Don't Forget To Bring This With You If You Plan On Living Overseas

Packing to travel somewhere for a week and packing to travel somewhere for 8 months are two totally different things. Am-I-riigght??

But packing for a super long trip doesn’t have to be scary (am I the only one who gets scared of baggage?)

No matter how much you start to overanalyze and worry that you won’t be able to find something, I’m telling you, you can find almost anything you need while traveling (unless you plan on living in the Amazon jungle for a month).

If you're not planning on living on the jungle, most of your fears are just illogical scarcity thoughts that cause you to WAY overpack in your feeble attempts to be prepared. But it's just FOMO.

Kick FOMO in the butt.

Trust me.

If you’re going for long-term travel, your baggage will weigh you down emotionally and literally. You’ll get stressed out because of it.

Plus, not to mention, if you pack too much, then there’s…dun dun dun…

...The dreaded baggage fees!

_Source

My attempt at packing lightly for this Asia trip still failed because turns out, even though AirAsia has the standard 21-inch bag is allowed to be carried on rule...I didn't know about the 7kg weight limit rule!!!

I weighed my suitcase, and even though it's 20 inches or something, the empty suitcase itself weighs 6 kgs!

No way could I EVER get by without paying the baggage fee. Well, okay, I maybe got by ONCE. But I was wearing almost everything I owned and next time I'll take a picture for evidence.

I have a hiking backpack but talked myself out of bringing it for some reason. Guess I thought the suitcase would be easier since I'm basing up at places for a minimum of a month at a time.

Well, if you're debating and you're going to fly low budget airlines, just take the backpack if your back can handle it. Or, purchase the lightest weight suitcase you can find so that you save those precious kilograms.

Anyway, there are a FEW things that ARE hard to find while traveling. And that's not the fomo talking. This is real life.

So here's a list of things you should probably bring with you if you're staying somewhere for a long time.

Warning: This list is slightly biased towards girls because well... I've never traveled as a guy, before ;) Guys feel free to share your list!

1. Shower filter

This is because some places in Asia have hard water. Bali, hard as rocks. Hanoi- made my friend's scalp bleed. Trust me. You're going to want this with you in a bad way, ESPECIALLY if you're a girl with long hair. I didn't think about this before coming, and my hair was getting SO dry that a horse would confuse it for straw and start chomping on it if it saw me walking down the road.

The water will cause your hair to feel tangle into a knot the size of Mount Kilimanjaro. Your hair will fall out a lot. It will break off. Your skin will be dry. The chlorine in the water will cause health problems.

Heck, if you live in parts of the US and are having hair issues, check out what kind of water you have and think bout getting a filter!

You should get a a filter with Calcium sulfite (chlorine removal) KDF-55 (heavy metals and bacteria) AND activated carbon.

2. Shower filter replacement

For after 6 months when your filter needs replaced. Just like you would need to for a Brita or something.

3. Silicone/sulfate free hair products

This is especially for people with wavy hair like me. You probably know these things make your hair frizz and the tangles.

Also, do you know what porosity your hair is?!?? This is a whole different topic, but let's just say I wish I had even heard of this before I started traveling. I have low porosity, which means my hair doesn't absorb a lot of products without heat, and protein in hair products basically kills it.

Coconut oil is a no go, which makes sense. It didn't work that well for me anyway. Just saying, maybe bring some hair products. You can find some silicone/sulfate free stuff in Vietnam at the Lotte center.

You can also find some at Watsons in Kuala Lumpur. You also have more product choices in Singapore.

But if you're going to Bali for awhile without planning on leaving, stock up a little because I went to every store in Canggu and didn't find anything. A hair salon might have some overpriced stuff, but I'd rather just bring some extra at the beginning of the trip to last as long as possible.

4. Sunscreen

Everywhere I go, this shiz is expensive. Crazy prices like $20 USD for a small bottle. I bring extra of this with me because I'm a cheap-o and also very prone to sunburn.

5. Any special natural health supplements you take

I have a few supplements that I take which have REALLY helped with several things. I choose to bring them even though it's crazy. I can get most of them in Thailand if I need because there is a guy outside of Chiang Mai who imports my exact brand of supplements from the US, but you can bring some too if you think you'll need them.

Mine have helped keep me from getting sick a lot.

6. Clothes- But only if you're really tall or you're not an Asian size

I did see some big-sized shoes for women in Bali. I've heard tall people saying they have a hard time finding clothes that fit in Asia.

If you don't end up bringing everything you need, you can definitely get them made for cheap in Thailand and Vietnam!! Probably Bali, too, I'd bet. But for sure you can get them made for cheap in Warorot market in Chiang Mai, and also in Hanoi or Hoi An as well in Vietnam.

Plus you'd have the fun of designing them. You could get a casual dress for about $10-20 USD custom made, depending on what you want.

7. Cheap Waterproof Phone Case

This depends on where you're going. Going in and out of humidity can kill your phone. And buying a phone outside the US is typically way expensive. People are selling used iphone 7's for what could pay for an 8, for example.

So, you want to protect it as much as possible. If you're going to be living somewhere humid, or near an ocean, just go ahead and get it.

There are other options thatn Lifeproof so no, you don't have to spend $90 on a phone case. I got one for $15 that was highly rated on Amazon and has worked great.

Now I just need one for my computer because the humidity apparently made some stuff go bad. Luckily I could get it fixed in Hanoi, no problem (other than my wallet was a little sad).

If you're not sure if the country you're going to has what you need, check their local e-commerce site that everyone uses.

For example, you can go on lazada.vn to see if they sell what you're looking for in Vietnam!

Or lazada.co.id if you're shopping in Indonesia!

That's it. You can find pretty much anything else. Bug spray is easy to find in Asia. You can even get travel sizes of it for super cheap!!!

So much win.

For some reason, I assumed it would be difficult like it apparently was in Mexico way back when I had to paint weird designs on my bug bites.

What are some things YOU pack that you think you need to bring and are hard to find overseas?