local thrift shop ($6). Oh, and those billowy pants that everyone seems to wear while travelling - I've totally jumped on that bandwagon. We'll likely bring Josh's Swahili phrase book, and also my travel journal that includes our full itinerary and my own hand made guidebook.

Ya, ya, I make my own guidebook. This stems from the days I travelled Europe in 2009 where wifi didn't really exist on cell phones. So to avoid busting out my laptop every two seconds I had cut out maps and made my own guidebook from all the great sites I referenced in my planning. I still have my Europe one and it brings me right back to my trip when I take it out today. So while we likely won't get to half of the restaurants and attractions I've noted in there, the planner in me is satisfied knowing all of my hard work researching will be at the ready in my cute little travel journal.

Counting down, 10 sleeps until takeoff, it can't come fast enough.