I’m no stranger to travel. I’ve taken trips for work or pleasure between one and five weeks long, and I never really had a problem packing. But being faced with the prospect of packing for six months on one Viking around-the-world cruise was daunting. How many shirts and shorts do I bring? How many pairs of shoes will I need? What’s my Q-Tip usage rate?
To tackle this, I contacted friends who had been around the world and looked at websites for long-term cruisers. Some of the ideas I found were obvious: Bring lots of sunscreen! Others were less intuitive, such as packing a bunch of magnetic hooks and shelves to maximize the space in our 270 square-foot room.
I took advantage of the many big sales around Black Friday and filled my home with a mound of boxes that looked like it was sent by a Santa who didn’t want to wrap things anymore. See the above photo for reference. I bought myself a Kindle, because who wants to haul heavy books around the world? I got power banks to recharge our phones on the fly, plus snorkeling gear so my mask would always fit and I wouldn’t have to use snorkel that had already been used by hundreds of other tourists.
I also made a few clothing purchases from REI and others, to be prepared for a lot of time in the sun, both on board and during our excursions and adventures. I contacted my doctors and insurance and got special dispensation to get six months of medications.
All this added up to a few stuffed suitcases. At first I thought I might end the trip with more space than I started, considering I would consume things as I go. But I figure anything that I use during the trip will be replaced by souvenirs and other things I buy along the way.
