Wednesday, 14 March 2012

I'm packed! Away for two weeks.



I think I'm packed. Packing for Thailand is real easy - as a friend eloquently put it, "Sarong, check. Done.".

I'm just taking a 35l backpack for my two week holi-holiday.

It's easy to pack clothes - as few of them as possible. I hear the shopping in Bangkok is fabulous and totally inexpensive. I haven't got much more on the clothing side than what I'm wearing on the plane. Weather is hot so there's no need for bulky cold-weather kit.

It's the toys that's the hard part.

I'm not taking a laptop but I am taking my camera. I'm just not sure how to pack it (on top is what I figure). I've got it wrapped in a travel towel. My extra lens is in a sock (trick learned from Tony D and Alex D) and it is protected by clothing. I'm hoping to pick up a few camera things in Bangkok; I've got a filter on my list, another battery and maybe, just maybe, another lens. We'll see.

To go with it I need the battery charger and I've packed an external HDD so I can dump photos.

And there's my running stuff. Three tops, three shorts and three pairs of socks (in the humidity stuff may take a while to dry after washing). Luckily running gear doesn't take much space. And then I've packed my small hydration pack, which has enough space for my camera and munchies. Gonna need to carry water on my outings.

I've been debating for days about whether to take a rain jacket... March is a low rainfall month at 50mm and  it picks up in April as they move into the rainy season from May. Weather shows rain next week and I figure that if anything it will keep my camera dry. Me, I'm not too concerned about a little water when I running. Not like it's gonna be cold...

BIG decision is what running shoes to take - road or trail. I'm still a bit undecided. From reading online and looking at maps it seems there a good dose of tar but probably more trail and for the spots that I'm looking at hitting it is probably more dirt and trail than tar... so, I'm kinda swayed to trail shoes. My Adidas shoes are a little older and softer so they should do the trick. My Hi-Tecs probably won't like the tar too much. These will also be my walk around shoes; I've also packed a pair of sandals.

I've also packed my little iGot-U GPS tracking device to log my adventures - just for fun. Will only see my tracks criss-crossing the island when I get back.

And then I've got my Yogitoes, a 'towel' type thing that goes over my yoga mat. This is afterall a running AND yoga holiday. I'd like to take my mat but haven't yet tried to attach it to my main backpack, which is small enough at 35-litres to be carry-on luggage. Pack has straps so this should work out A-ok.

And then there are lotions and potions. Although I pack light on these things there's still moisturiser, toothpaste and brush, sunblock, showergel... it adds up.

As it stands, my pack is not full and I've still got good enough space for some clothing from Bangkok, where I'll be on Friday and Saturday. If I didn't have the toy thing happening my pack would be positively empty!

I've made myself some maps of Bangkok with places I want to go see. I've put them on my phone - the joy - and I'm sure I'll pick up more at the airport and around. I cannot resist maps.

This is just so absolutely exciting. A proper, proper holi-holiday ;)

Although I've got toys, I'm abandoning almost everything else. No email, no articles, no reports, no blogs, no FB... Yes, this is AdventureLisa going offline! Hip-hip-hooray!

I'll be seeing y'all in just over two weeks. Happy days.