Packing for a hot and humid climate can be a challenge, especially if you’re from a relatively cold and Northern place such as most of Europe! Every backpacking trip I take, I make a list beforehand and perfect it afterwards. For this specific list, I’ve refined it and given it as a goodbye gift to a friend who went to Vietnam and China.
Travel type:
- Religious countries – modest dressing required
- warm (coast)
- humid
- cold (mountains)
Packing list for South-East Asia
Clothing
- Long breathable linnen or cotton pants 2x
- Leggings for sports/adventure 1x
- breathable shorts 1x (2 if you like wearing shorts, avoid denim)
- 1 midi dress (below the knees)
- optional: 2 extra dresses if you like wearing them – go for a mix of cotton and polyester dresses, they all have their own advantages. Cotton/linen is airy, polyester dries quickly; doesn’t wrinkle and doesn’t show sweat stains, but gets smelly quickly. viscose is also a good fabric.
- optional: sports shorts if you like wearing them.
- 1 long, airy linen/cotton shirt (2 if you burn easily)
- 2 tight t-shirts
- 1 airy/loose t-shirt
- 3 tops
- thermal long sleeve top 1-2
- 2 bikini’s/bathing suits
- 1 set of pajamas
- scarf (for temples, when it gets colder, ..)
- sweater 1x
- rain jacket
- ultra light down jacket for China and Northern Vietnam
- trail runners
- slip-on sandals (e.g., fake Birkenstocks)
- optional: a third pair of airy sneakers for walking in cities. e.g., Tropicfeel or Adidas running shoes, … with mesh so your foot can breathe
- fanny pack
- your favorite handbag/shoulder bag
- optional: a comfortable daypack (small backpack) for day trips (if you’re going to do that)
- tote bag
- foldable shopping bag
- 7 pairs of socks
- 1-2 pairs of long merino hiking socks
- 10-12 pairs of underwear + 1 to wear (wash about once every 10 days – doing laundry on the go in Asia is very easy)
- some accessories – where you’re going it’s safe so you can wear what you want. This is a nice way to have variety in your outfits without having to take a lot of clothes.
- hair ties (many! you’ll lose them!)
- cap/hat
- sarong (buy there – as light as possible! you can then use this as a beach cover-up and a beach towel)
- laundry bag for delicates
- laundry bag (general)
Medication:
- local medicines (e.g., malaria pills)
- paracetamol (lots)
- motilium
- immodium
- rennies
- flammigel
- Tiger Balm (buy there – works well for mosquito bites and also keeps mosquitoes away)
- roll of physiotape
- plasters
- cinnarizine (nausea/motion sickness)
- sewing kit with safety pins
- tampons (hard to get in Asia)
- birth control pill
- mosquito lotion (enough to get you by for the first days, buy more on the road)
- well-fitting earplugs + some foam backups
- sleep mask
- 200ml sunscreen of your favorite brand (split into 100ml bottles, possibly 2x 50ml so you can easily carry them in your handbag)
toiletries:
- shampoo bar
- soap bar
- comb/brush
- razors
- toothbrush + charger
- toothpaste
- day cream/night cream (according to your routine)
- optional: a face mask or two 🙂
- microfiber towel 1-2
- deodorant
electronics:
- adapter for Asian outlets
- phone + charger
- power bank
- e-reader + charger
misc:
- a travel journal if you keep one
- pen
- carabiners to attach items to the outside of your backpack
- Waterproof bag (can also be bought there – depends on whether you’ll do a lot of water activities)
- Locks for lockers: 1 full iron/thicker one and 1 with a flexible cable
Backpack recommendations:
decathlon 2 ( a bit too tall for carry-on but you can usually get away with it )
osprey 2 ( I have this one )
cotopaxi ( beware of fake websites )
Jacket recommendations:
uniqlo (check their graph at the end of the page to see what you want)