I think we may have… over prepared.

So. Much. Gear.

The truth is, some of that kit will be lifesaving, and some of it will prove completely unnecessary. So rather than obsessively documenting everything we’re taking before we go, I’m going to field test the gear and use this post to share the winners. And losers. Sometimes it’s as important to know what didn’t work as what did.

So keep an eye on this post. I’ll update it as winners and losers reveal themselves.

By the way, we don’t make any money from referring products. The links below are clean, not affiliate links. We’re not influencers (no one’s given us anything), and we’re not promoting products. We’re just sharing what’s worked for us.

Winners

Salux Japanese Wash Cloth

Pants

Sure, don’t leave home without them. But I’m referring to specific pants: the Bluffworks Ascender Chinos. Their basic specs are great for travel: they’re light, machine washable, wrinkle and stain resistant, and comfortable. They’re available as shorts, and come in six colors. But the reason they make this list is the pockets. Ten in the chinos, nine in the shorts. Zippered, interior, exterior… They’re everywhere.

I brought a very nice sling pack. Fine, murse. It’s lightweight, is beautifully organized, and holds a ton. But unless we’re going on a day trip, I leave it at home. I can distribute all of what I need to carry for just walking about in my various pockets. Everything is super accessible, I have one less thing to manage, my valuables are all tucked away and secure, and I’m not carrying something that is an obvious theft target.

Airalo Global eSIM

Not technically gear, but essential nonetheless. More information here, but the bottom line is that we both have full coverage in 86 countries for about $10/month each. That buys us over 3gb/month of data. Is that enough? I’m using about 1.5gb/month, Dorothy even less. At 124 countries, there are places we’ll go that aren’t on the list, but there are regional and local eSIMs that will cover us. Not at $10/month, but that’s an incredible price for seamless service in 124 countries.

Portable Tote Bags

We started with different tote bags, but we’ve replaced them with the NanoBags. They’re incredibly light, less than an ounce, and fold down to almost nothing. Carrying multiples in a purse or day bag is super practical. The two we have below are 19 liters in capacity and hold up to 66 pounds. They’re made of some kind of space age nylon polymer fabric that’s super strong and super light. We’ve ordered another in XL, which holds up to 25 liters. And, not for nothing, they come in some great fabrics. These are a must have.

Cloops

Originally a Kickstarter, they’re available to civilians now. They’re rubber cable ties with magnetic ends, but they’re good for so much more. Our bathroom doesn’t have a hook for a hand towel, so Dorothy has sewn a loop into a towel, threaded a Cloop through it, and run it through the toothbrush holder. Indispensable for moving in and organizing.

Tego Tool Wraps

Tool wraps are a beautiful thing. I’m a big fan of Tego, which was also originally a Kickstarter, but there are plenty of options. We’ve brought three: one for a first aid kit (using the latest Tego version), one for a tool kit, and one Dorothy made for herself for a sewing kit. Some things are fine to just put away in drawers, but some things you want all of at once.

UPDATE We’re currently only using the tool wrap for the tool kit, having ditched the wrap for first aid. It was a little bulky and awkward for that use, so we’ve switched to small mesh bags to organize the different elements of our first aid kit.

The Tool Kit

Who wants to face the unknown without a tool kit? When we were planning, this was one of those things that seemed most likely to look unnecessary in retrospect, but has turned out to be brilliant. We’ve brought: Hammer, saw, vice grips, needle nose pliers, utility knife, flashlight, tie downs, multi-bit screwdriver, and mini screwdriver set. Which is not a complete list. A couple of weeks into our journey, and we’ve already used about half of the tools.

Portable Speakers

We brought a pair of Bang & Olufsen BeoSound A1s, which seemed like the sweet spot balancing weight and performance. Which made them the sour spot on price, but you get what you pay for. They sound amazing and can be paired for stereo.

We use them for TV, not just music. I connect my laptop to the TV in our apartment with an HDMI cable, power up the speakers, and we watch whatever we like through our VPN connection. We appear to be in the US, so all of our subscriptions work as before.

Water Purifier

Even if you can’t drink it from the tap, drinking water is available everywhere, right? Well, pretty right. But depending on your location, getting drinking water to your home can be pretty awkward. Water is heavy.

We had several people recommend traveling with a water purifier, and they turned out to be completely correct (shout out to Nef and Ed). We have an MSR Guardian, which removes viruses, bacteria, and protozoa from water. It’s a gravity feed, so no pumping.

It’s spendy, but it will eventually pay for itself. More than that, though, the convenience of having safe drinking water on demand is worth the price of admission.

Ikea Storage Containers

We suspected that we’d be shy of storage containers, for leftovers and such, at most of our apartments. Rather than travel with a set, we figured we’d just buy what we needed at each stop and leave them behind. That kind of plastic seems pretty cheap, and then we wouldn’t have to pack and manage storage containers.

Cuba was next on our list, and that’s when the decision to keep them really paid off, because containers of any kind simply weren’t available. The set has turned out to be the Swiss Army knife we didn’t know we needed.

We’ve used them as: leftover storage, mixing bowls, spice jars, cutlery holders, water jugs, ice trays, and a foot bath. In fact, they’re better ice trays than the ice trays we keep buying and leaving behind. 3/4 of an inch of filtered water in the bottom of a container, overnight in the freezer, and then popped into a ziplock (a box of ziplocks is also essential gear) and hit with a hammer to make ice cubes. Because of course we have a hammer.

I feel silly that we didn’t think of this in advance, but I’m delighted we were able to get to an Ikea in CDMX. These are indispensable.

Losers

Wine Wings

VPN Router

I brought a GL.iNet travel VPN router with us. My theory was that I could just plug the router into the back of the cable modem wherever we’re staying, and all of our devices would connect to a known network without having to login to the local network, and with all of the protections of the VPN.

And that’s exactly how it worked! It just seems kind of unnecessary. Our phones still need to be connected to our VPN provider, so they’re protected when we’re outside. And the hassle of connecting to the apartment’s wifi and using the VPN app on all our devices just isn’t that big a deal. It’s a very small object, but it doesn’t seem to be pulling its weight in value.

Bath Towels

We love our Onsen bath towels. So much so that we brought them with us. And there’s no question that they’re superior to whatever we might get in our rental apartments. But we brought two carry-on and three checked bags, all five stuffed to the weight limit, and we need to slim down.

So, sadly, the Onsens have been sent back to live in the States in storage until we are reunited on our eventual return. Along with the third checked bag, excess clothes, some card games, and the like. Enough stuff to make sure that there’s room left over in the other four bags that we don’t have to throw something out every time we buy something. It’s not just a lot to manage, it’s also expensive, as we’re paying for every checked bag each time we fly.

Losers That Used To Be Winners

Apple Watch

This is what I had to say early in our travels:

I’ve been wearing an Apple Watch for over three years, and love the convenience. But what makes it indispensable for travel is its integration with the Maps app on my iPhone. I set a destination in Maps, and then dump the phone in a zippered pocket. If I need to check directions, everything is displayed on my watch. As a traveler, it’s so much less obtrusive to check your watch while you’re out than to walk around with your phone in your hand. I feel more secure and much less a target. If this were the only thing the Apple Watch did, it would be worth it.

None of which has really changed. You know what changed? I got a tattoo on my left wrist, and I don’t want to cover it up. I’m willing to lose the utility of the watch in order to be a better canvas.

In theory I could keep the watch and just wear it on those occasions when the map functionality is critical. In practice, I’m probably going to sell it. My vanity knows no bounds.

Portable Monitor

This is what I had to say early in our travels:

I brought a 17″ portable ASUS monitor with us. I was pretty certain that if there was one thing in the entire kit that was stupid, this would be it. After all, we’re airbnb-ing. Where would we be that wouldn’t have a TV I could plug into?

As it turns out, our second stop in Mexico City. We even used it at our first stop, in Oaxaca. There was a TV there, and it was larger than 17″. But the image quality was way poorer than the ASUS, and we wound up sticking it in a closet.

I also use it as a second monitor on occasion. That use alone wouldn’t warrant bringing it along, but it’s definitely nice to have. It’s really useful when I’m reviewing photos for the blog.

With this and the B&O speakers, we have a fully functional home theater setup. I wouldn’t travel without it.

Every word of that is still mostly true. So what moved it from Winner to Loser? Weight. Look, would I rather watch movies on a 17″ monitor than my MacBook’s 13.4″ monitor? Silly question. Next…

But we’ve learned that we can’t travel with our luggage at full capacity, or something as simple as buying a cool pair of shoes becomes a debate over what to throw out to make room for them. Something had to go to create a little room in our bags, and this, sadly, has now been left behind.

But I will never lose the speakers. The display on my MacBook Air is excellent. It’s just smaller than the portable monitor. But laptop speakers are not excellent. Only being able to listen to music through laptop speakers is just a little too hair shirt for my taste.

Misses

• GooGone
  • We’d expected to buy a certain amount of leave-behind housewares at every stop. Things that made a multi-month stay gracious, that were cheap enough to leave behind but too bulky or heavy to take with us from stop to stop. We hadn’t accounted for how many shitty labels that would require removing from objects. A small vial of GooGone has been added to the kit.