How do someone pack for an international travel for nine days with a seven kilogram bag capacity? Sounds difficult but not impossible!

Months before this Indochina trip, I constantly worry about how do I go about packing because I am an over-packer. I usually end up with an extra bikini and two days worth of clothes. If you want to know what I did, then read on.

1. Outfit according to your itinerary

We will be going around temples in Cambodia and Thailand, it is important to bring clothes that are appropriate and just enough. I only brought nine sets of clothes, two sets of foot wear and two smaller bags; one sling bag and a mini back-pack. Also ensuring that my shoes and sandals will match with the clothes I will be bringing.

But that did not stop me from bringing my bikini, which I did not use by the way. I should have just left it and stuck with the itinerary.

So I plan out my clothes according to our itinerary and took pictures of it per day. Saved the pictures in my phone for me to easily get ready each day.

2. Choose lightweight and wash and wear clothes

Aside from the bringing the right number of clothes, I chose clothes that are lightweight and does not need to be ironed. I also bought with me a jacket because I hate the cold especially in planes and hostels. A scarf also came handy in case I need to cover up more in places where I should and if it gets too sunny.

3. Forget the ten step skin care routine

I left my oils and ampoules and stuck with the basics. I just brought my facial cleanser, toner, eye cream, moisturizer and sunblock. Earlier I plan to bring face masks in case I needed that skin boost but chose not to pack it at the last minute. There’s no more space and besides; no time to squeeze in for some pampering session given our hectic itinerary.

After I crammed my clothes, shoes, smaller bags, toiletries and travel documents in my bag, I weighed my bag and it just barely hit the seven kilogram mark. But despite how organized you are in packing there will be some events that would come up and you need a little innovation.

4. Bring detergent soap

As much as I am quite sure on the number of socks, handkerchiefs or underwear that I am packing; there are times that you’d need an extra pair because of emergencies. Good thing, one of our friends packed some detergent and I was saved.

5. Buying from shopping markets

If all of the above fails then no need to fret, there are available shopping markets or malls for every necessity, it might be long pants because you cannot enter the temple or as simple as sanitary pads.

We did a little shopping for each country and I just fit everything in the available spaces in my bag compartments and the small canvas tote bag I bought from the Chatuchak Weekend Market. But for peace of mind, we also bought an extra baggage allowance on our flight back to the Philippines in case we shopped more than we should.

This trip has made me realize that knowing your itinerary could save you bag space for pasalubong and time in choosing what to wear. Before I would just grab clothes based on the number of days the trip will be and buffer it out with two sets of clothes. Yes! Pretty spontaneous indeed. May I just say that being prepared and organized can also result to great travel pictures because your outfit matches the places you are travelling to. Certainly a win-win situation.