Patrick's note: If you are here for the packlist, and just the packlist, and not for Sherrie's round about way for talking about anything and everything, click here to find our Iceland Pack List as a stand alone page, otherwise, enjoy the rather convoluted path she takes to talk about what we want to pack.
In just a couple of days we will be “unterwegs” and Iceland bound. And with a 6 week “mini” break coming up fast and furious you would think we would be scrambling to get everything ready. We are scrambling, but we don't seem to be doing so well on the getting things ready (this could in fact be due to the fact that we are doing everything BUT getting ready for Iceland, rather we are finishing up work and uni projects and going to weddings and bachelor/bachelorette parties, as well as traveling around Germany with visitors from Canada).
This lack of organization is not a problem for me, I am chaos and I think its fine to pack the morning of departure, it is a little more distressing for our German engineer friend (my mother may have something else to say about my apparent coolness as she witnessed me jumping on my suitcase screaming obscenities and threatening to destroy said suitcase at 3 am in the morning, about 8 hours before my flight back to Germany, but really, all that sugar after Christmas would make anyone scream and cry and smash the things that are so obstinate that they refuse to bend the laws of physics and just accommodate whatever it was that I was trying to fit into the damn case.) But I digress.....
How things tend to look when I pack...
Then I was over on Nomadic Chick and she did her Gypsy Wednesday post on her packlist for girls. Patrick has said to a million times that our next post should be on our packlist for Iceland, and she has inspired me to get my butt into gear. Not for actual packing, but at least a coherent list that will keep us from screaming at each other come Friday (as we frantically run around cursing the irresponsibility of the other) when we plan to pack the bikes in order to ride off into autobahn madness on the morning of the 6th. (We figure we commit to one day of autobahn hell in order to have a stopover in Hamburg, I have never been and Patrick has a cousin who is awesome there, win win!).
A packlist means we can cross everything off as we attach it, strap it, or stuff it onto the bikes. It may even help one of you in the future, and we promise to review it when we get back, which will probably help you more, as even after 5 years of traveling together (and longer apart) we still tend to overpack.
Last (ahem) quick comment before the list, it is fair to say that you can commit as much effort or as little effort into planning and packlists as you wish. When we took off for the Ukraine 3 summers ago we talked lots, did nothing, and then the morning of grabbed everything we thought we needed and headed in a general eastward direction. It was an awesome trip, and as we had planned nothing and had no expectations, we ended up in Romania after about a week in the Ukraine. Western Romania remains one of my fav places to bike, so there is nothing wrong with trying to leave room for spontaneity in your adventures! Showing up without your passport however is rather silly. (And Ive done it, so I can say it's silly!)
Packlist For Iceland:
This list is not so different for our longer trips, it seems like if you go for a weekend or a year, you bring more or less the same stuff. And so without further adieu the list! (Actually I lied, one further comment, note the use of categories, that is because Patrick is German, I just make chaotic notes that I hope cover everything, and then curse and swear as I backtrack over the apartment and curse the difficulty of living in Germany, as I have now decided all problems can be blamed on my adoptive land!)
PACK LIST!
Documents
Passport
Bike Insurance
Credit card
Drivers License
Health Insurance Card
Schutzbrief ADAC (magic thing that Germans have where they call ADAC when they are in trouble with their car or bike and they come rescue them. Makes the ADAC one of the best loved companies in the land as it strikes at the center of the German heart, fast, efficient, reliable and most importantly, it focuses on the light of their life, their car!)
Backups (Just In Case Stuff)
Copies (photos) of all important papers, cards, and numbers as a backup in dropbox and in our email accounts.
Second key exchange with each other
First Aid kit
Travel guide
Map
Compass (Patrick had his with him the entire world trip and never used it, but as we are going without a GPS so we figure better safe than sorry. Of course if we have to use it it probably means we are already sorry. )
Camping Gear
Tent
Sleeping bags
Air mattresses
Headlamps
Toiletries (basics for our shower, teeth cleaning, and to the best of our abilities, underarm needs. This may be futile if its really hot and your offroading, which is why sometimes its nice to ride your own bike, you both stink equally).
1 pot, 1 plate, and one fork, knife and spoon each
Cooker (How to know you have not been in your own country for a long time, I don't even know if cooker is the right word for it, but it is not a proper kerosene stove. We will put some pics up later and review it after Iceland, but basically its a little gas thing that is super small, and can run on gas from the bikes if we need to use it. Its real name, I need to find out.)
Wind shield for cooker (our German hero has made one in 10 mins out of an old license plate, I love it because its reusing old crap that is meant for the garbage, buy less ride more and be nicer to the planet while doing it)
Metal cups
Muesli, Rice, coffee (you can normally buy this anywhere, and on most trips we pick up food and supplies that we need daily, but it is our intention to buy it before we go to a notoriously expensive island. You may mock us for this, but there is a reason why we are able to afford 6 weeks in Iceland, and its not because teaching English in Germany is such a lucrative job.)
Soup packages (instant powder variety)
Emergency chocolate (when all other food is gone and I am thinking about what Patrick would look like after Ive plucked out his eyes)
Clothes
Rain Gear (LOVE the rain pants that zip on and off from the sides, so much easier to get into the damn things, I think I will actually write a post before the week is out on how much I love my side zipped rainpants, and how my 1983 chic rain jacket was worth every penny as well)
pants
shorts
bathing suit
7 pairs underwear and socks
2 t shirts
1 hoodie (for those of you who speak German I almost wrote pulli instead of hoodie, and then thought with horror that not only is German sneaking into my English, but I cant really speak German, so Im just losing my ability to speak either language, and opening myself up to the mocking of what “packing a pulli” might mean).
Flip Flops
Longjohns for Patrick and leggings for me (so much more comfortable than riding with jeans on or bare skin)
Other Stuff
Gloves
Earplugs
Sunglasses
Lighter
First Aid Kit
Mini Pharmacy Stuff (anti-diarrhea pills, sunblock, burn cream, blistex)
Disposable books (normally guilty pleasures that we don't mind trading, losing, or getting wet)
Tiny laptop (for blogging, emailing, and maintaining some kind of income on the road)
Cameras
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