To pack or not to pack....?

I am now 8 weeks into my Asian adventure. I'm here in my guesthouse lobby on an old Samsung computer waiting for my iPad to be restored with only a quick 88 minutes to go! I know, I know, first world problems...

Anyway, since I am trying to distract myself from my iPad crisis I thought I'd write a note about how I would pack for 6 months in Asia knowing what I know now. Let's be honest, I wasn't very clever about it.

First of all, things to take with you: 

• A good torch. You will use it far more often than you might think. 
• An OCEAN proof bag. Because even though the vaccination nurse told you to stay out of the water, we both know you are going to live in it, whether you want to or not.
• A waterproof camera. You might have your ocean proof bag but you are going to want to use a camera while kayaking, sailing, tubing, swimming, waterfall chasing....etc, etc, etc. And/or take a Go-Pro. 
• A decent rain coat. Doesn't have to be big or expensive, just enough to keep your body and head dry and last a couple months. I am sick of buying crappy 'ponchos' and I will not buy a fake North Face raincoat, I just won't. 
• Good walking shoes. Trust me, even though you might only do a couple days trekking over a few months it will be worth it to have a good pair of hiking boots - or for the love of God - a good pair of trainers to avoid having mangled, blistered feet for days on end afterwards. 
• Excessive amounts of underwear as your 'wash days' will depend on what supplies you have left.
• Imodium and more imodium. And just when you think you might have possibly have too much imodium in your bag, pack some more.
• Moisturiser. I can only find whitening cream and I do not need that. 
• A deck of cards. You will come across more situations during this period where drinking games or just plain entertainment will be needed. 

Things to forget about:

• Any sort of high heels or any sort of clothing that could be identified as 'Going Out Clothes'. Ask anyone from the UK or Ireland if you don't get me. 
• Nope, you don't need three different sweaters/jeans/tracksuits, etc. Just the one of each will do.
• Hair dryers and hair straightners. Embrace the wavy. Trust me, you'll put in the effort maybe twice. I haven't even plugged mine in in two months. I don't even know if it still works. 
• Jewellery options. Unless you are reliably trendy I just wouldn't bother. And definitly not anything of value.
• Excessive amounts of clothes in general. You aren't going to the moon and there will be many, many bits and pieces you will want to buy but won't if your bag is too full. 
• Anyone who isn't enthusiastic. I haven't had this problem but I've seen it a few times the last few weeks - one person constantly trying to talk the other one into stuff. Cut them loose! They'll either sink or swim but they'll survive and you'll get to do the things you actually want to do. 
• A backpack bigger than 55 Litres. Don't even give yourself the opportunity to pack more than you need. Think strategically! 

And that's all I can think of for now although I have to admit I sound like I've been doing this for a while. Nice.

I just looked at my iPad restoration progree, good to see I've only 83 minutes left on the clock. I think I might go up and purge my backpack now. Then I'll have to think of something to do for the remaining 80 minutes.