Packing

So packing has been a bit of a mother ducker.  And yes, I wrote that, that wasn't auto-correct.

I decided to go with everything for the trip in a carry on bag, which was difficult in ways and then not in others.  I can't decide if it was the packing that was difficult or just finding clothing to suit all my needs.

For Cambodia, I packed a bunch of plain t-shirts and loose pants basically, and, while I say "for Cambodia", these items will all double as items for Thailand as well for my free/exploring time.  This basically means any time i'm not at placement.  I also brought some cover ups for my shoulders for areas like Wats, The Grand Palace, and my placement.

Everything I packed had to be light weight, as both countries are tropical and heavy on the humidity, but I also shoved in a jacket and a hoodie because hey, I thought Peru was going to be warm and cozy too and I can think of quite a few days where I was more than thankful to have long sleeves and a hoodie. Speaking of long sleeves, I packed a few lightweight ones of those as well as my tattoos need to be covered for my placement.   I've actually decided to list it out as I found when I was searching for what others brought, it was hard to find and I wished someone else had.  So!

(I've also decided to make a Youtube playlist just for this process/trip in general because, once again, I was looking for these and found one and it was a HUGE help.  So that can be found here, if you like, or if you hate reading, whatever floats your boat.)

Heres a list of the things I shoved into a Delta regulation sized carry on:

1. Dress
2. Black Leggings
3. Black pants
4. Fancy shirt
5. 7 shirts
6. One lightweight button down
7. CCS shirt for arrival
8. Loose over shirt
9. 3 pairs of pants
10. 7 underwear
11. 5 bras
12. 7 pairs of socks
13. two small bags of toiletries*
14. Power converter
15. Extra bag for weekend
16. smaller bag for phone/camera/money
17. money pouch
18. Bug wipes

 In my book bag

1. small 2x4 photo album for placement
2. Water bottle
3. 3 books for the plane
4. Notebook with all information**
5. CCS handbook
6. snacks ( food bars and cranberries)
7. Passport and Visa
8. Sketch Book and pens

*for my toiletry items:

1. Shampoo
2. Conditioner
3. Body wash
4. face wash
5. tooth paste
6. body spray
7. deodorant 
8. Sun screen for body
9. Sun screen for face 
10. Bug wipes
11. Tylenol 
12. Cotton swabs
13. Neosporin and band-aids 

** Notebook with all my information:
I find it useful when going on trips to have a notebook of all my confirmation numbers and arrangements, directions, addresses and contact information, as well as information about the places i'll be visiting.  It basically becomes a little guide book for me while i'm away since I can't afford to buy every LonelyPlanet or Top 10 book that I honestly want.  This makes for good reading on the plane ride over, as well as serves as a way to educate myself about the sites prior to arrival.  In the end, they're nice little scrap books as well of the journey if you like.  I generally arrange them in the order of things that'll be happening, high lighting information for my eyes to go to if I'm quickly scanning for something specific, but that's just my logic and you can do whatever works for you.

For this one I have printed the picture Pimsuda sent of the Home base staff with names and put it in the front cover.
Inside:

• Delta flight itinerary  
• Divider for "Pre-departure"
• Last minute tips for Thailand packing
• Information booklet for placement
• Divider for "Cambodia"
• Confirmation from hostel of airport pickup and instructions
• Confirmation for arranged tours and prices**
• Confirmation for hostel and final payment **
• Information on each of the locations I will be visiting on my tour
• Divider for "Thailand"
• Contact information for CCS 
• Arrival instructions
• Divider for "Placement"
• Printed PDF information of my placement 
• 'Tips for new volunteers' sheet
• 'How you can help' sheet
• Game ideas and activities that I looked up 
• Divider for "Extra"
• Phrases in Thai that I might find useful 
• Places of interest for my free time

** Everything in my notebook is in page protectors, and behind areas where payment is required, I place an envelope with the amount of money needed between the sheets and paperclip/secure the top of the page protector to prevent it from falling out.  I find that dividing my money for exact change when possible is helpful as then I can simply hand that over instead of pulling out all of my travel money and counting it out in public.  I also split up where I hide my money on my person when abroad anyway in case someone is extra free with their fingers.  Put it where you like but keeping emergency cash in the boobs is useful ladies, and unlikely to go missing (at least without your notice, and if someone has managed to relieve you of this emergency stash then...well frankly, bravo.  Dats talent.)