The Road That Led to London

Posted byMadi's WorldPosted inTravel GuideTags:,

I thought that it would be fun to share a bit of the back story that led to my arrival in London to start my backpacking trip through Europe, as well as how I prepared.

The Road That Led to London

Like many college seniors that are about to graduate, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do after college. I had picked a “safe” major that I knew would provide me with a sure and stable job upon graduating from college: Economics & Accounting. And it did. I attended Meet the Firms (recruiting event) during Fall Quarter 2016, and by December I had offers for 3 local internship programs and 2 full-time positions. I went with a winter internship at a local company that really vibed with my personal values. By Spring Quarter I had a full-time job secured.

Graduation Day!

Even before I started the job, I knew that accounting would not be a good long-term fit for my personality. But it bought me time to figure out what I really wanted to do. And I saved money and gained valuable skills in the meantime.

Right before I started my job, my friends and I went to Belize for 9 days. While we were there, we went on an incredible cave excursion on which we met two girls from Australia. They had just quit their jobs to travel the world. One of the girls had been an accountant for 2 years, but she realized it wasn’t for her. After meeting these girls, I knew that I’d be able to survive for 2 years at my accounting job if I had traveling to look forward to at the end. I made that my goal. And I did it.

I left the job after 2 years, and I set off for this amazing backpacking trip.

How I Packed For 3 Months of Travel

I had to pack for 3 months of travel and several climates: cold, rainy, and hot. I also had to pack dressier clothes for the cities and casual clothes & bathing suits for the beach towns and islands.

I brought a small backpack purse and my 60L Patagonia Duffel Backpack (apparently they discontinued the 60L?!), which I was able to take as a carry-on on all of my flights.

I managed to fit everything into my duffel. This was the perfect bag when I was staying in one place for several days and only walking short distances, but holding all of the weight of my backpack on my shoulders became very uncomfortable for those longer commutes. At those times, I wished I had a real backpacking bag with hip straps (although backpacking backpacks must be checked, so that’s something to consider).

For clothes, I packed the following:

  • 2 pairs of jeans
  • 1 pair of cotton pants
  • 1 pair of jean shorts
  • 1 pair of cotton shorts
  • 10 shirts
  • 1 dress
  • 1 cotton hooded sweater
  • 1 jean jacket
  • 1 pair of Cybell Espadrille Platform Sandals by Madden Girl
  • 1 pair of tan leather sandals
  • 1 pair of Sanuk Slip Ons
  • 1 pair of pajamas
  • 10 underwear
  • 4 pairs of socks
  • 1 bra
  • 2 bralettes
  • 2 bathing suits & rash guard (for sailing)
  • 1 pair of PJs
  • Zebra Travel Pillow (hooked to one of the handles on my duffel – see pic above)

I used packing cubes to organize all of my clothes. I had a large cube for my dress, jackets and pants. I put all of my shirts into a medium cube, and my undies & bras into a small cube. In another small cube, I fit my bathing suits. I also fit my shoes into a 3rd small cube. Definitely recommend for organized and compact packing.

You may question my choice of shoes: flat leather sandals, platform espadrilles, and Sanuk slip ons. And you would be right. I definitely chose fashion over comfort, which I regretted. The leather sandals and Sanuks were not a good choice because they do not have support, and they are so flat that you can feel everything that you step on. My feet hurt so badly during my 9th-14th day on the trip. But actually the platform espadrilles were quite comfortable. The thick sole protected my feet from uneven surfaces.

Lindsay with her cut-in-half hairbrush & toothbrush!

I packed 3 oz toiletries in my Shade & Shore Clutch Pouch from Target (I recommend a plastic toiletry bag over fabric in case anything spills, it won’t get on your clothes – trust me, it’s happened to me before).

*These items did not last very long. If you have a decent amount of days between flights, then I suggest buying body wash, shampoo & conditioner, lotion, and toothpaste that you can use and refill your travel bottles with. We mostly took trains, so it was easy to buy this stuff and use it up.

I don’t wear any makeup so this is all that I brought and it all fit perfectly in my toiletry bag. If you use makeup then you will want to bring an extra makeup bag or a larger bag.

In my backpack purse, I packed:

Luckily my parents were able to bring me some things (and take things home) in the middle of my trip when they met up with me to travel for 3 weeks. They brought me my GoPro Hero Session and Sketchers Reggae-Islander hiking sandals, and they took home my cold weather clothes. Thank you Parents!!!

So other than the shoes and my Patagonia duffel, I was quite happy with everything that I packed. I used everything I brought, and I didn’t forget anything.

My advice: Take time to plan out what you need and what you don’t need. I’m usually a last minute packer, but I spent months planning and purchasing what I needed so that I would be prepared for this trip. #beprepared #worthit

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