To Pack or Not to Pack. That is the Question

Over the long months of planning and getting ready a question we’ve often had is “what and how are you packing?” The easy answer is probably too much while simultaneously not enough. I think we’re currently somewhere between take your passport, Visa card and a swim suit (which seemed to work in our 20s) to everything but the kitchen sink; which as we have kids and move around the country sometimes feels like we’re the Sharp travelling circus. Showing up at various places with golf clubs, dog crates, duffle bags, backpacks and suitcases packed a mile high!

As we’ve gone over a few practice packs and different versions of gear, I thought I’d try to share the thought process that we went into our final iteration. We first started with the question: to carry-on or not carry-on?  I think with how much we’re moving we quickly decided that carry-on was the way to go. We also came to the realization pretty quickly that although we’re not having an endless summer, we were definitely going to avoid that fluffy white stuff that invades Canada every winter. The ability to avoid parkas and wool socks also allows for a more streamlined carry-on experience.

I’ve been pretty spoiled as of late with my carry on game as a pilot. I get special treatment while travelling with work, in uniform and with my security badge I breeze through security able to flash my industry badge anytime someone gives a weird look at my slightly oversized carry-on. Even allowed to take cheap bottles of water through security tucked into my jacket pocket-presumably so the regular passengers don’t see me smuggling water onto a plane! I’m slowly coming to grips with having to travel with the rest of the riffraff.

With the decision made to carry-on as much as possible we started to research the best suitcases, backpacks, or mules to get us around. We eventually settled on a set of Cotopaxi backpacks. These vary in size from 35L to 42L, which seems extremely small when we think about it. The nice thing about the backpacks is that they open up like a suitcase, have many different zippered compartments and come in many different colours.

While we were sharing our plans with friends and family one of the questions Erin was asked often was “how many shoes are you taking?”. Through many deliberations and packing versions Erin finally decided on 3 pairs; trail hikers, sandals, and flats. Very fastidious of her! Many of the low cost carriers across Europe and Asia that you can get an airfare for the cost of a postage stamp scrutinize the weight of your bags with a micro-scale. So 3 pairs seems like a very noble sacrifice. Weirdly no one ever asked me the shoe question.

Each kid has had difficult decisions to make as well; how much weight do they want to carry vs. how many toys should they take. The job of a quartermaster/parent is to make sure the packing list is equal to the ability to carry said load. Thankfully after our first pack each kid said “hey this doesn’t weigh nearly as much as I thought”. I think the Canadian pastime of portaging a canoe trip has paid off! After all was said and done Jasper has come to the conclusion that he can take more of his beloved stuffies with him globetrotting.

We have read and hand-picked packing lists from others and have settled on what will be our initial bag load of gear-pretty confident we are not destined to return with anything we originally pack. We are now setting off with all our worldly possessions strapped to our backs ready for our grand adventure. Let’s hope that 3 pairs of shoes, a couple swimsuits each and 6 pocket-stuffies is enough.

Thank you to everyone that has signed up for our blog. We hope to share our adventures with you over time. Our goal is not to over do it but to share as we go every week or so. This post also works to test a couple features on the back end as this post was scheduled to go live as we fly by Greenland.

Happy trails!

Ian

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