It only took five months of packing and unpacking, but I finally did it! I figured out what I am going to bring with me to Madagascar. It was not easy! It is extremely difficult to pack for two years, let alone to live on a completely different continent. And I think I did the best that I can do. I can pack all the things I think I will need, but in reality I haven’t lived there, so I could be terribly off the mark. It’s all hit or miss. So I hope I packed the right things…

Here’s what I’ve packed:

 

Packed in:

• 30 inch rolling duffel bag
• Sports bag
• Carry-on back pack
• Carry-on small bag

Clothing:

• 3 pairs of pants
• 2 professional work pants
• 2 ankle skirts
• 2 dresses
• 3 long sleeve shirts
• 5 short sleeve shirts
• 3 tank tops
• 6 spaghetti straps
• 2 fleece jackets
• rain coat
• 2 footless tights
• 2 swim suits (1 two-piece, 1 one piece)
• 3 scarves
• 2 sweatpants
• 20 pairs of socks
• 3 sports bras
• 6 regular bras
• All the underwear I own (probably around 40, but it’s still probably not going to be enough)

Shoes:

• Chaco sandals
• Hiking shoes
• Rain boots
• Black ballet flats
• Pair of Toms
• Pair of Haviana sandals

Toiletries:

• Dry shampoo
• Anti frizz serum
• Leave in conditioner
• Shampoo and conditioner
• Baby powder
• Toothbrushes and toothpastes
• Baby wipes (for those days when showers are not easy to come by)
• Deodorant
• Bobby pins, hair ties, hair bands
• Sewing kit
• Nail filing kit
• Earplugs
• Some make-up (mascara, eyeliner, cover-up)
• Razors
• Dry towel and normal towel
• Face wash

Electronics:

• Nalgene water bottle (with solar power top to turn it into a flashlight)
• 2 headlamps
• Ipod and USB speakers
• Solio solar power cell/charger
• Netbook
• External hard drive (filled with music, kindle books, and videos)
• Flash drives (two 16 GBs, one 8 GB)
• Steripen UV travel water filter
• Rechargeable AA and AAA batteries and USB charger
• Small Canon camera, charger, and memory cards
• Power adapter and converter
• Kindle
• Unlocked IPhone for internet access and playing my mp4 videos
• Financial and regular calculator

Miscellaneous/Hobby/Entertainment items:

• Compactable sleeping bag
• Clothespins (to hang photos in my ‘house’ and for laundry)
• 3×5 cards (for studying Malagasy language)
• Swiss army knife
• Crochet and knitting needles
• Bed sheets
• Bananagrams
• Duct tape
• Foam double sided tape
• Umbrella
• Pens (black, blue, some clicky; it’s hard to get really good pens in Mada)
• Camelback
• Stationary/note cards
• Excedrin (seems to be the only thing that works for my headaches)
• EmergenC
• Crystal Light drink packets
• Journal
• Drawstring bag (will be my purse)
• Sign Language textbook
• Lots of pictures

Host Family Gifts:

• Small photo album with pictures
• Calendars
• Disney Vinylmations
• Toys (mainly bouncy balls, stickers, and temporary tattoos)

 

Mailed to myself (mostly comfort items that will put a smile on my face when I feel down):

•  Box of toys for the village kids
• More 3×5 cards
• More pens
• Lanyard
• “Office” sign
• 2 journals
• Christmas cards to mail home
• A “C” initial drawstring bag
• Picture frame (I just couldn’t part with it)
• 6 books
• More duct tape
• Hand towel
• Lego calendar (yes you read that right)
• 2 decks of cards
• And more pens :)

Peace Corps and the airlines give PCVs 80 pounds to take with us over to Madagascar. I have packed 65 pounds worth of stuff. Not too shabby right? Not at all.