Omigosh I can’t believe we’re leaving tomorrow.. How is it already time???? Despite not completely feeling ready, the time to move to China has come, and Kevin and I are packed up and ready to GO! Every travel blogger who has ever written a single post has made a packing list, so naturally I will follow suit.

Our situation seems to be a little unique and I didn’t have much luck finding other blogger’s packing lists that met my needs (even though I would assume this would be a common occurrence). I need to pack to live and work for a year in China, but I need to be ready to pack a backpack and travel all around Asia as lightly as possible when my contract is up. Thus, I need to bring warm clothes and all the things I need to live comfortably in an apartment in Chengdu for a year, but need to only have what I can carry on my back for the backpacking I plan to do afterwards. The way we solved this was to pack our backpacks as we would like to carry them if we were just doing an extended backpacking trip. Separately, we are packing a suitcase full of warm clothes, things we want to wear to our jobs and other things we may want in Chengdu. The idea is that we will send these things home with a visitor (several of my family members are coming to see us in China), ship them back (depending on how expensive it is..) or be okay with tossing them at the end when we’re ready to hit the road. I will divide my packing list accordingly!

In my 60 L backpack for travel after Chengdu:
-raincoat
-quick dry travel pants
-1 pair of jean shorts
-pashmina scarf (for covering yourself at religious sites, using as a towel/blanket/cover/etc.)
-Super absorbent, quick dry travel towel (15″ x 25″)
-Merrell barefoot running shoes (really small, compact sneakers!)
-shower flip flops
-Chacos
-Rainbow flip flops
-5 t-shirts
-4 tank tops
-2 cotton shorts
-4 bras
-2 sports bras
-2 bathing suits
-North Face fleece
-2 Chicobag foldable bags
-13″ Macbook Pro & charger
-Cannon Powershot (and battery and charger)

Suitcase for Chengdu:
-surplus of deodorant, tampons, Excedrin, Immodium, make up, toothpaste, baby wipes, travel size tissues, toilet paper, hand sanitizer (things I would be uncomfortable without but don’t think we can get in China; will use the majority of these things in China)
-4 regular sized towels
-sweatpants/shirts
-extra jeans
-extra long sleeve shirts
-extra socks/underwear
-big shampoo, conditioner, lotion, face wash and body wash

Kevin is carrying our iPad, D3100, extra lens, extra battery, power converters, external HD, flashlight, guide book, and journals. And all his clothes, of course!

This list is not completely exclusive and what we actually bring on our backpacking adventures will most likely change (and be cut down!). I’ll post a new packing list when we leave Chengdu, but this is the gist of it.

We were able to get a lot of these nifty travel things because our both of our families are amazing and really helped us out! We are so grateful for this. THANK YOU FAMILY!! There are other things we probably could have bought but we have at least a year in Chengdu so we hope to figure stuff out as we go a little bit, and hopefully get inexpensive stuff in China if we need! Especially apartment stuff and extra clothes/shoes/etc. as most of what we brought is functional.

Next time I post I will be in China!!