Trans-Mongolian Railway : Packing already? No, packed already!

Remember when I was packing for the Camino de Santiago? How my pack was 15.5 lb all up and I was finding creative ways to shave 0.1 lb off various things?

Yeah... that's not this trip at all!  LOL

Check it out:

What we have here is the 2-months-out version of me being packed for Russia.

At the top is the day pack. Big enough to comfortably contain a jacket and some sleep wear and spare underwear items- for the two red eye flights. Also some essentials... disinfecting wipes for the icky things that I might encounter, wet ones for me when I get all icky too, headlamp, Chapstick, watch, tiny packable bag, toothbrush, hairbrush and the like, camera, fish-eye lens, headphones, computer, phone and compatible cables. And of course passport, assorted travel docs and info, money, journal and pen.

It's entirely possible that this pack alone is more than I carried on Camino!

Then there are the checked luggage items;

Enough clothes to alleviate any discomfort at my complete and utter lack of knowledge regarding availability and regularity of laundry facilities on this trip. Of course I expect there to be ample opportunities to wash, but honestly if it came down to a choice between doing laundry and seeing Red Square or Lake Baikal or hiking up a dune in the Gobi Desert, I'm not going to pick laundry - I'd rather wear smelly clothes!

The main suitcase therefore contains 4 t-shirts and 4 long-sleeved tops, 3 pairs of pants and some yoga tights, a weeks worth of underwear, 2 sweatshirts, down jacket and vest, rain jacket. I threw in a skort too... but will probably take it out again soon. Miscellaneous items include buff, hat, gloves, waterproof pants and a travel towel. Sometimes I think I will take out the gloves and hat... I'm on the fence still.

Shoes: Sneaker of course. There are many days of sightseeing ahead and if I'm not taking care of my feet, then who is? They will be paired with merino socks at all times. I'm packing a pair of slip on black flats too, for... I dunno, going out for dinner or those days I need to recapture a little girlish charm. And last but not least some black patent heels to rock the Bolshoi for Swan Lake ballet in Moscow. I'll break out my little black dress and crimson cashmere wrap for that occasion if nothing else.

You might be surprised to learn that all this fits into a carry-on sized suitcase.  The plan is that we'll be checking it all the way through from Denver to Moscow so we don't need to collect it at JFK and tow it around Manhattan all day.

So that's it. I'm super excited for our trip that begins September 18th.

I'm hoping to have practiced blogging a little more from this here new Chromebook so to have the picture editing, saving and inserting, done to an art by then. It might be the one skill I really use during our month away, since my the plan is really to unplug from this life and fully engage in the life of a tourist, adventurer and traveler... and keep a diary the whole way.