My 1 Month Road Trip Packing List

Some of my friends have been asking me about what I took with me on my one month motorbike road trip from Yogyakarta to Labuan Bajo, Flores (I made some stops during the road trip: Ijen, Lovina, Ubud, Kuta Lombok, Gili Trawangan, Kenawa island in Sumbawa, and many more that I haven’t written about! Oh no!) They’ve been quite curious about what it is like travelling by motorbike and carrying all of the things that I need for one month worth of travelling. So I want to give you a glimpse of my packing list and share some tips. Hopefully it is useful 🙂

Firstly, in my opinion travelling light is better. Whether you are travelling with a suitcase with wheels or a backpack, it always came back to the fact that travelling light is more hassle-free and less stress. Of course some people may not agree with me. A friend said that she needed to change her clothes every day. It means that if she is travelling for 10 days, she might end up bringing at least 10 different sets of clothes. I would love to change my clothes, be stylish and have a different look everyday, but bringing so many sets of clothes is just not efficient. My advice to her would be to try to mix and match and never fill up more than 80% of your bag. Leave some space for souvenirs or anything that you might end up buying along your journey. Right?

Here is what I brought on my trip:

– Laptop and charger
– Camera, charger and underwater case
– Polaroid camera – What for? I like to give away the polaroid photo to some random children along the journey. Their happy faces when received their pictures straight away is priceless. Happiness is mine.
– Toiletries bag – Tooth brush, tooth paste, deodorant, small bottle of body wash, small bottle of shampoo, lighter, mascara, lip-balm, lipstick, nail cutter, band-aid, sunblock, a sewing set, torch.
– Notes and pen
– Purse / wallet
– Phone, earphones and charger
– Kindle
– Toilet paper
– Hat and Sunglasses
– Sarong
– Clothes – 2 shorts, 1 long pant, 2 tank tops, 4 t-shirt, 1 jeans, 1 long sleeve shirt, 1 cardigans, 1 wind breaker jacket, 1 sleeping pant, 1 bikini, 4 set underwear, 3 pair of socks, 1 eye cover, 1 buff headband
– Mukena
– Sandals
– Shoes
– Padlock – to lock your bags whenever you need to leave it
– Hand sanitizer
– Other stuff (my friendship bracelets kit) – just in case I want to make a bracelet

Tips:

– I never pack more than 5 days worth of clothes. It is just not worthwhile packing more as it will be so heavy. Don’t worry about them getting dirty, you can always wash these clothes somewhere on the way. I am sure that there are plenty of laundry places that you can find along the way, or you can wash them by yourself.
– Leave stuff behind. I am sure that you’ve been travelling before, right? So learn from your experience. Those “just in case” items that are not really useful, just leave them. Don’t do the same mistake by bringing things that you will not use at all.
– Pack smart and practical. Keep all your toiletries in one small bag. Pack all your clothes, socks, underwear, etc in one compartment of your bag. It will make it easier to find stuff and remember where all your stuff is.
– Ladies, find underwear that dries quick. 🙂 Clean underwear is pretty essential.

I am still quite far away from travelling light, but I always try to travel as light as I can. One thing that I really hate about traveling is packing and unpacking. However, by travelling light and bringing less stuff, I can spend less time packing and unpacking. That means I can enjoy more time on the beach! Yayyy!

How about you? What kind of traveller are you?