It takes some thinking about; you have to consider the fact that any crap that you don't use, you have to carry with you. I've made the mistake of overpacking before; I took about half my wardrobe to Peru, along with a load of malaria tablets that I didn't need, books I didn't read and way too many pairs of shorts and trousers. You also have to think about the things that you really need, as in, the essential personal items you can't get anywhere else and can't be without for any length of time.
It's a hard one to work out - what really is essential and what isn't? Currently, all my stuff to pack looks like this:
However this is my first run - tomorrow I'm having a cull of anything I can do without. It's most likely to be toiletries, seeing as they weigh the most and are the hardest to compress.
Being a girl does not make this easier - we are on the whole more hygienic and therefore more high-maintenance than the average male, which means that we need more toiletries. Also my underwear and swimsuit come in two parts and take up more space. I have to think about the fact that shorts look rubbish on me, and I don't actually own a suitable pair for the trip. I have to take at least a brush (luckily, I do sport a boy-cut, so my hair is pretty low maintenance, but I'd rather it didn't look like shit).
This trip is exceptional. My usual one rule of packing for any scenario is:
"Always take more pants than you need."
But to do this for the entire trip I would need to take approximately 180 pairs of pants. I have limited my packing to 10 pairs, which should give me enough time to wash the crusty ones in a hostel laundry room before I have to resort to wearing them inside out. Running out of pants is my second worst holiday fear (after not being able to find somewhere to sleep), because you know the day you go commando will be the day you have to abandon your trousers when they get stuck in an escalator.
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