*I need to preface this entire post with the following statement*

We were devastated to hear of the Easter Sunday bombings in Colombo and Negombo this past week. It was like a punch to the gut. Innocent, vulnerable people going to church to worship on Easter Sunday, families traveling, people standing in line to get their breakfast. It is heartbreaking. Yes, we did pause and reflect on whether or not it still made sense to go to Sri Lanka. The decision was made carefully that of course we would still go. The country is currently in mourning although I do believe the countrywide curfew has been lifted. The current threat level assessed from our US State Department lists Sri Lanka at a Level 2 out of four levels, which indicates people should “Exercise increased caution”. Other countries currently at a Level 2 threat level? Antartica, Belgium, Denmark, France and Germany to name a few. We are so thankful for the opportunity to take a significant amount of time and travel to a country we have long been interested in and excited about. Our emotions are a little more reflective and somber as we prepare for this trip. I feel very strongly that we have a responsibility as travelers from the United States to get to know the people of Sri Lanka, get to know their beautiful country and talk to people particularly in Colombo about how they are feeling. We see this as a unique opportunity to be in country less than a week after the attacks and hope that we will be able to shine a light on this beautiful island and all that it has to offer. We are not reckless travelers. We are intentional, alert and open minded. We will not be deterred by hate or fear. Instead, we look forward to being inspired by beauty both in the people and the country of Sri Lanka itself.

Are you like me and look at posts about what and how people pack for their big trips? No matter how many of these posts I look at, I usually come away having learned something new. With that in mind, I thought it might be helpful to show what I am packing for a two week jam packed trip to Sri Lanka. We will be flying into Dubai for a very short layover and then spending two full weeks in Sri Lanka, staying in six different hotels/locations. It will probably be our busiest international trip yet with A LOT of moving parts but that is why the PACKING needs to be perfectly dialed in.

I never check bags outbound for international flights. In fact, I rarely check bags even for domestic flights. I always use a carry-on and then on my way home I will check everything except for a small personal item. Knowing that I have to fit everything I am going to need for two weeks into a very modest sized carry-on means my packing needs to be intentional and edited. This is not the time for seven pairs of shoes and multiple curling irons. Because of these constraints (which I give myself!), I begin packing about two weeks before a big international trip. I am a visual person and need to see literally EVERYTHING laid out and accounted for. Because this trip will entail four flights (SFO to Dubai then Dubai to Colombo and reversed coming home), seven drivers between cities, a long train ride and a safari thrown in for good measure, traveling compactly is key.

First up, luggage.

I travel with one 20″ rolling bag, made by Swissgear and purchased at Target. Here is my exact luggage; I paid $100 for this piece and love it. I specifically chose the hard side roller instead of a soft side with pockets and I will admit, sometimes I do miss those exterior pockets. I love that this piece has spinner wheels, a perfect telescoping handle and a secondary zipper that goes around the bag to expand the interior packing space should you need it. I usually need it.

I carry this Doughnut Official Macaroon Backpack as my small personal item whenever I fly. I chose this over the Fjallraven although they have some similarities. I prefer the padded straps on my Doughnut and I feel like the exterior material is way more substantial than the Fjallraven…but to each her own :). I really appreciate all of the pockets in this bag as well as the padded inside pocket that would be perfect for a small laptop (that’s usually where I keep my ipad). I also appreciate that all of the straps/buckle attachment-things are leather and the metal fittings are all brass. I highly recommend this bag. It has served me well in the last year with many trips.

For our trip to Sri Lanka I am also bringing my Cotopaxi Luzon backpack for hikes/safari. We got a few of them years ago when we did the Cotopaxi Questival and it is a great piece. This bag gets packed into my rolling luggage (it packs up very small and is light) and will also serve as a piece to fill up with souveniers towards the end of our trip. Then I can just check this with my roller on the way home. I bring an extra luggage tag for this bag so that it is ready to check.

I am also packing this small messenger bag as my daily purse. This is what I will take with me whenever I am out and not hiking. Again, this is light and has pockets in all of the places I want and need them. I always prefer a messenger bag as a purse (I’ve been like that since high school) because it keeps my hands free and I know it isn’t going to slide off of my shoulder or be easily grabbed.

Sri Lanka is quite warm regardless of the time of year…but planes get chilly and the evenings up in tea country are supposed to be cool. SO! I will be bringing my ever trusty Cotopaxi Teca Full Zip Windbreaker I love this jacket and wear it all the time. It is light enough that I can stuff it in my back pocket if I need to but warm enough that it really takes off a chill. I almost always travel with this jacket. This is what mine looks like but Cotopaxi has this in a million different colorways – there is a little something for everyone.

Finally, I am bringing three pairs of shoes. First, my Merrell Sandspur Sandals. These will be my daily bread and butter shoes – I will also be wearing them on the plane. I adore these; perfect for walking a million miles, attractive and comfortable.

For more extensive hiking I have my Terrex Adidas hiking sneakers; I like them because they have great tread and I know they will be helpful when hiking Sigiriya Rock and Little Adams Peak.

Finally, I have a simple pair of flip flops from Old Navy for around pools, beach and in the hotel room. I am one of those weird people who can never walk barefoot inside; I need a flip flop.

Now that shoes are out of the way, what else? Let’s talk clothing. I deliberately pared down my clothes for this trip after trial and error from other trips. Error meaning I brought too many of the wrong things. This time I have things narrowed down. I use packing cubes like these to get everything organized.

I am bringing:

• 1 short grey jersey skirt. This skirt is a workhorse and can be incorporated into any outing.

• 3 jersey tees (blue, olive green and pale green) plus the shirt I wear on the plane

• 1 pair of pants (mustard colored) plus another pair on the plane which I will incorporate into my rotation.

• 2 dresses (one is a rust colored cotton and maxi/long from Urban Outfitters, one is a white and blue linen/cotton from Free People. Each dress can be worn multiple times and will be comfy with the heat.

• One pair of jammies (light weight bottoms and a top)

• One set of workout clothes that I will use for hikes (leggings, tank, sports bra, socks)

• Baseball cap

• Very lightweight but large Ethiopian linen scarf/shawl. This will act as a wrap on trains or taxis if it is cold and a headcovering or other covering for entering mosques/temples.

• Six pairs underwear (obviously, I will be doing some sink laundry!)

And that’s it for clothing and shoes! If a beautiful, must-have piece of clothing catches my eye while we are traveling I will buy it (that’s what that extra backpack is for) but I usually don’t buy a lot of clothing in other countries. I feel that based on the kind of trip we are taking this amount of clothing seems appropriate and also easy to mix separates.

Other than clothing/shoes I am also bringing

-A decently stocked toiletry case (this does NOT include any shampoo/conditioner/shower gels because these will be supplied wherever we are).

-Well stocked medicine kit (I have heard that sometimes it is tricky trying to get simple over the counter medicine for colds or stomach issues in Sri Lanka…any truth to that??) with the few medications I take, plus headache stuff, stomach trouble stuff, bandaids and vitamins:

-Stripped down amount of makeup. It’s like 90 degrees almost the whole time we are in Sri Lanka – is this really the time to throw on a bunch of makeup? I think not:

-Small zippered bag with all tech equipment (this includes multiple chargers, an international plug, headphones, multiple portable batteries for my phone since that is my primary camera and I will be taking LOTS of photos):

-My big DSLR camera because I will be doing some work while traveling and need it, my ipad (loaded with several books, a few movies and a new show to binge on) and of course my phone.

-Small flashlight. Power outages, particularly in certain parts of the country, are common even at great hotels. We brought flashlights to Ethiopia and I’m so glad we did because we encountered several power outages on that trip.

-Notebook and pen

-I use the white noise app on my phone and earplugs when I sleep. I’m at that point in life where I do NOT want to hear anything when I am sleeping. Having white noise really helps when I am adjusting to a new place because that is a familiar sound that triggers my mind and body to sleep.

-A few Cliff bars because sometimes you just get stuck on a train or long drive where food is hard to get and I know that a Cliff bar will always have my back.

-Small umbrella because it is rainy season there right now.

And that’s it! I think that I have done well but we shall see. I will report back after our trip about what worked and what still needs to be streamlined!

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