Clothing:

QUICKDRY CLOTHING (it’s very humid in Costa Rica!)
Flowy, lightweight clothing for hot weather
Athletic shorts
Hiking pants
Quickdry tops
Some sort of long sleeve for sun
Hat for sun
Raincoat/umbrella
Waterproof hiking shoes
Waterproof sandal (Birkenstocks WILL grow mold, even if they never get wet)
Comfy shoes- you will do lots of walking! Chaco’s were the most popular choice for our group 🙂
Sports bras
Long socks
Swimsuit
Comfy airplane outfit
A few nicer outfits for visiting govt buildings, nicer dinners, and celebrations
Fleece/sweatshirt and sweatpants for colder locations (Monteverde and Namibia desert at night)

Other:

Backpack/day pack
Tote bag
Water bottle
Sunglasses
Fanny pack/small bag
Laundry bag that’s easy to carry
Toothbrush cover
Soap, shampoo, etc.
Travel towel
Outlet converter for South Africa/Namibia (Type M plug)
Gifts for your host families!

Medicine

Typhoid vaccine (Vietnam)
Japanese mosquito vaccines (Japan)
Rabies vaccine (Costa Rica)
Melaria pills (Namibia)
Travel sickness medicine
- Tums
- Imodium
- Pepto bismal
- Azithromyzin
Dramamine or similar if you get motion sick! (there are A LOT of bus rides)
Electrolyte packets
Sunscreen
Bug spray
Allergy medicine as needed

Optional, but nice to have:

Travel pillow
Blanket
Water bottle cleaner brush (maybe one for whole group)
Some sort of mold killer if you’re worried about that
Eye mask cover
Headphones
HDMI cord (connect laptop to hotel TVs for movie nights!)
Power strip/bank so you can charge many things without needing multiple outlet converters
Some sort of tablet/iPad
Digital camera!
Card games!
Hanging toiletries organizer
Packing cubes!
Elly brought a clothesline which was really smart since a lot of places don’t have dryers
Tampons will not have an applicator in other countries, so bring your own if that’s important to you
We were told we needed a head lamp. You do not need a headlamp. Maybe a flashlight, but our phones worked just fine.
If you have food allergies/dietary restrictions, print and laminate some cards in Spanish/Japanese with that information for restaurants!
We don’t do much intense hiking (you can if you want though!) I personally packed too much athletic clothing.
Many of us got hiking sneakers rather than a boot, which was more lightweight and compact in our suitcase!

Our Recommendations

Luggage

We recommend bringing one larger checked bag, one smaller duffel bag, and a backpack. A smaller bag was very useful for our shorter excursions where we were able to leave our large luggage behind. It’s also great in case you pick up souvenirs along the way and run out of space in your main bag!

Our international flights allowed 2 checked bags, so our students were able to check both their large checked bag and their smaller bag during long travel days.

YOUR LUGGAGE SHOULD BE UNDER 44 LBS!!! Though long international flights have a weight limit of 50lbs (23 kg), we do have some shorter flights (i.e. South Africa to Namibia; Central Vietnam excursion) in which the weight limit is 44 LBS.

You have to be able to carry all of your luggage yourself!!! Don’t bring something you would have difficulty carrying over gravel roads, up a hill, or through a city.

Laundry

We had very easy and consistent access to laundry throughout the entire semester, even at the Costa Rica research stations. They told us to bring clothing for several weeks in case there is no laundry, but the longest period of time we had with no laundry access was 5 days.

You don’t need to bring detergent. All laundry facilities available to us were laundry services, so there is no need to bring your own laundry supplies besides a bag. I would recommend bringing a laundry bag that has a strap or something to make it easier to carry.

What if Japan is cold?