Fresh and Spiced in Zanzibar

On top of the beautiful white powder beaches and completely relaxed lifestyle, Zanzibar's "spice island" heritage makes for intricate and delicious local food. The highlight in Zanzibar was definitely the seafood and the unique use of spices. 

Calamari, straight from the ocean

The seafood we had in Zanzibar was literally sea to table. Sometimes we would watch our guesthouse's staff fish for octopus and roll it around in the sand -- after it was dead -- to soften up the meat. They would then rinse it in the ocean, bring it into the kitchen and, voila! We had fresh grilled garlic octopus with fresh cut veggies and cardamom rice. The same was done with snapper, squid and any of the seafood plates we ordered: they'd fish it, put it on the menu and we'd eat it within minutes, at most hours. 

The spices were also really fun to have. Nepal definitely lacked in spices and though Ethiopian food was very good, the spices were not too diverse. Zanzibar cuisine uses a lot of cardamom, cinnamon, pepper, turmeric and fresh vanilla beans. These spices are widely used and I loved it! 

One of the best additions to black tea: cinnamon

For example, tea in the morning was always brewed with freshly crushed cinnamon sticks and instead of plain white rice, they'd make it with cardamom and/or cinnamon and turmeric. 

The Rock restaurant in Zanzibar

The best use of spices we encountered was at The Rock, an amazing restaurant on top of a rock in the middle of the ocean. During high tide, the water completely surrounds the place and you either have to swim or take a boat to/from the restaurant. They had a seafood pasta dish with an EVOO (so nice to have olive oil again!) and fresh vanilla bean sauce -- it was delicious!

As a bonus, we also enjoyed thirst-quenching, made-to-order fresh juices. They had passion fruit everywhere and I particularly liked a passion fruit banana coconut yoghurt lassi. It may have been topped, however, by a coconut, lime, ginger smoothie at one of the best cafes in Stone Town (the capital). 

Although we didn't go to Zanzibar for the food, we were pleasantly surprised by how good the food actually was! The spiced, fresh food was a much welcomed addition to our travel diet; we certainly did not mind spending 10 days in this wonderful food heaven! 

The Sea in Zanzibar has a lot of  amazing fresh seafood to offer

A very interesting dish with savory bananas/plantains

22 Hours in Dubai, 16 Hours of Eating like Maniacs

A one hour long urban hike to Terminal 1 at 2 AM (don't ask) and an incredibly uncomfortable "nap" at the arrivals hall at the Dubai Airport until 6 AM was a very rough welcome to the city. We were cranky. We were tired. We were not so excited about being in Dubai for 22 hours anymore... until we stepped into our first super market.

Holy hell there's good food in Dubai! We had such a great time devouring this city, we just wish we had a little more time and way bigger stomachs to handle all of Dubai's deliciousness.

Here are a few simple steps you can take to eat the city in just one day:

Lots of affordable drink selections at local supermarkets

1. Eat a few snacks at the local supermarkets before breakfast.

The morning consisted of two stops at a couple of local supermarkets. There are tons of supermarkets all over the city and this simple fact already livened us up a bit.

We tried one of the date milkshakes and got enough sugar to bounce around for an hour or two before our big breakfast.

2. Sign up for a breakfast at the Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Center for Cultural Understanding.

We signed up in advance for this pretty cool breakfast that they only do on Wednesdays at the SMCCU. The Cultural Center feeds its guests a traditional Emirate breakfast and the wonderful hosts then answer any and all questions from the audience.

Drea volunteers to try on the local clothing

The purpose is to promote an open dialogue regarding the local culture and traditions. They explained how, in the UAE, women are free to wear whatever they want, many just choose to cover up as a personal preference plus it helps prevent sunburn. We also learned that husbands need to have their wife's permission to marry a second wife and that becoming pregnant before marriage lands you (and your kid!) in jail. Apparently jail in the UAE is quite posh though and they take good care of you. Another interesting fact about Dubai is that this year Ramadan, the fasting month, is during the hottest month and you can't drink water!

We had a few small cups of delicious saffron and cardamom coffee followed by a feast of lemon chickpeas, home made pancakes with a creamy cheese and honey, local bread and a traditional noodle dish. Not a bad start (finally!) to our already long day.

A beautiful setting for a traditional Emirate breakfast

3. Lunch up at the mall. Any mall!

Sushi treat @ the mall

We decided on the Mall of the Emirates for our next food stop. We walked around Dubai a bit and eventually the 100 degree weather got the best of us so we decided to run and hide in the mall for a while. We're both allergic to malls -- we hate shopping! -- but the heat was just unbearable.

We were on a mission to get sushi (hadn't had it since February) but were distracted by so, so many things inside this gargantuan place like: penguins, american food chains, indoor slopes for snow skiing and way too many stores. We had a whole tray of sushi and we each got a pot of loose leaf green tea... heaven.

For dessert, we headed to another spot within the mall that specializes in chocolate: Galler owned by a Belgian chocolatier. A rose dark chocolate cake, a chocolate dome thing and two coffees later, we were stuffed!

The "Dome" at Galler

4. Call up Al Bait al Baghdadi restaurant to order Iraqi Masqouf. Then go there and eat it!

Masqouf: a phenomenal way to eat fish!

We had never had Iraqi food before and after reading about it on this great Dubai foodie blog: www.iliveinafryingpan.com, we decided we absolutely had to try it.

Masqouf (apparently pronounced more like "masgoof") is an amazing fish dish: the fish is cut open in a long half, salted for a few hours and then slowly cooked by the heat from wood embers. Order the fish by the kilo (three of us stuffed ourselves with a 2 kg order -- that's 4.5 pounds!) and eat up. They served the fish with amazing pickles and hummus, baba ganoush, tabouli and fatoush as side dishes.

Oh and before the feast, we had a complimentary dal (lentil) soup that we loaded with fresh squeezed lemon juice. At the end they give you cardamom tea (for free!) to finish it all up. What a dinner!

Well, if you still have time or an appetite after all that -- wow! We went straight to the airport after our delicious Iraqi dinner to catch our flight to Sri Lanka. With all that wonderful eating, we were able to sleep as well as one can sleep on a budget, red eye flight.

Cheers, Dubai! Way to redeem yourself with your wonderful, eclectic, diverse, fresh, delicious grub!

Iraqi food treasures in Dubai

Chillin' like a villain in East Africa's version of paradise

Zanzibar, the perfect place to escape from it all!

Spending 3 months in land-locked countries (Nepal, Ethiopia) made us realize we really missed the ocean. Feeling worn down and exhausted, we booked a last-minute flight from Ethiopia to Zanzibar. We splurged and went against our quasi-scientific budget. Oh well, sometimes we just have to treat ourselves to a little something.

It was hard to contain our excitement

Zanzibar is a wonderful little island off the coast of Tanzania and with a rich spice trade heritage. It's a semi-independent part of Tanzania (you have to show your passport upon entering and leaving) and the economy mostly relies on tourism. The capital, Stone Town, is a bustling little place, full of tiny little streets that often turn into mazes where you can happily get lost.

Hard to take life too seriously in Zanzibar!

You can walk the entire 'city' in about a half hour if you know your way around and don't get accosted by too many touts (taxis, hashish, spices, they have it all). The harbor is nice to walk around and they have a really scenic waterfront public park where you can get amazing passion fruit juice and even free public outdoor wi-fi!

Stone Town has delicious fresh seafood and tropical fruits to offer and we enjoyed amazing dishes such as lemon fish soup for breakfast, coconut ginger lime smoothies, freshly pressed lime sugar cane juice and beautifully spiced seafood dishes with cinnamon straight from the tree and fresh, whole vanilla.

We ate from sea to table, every day

Our brief stay in Stone Town -- just a day -- was enhanced enormously because of our wonderful Couchsurfing hostess  This amazing Brit showed us the entire town and gave us an amazing hookup at Evergreen Bungalows for the remainder of our stay in Zanzibar.

We left Stone Town and headed east to one of the least touristy beaches on the island on an overcrowded local bus. Because of low season and our hookup, we got to stay in an amazing eco-lodge right in front of the beach in Bwejuu. Our huge bungalow was so close to the water, we usually fell asleep to the sound of small waves crashing on Zanzibar snow, aka fine, powder white sand.

For 10 days, we did absolutely nothing with the exception of one awesome snorkeling trip. Oh and a few en-suite full body massages.

Beautiful snorkeling site

Doing nothing felt great. It re-energized us. We felt amazing! We'd take turns going from the hammocks hung between palm trees to a quick dip in the perfectly calm azure ocean. We even dared to go on a tremendously difficult 15 minute walk on the flat, white sand beaches to the main part of town just to switch up lunch. In between our incredibly relaxed activities, we'd either take advantage of the free wi-fi, drink and eat meaty, sweet fresh coconuts or eat freshly caught seafood.

If this isn't paradise then we're all screwed.

When life gives you lemons, make a mint lemonade with a tad of sugar and an optional shot of rum and bring it over to Zanzibar. We guarantee you'll relax in ways you never even thought possible...

Perfect chill out spot -- our awesome hotel

co-posted on www.eliotpeper.com 

Nile blues and mountain highs

The source of the Blue Nile

It was a bitch getting out of Addis Ababa. Because it was the week of [Coptic] Easter all the buses were booked in literally every direction.

"Want to take a bus to Bahir Dar? Not til next Thursday."
"How about Harar?"
"Sorry, booked til Friday."
"Do you have buses that go anywhere in the country for tomorrow?"
"No." [smile]

Travel infrastructure in Ethiopia is... limited. In a country of 80 million people, there are literally only TWO private bus companies. In spite of the high demand for private transportation, these companies refuse to buy more buses, hence our problems finding a way out of the city.

Anyway, we opted to take a cheap domestic flight on Ethiopian Airlines (the only domestic airline in the nation) to ensure we actually got to our destination. We were on a mission to explore the northern highlands.

We started out in Bahir Dar, perched on the banks of Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile. Bahir Dar was a laid back beach town and we really enjoyed the one night we stayed there. We took a boat out onto the lake and into the mouth of the Blue Nile, wondering at the prolific number of wetland bird species and water buffalo. We visited one of the ancient Coptic Christian churches that sit on the many islands scattered around the lake and we even had a dance battle, which we obviously lost, at a local wedding.

Blue Nile Falls

As we plied the waters out onto the lake we heard a scream from a passing boat. Our captain turned the boat around and we pulled up alongside. Turns out it was a happy scream! One of the passengers on the boat was a an absolutely wonderful woman we had met at a fruit juice place in Addis Ababa. She was in Bahir Dar for the weekend with her boyfriend and they insisted we join them that night for a traditional Ethiopian meal.

It turns out that the couple was actually staying in our very same guest house! They took us out to a local Ethiopian night club, beating back the tuk-tuk drivers who are always on the lookout to cheat foreigners on fares. The night club was a huge open space the size of a small warehouse. We arrived around seven and were a bit worried because it was nearly empty. We ordered food and waited. Before long, hundreds of people started to trickle in until the entire building was standing room only. As the food arrived, a troupe of music performers came up on stage and started belting out some traditional Ethiopian folk music. They were soon joined by a team of professional dancers. Ethiopian dancing is as unique as it is impressive. They move their shoulders in the way that salsa dancers move their hips. It's a sight to be seen and you can check it out here on Youtube.

The Simien Mountains

The next day we explored the Blue Nile Falls outside of Bahir Dar. It's a beautiful place and the water was impressive even in dry season. Then we piled onto a local minibus (a police officer was transporting a shackled prisoner on it too!) and made our way to Gondar, site of an ancient Ethiopian castle and jumping off point for our four-day trek in the Simien Mountains.

The mountains were absolutely fantastic. They were 110% different than the Himalayas. The Simiens are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and they look like a raised plateau that towers thousands of meters above the surrounding foothills. The sides of the plateau are sheer cliffs but the top is undulating hills. Our trek took us along the edge of the cliffs, circumnavigating the plateau. It felt like another world. We were always on the edge of a multi-thousand-meter drop and the views were mind-blowing. We spotted rare endemic species like Ethiopian wolves, ibexes, cliffspringers and tons of baboons.

Ibex vs. Baboon

The only downside of the Simiens are that they're quite expensive to visit and we feel that we got ripped off big time. You're required to hire a guide and a scout through a local operator in addition to all the camping equipment etc. The upshot is that they are well protected and that we got a truly luxury camping experience. Our tents were already set up for us when we arrived at the campsite and there was hot coffee/tea waiting for us. Not a bad way to experience the outdoors. We summited the third highest peak in Ethiopia and then moved on to our next trekking destination: Lalibela.

Lalibela is one of the most touristy places in Ethiopia. It's famous for its surfeit of ancient churches carved from solid rock. These feats of engineering rival Petra and are a big draw in a country with little tourism. The only problem is that the local priesthood who manages the churches charges criminally high entrance fees and pockets the cash, none of it goes to the community and there's a lot of local tension because of it (what would Jesus do, right?).

Shepherd kids hard at work

Anyway, we weren't interested in the churches, we were interested in the mountains. Lalibela lies in a deep valley and is surrounded by a semicircular mountain range. We had arranged to trek these mountains with a unique organization called Tesfa Tours. Tesfa means 'hope' in Amharic and the organization works with remote local villages in the mountains to host trekkers who want to traverse the terrain. It's a fantastic system that generates local employment, promotes positive interaction and provides an amazing experience at the same time.

We stayed in local-style cliff top huts, munched injera and sipped fresh roasted coffee at the end of every day of trekking. There was no running water and no electricity -- we were definitely in the middle of nowhere. The mountains are gorgeous, alternating between village farmland, rocky wilderness and wide open views of the entire Lalibela valley.

The Lalibela range

The experience was amazing but, after nine days of it, Eliot was sick and we were both completely exhausted (although Drea took an awesome local cooking class in town). We realized we had been burning the midnight oil a bit too fast in Ethiopia. We had planned back-to-back excursions across the Northern Highlands with no room for rest in between. And this was in a country with the worst transportation infrastructure we had encountered.

We had plans to visit the south and explore the Bale Mountains as well but we realized we needed to switch it up before we burnt out. Beware of the over-crowded itinerary in any long-term travel plans you may have. This was our mistake and we were determined to fix it. So we made a game-time decision to escape to Zanzibar for ten days...

Time to go exploring

co-posted on www.eliotpeper.com 

You say you like Ethiopian food? Wait 'til you read THIS!

Ahhh... Ethiopian food: injera topped with spicy, unique stews and dips served with a nice honey wine and topped off with a sweet, sweet, delicious bunna (coffee) at the end. For us foreigners, this is what we know as Ethiopian food. It's tasty. It's delicious. People love it.

Although "Ethio-pizza" does not qualify as one of the three hidden gems below, it was  still fun to eat!

But there is a whole 'nother side to Ethiopian food that I did not know existed until I visited Ethiopia. Ethiopian food has three "hidden gems," to which I had no previous exposure. The first time I encountered them... it was like love at first sight.

Behold, I unveil to you the three hidden food gems of Ethiopia!


#1. FRUIT SPRICE

Layered Goodness!!

Sprice (sounds more like "spreece") means "mixed" in Amharic, the national language in Ethiopia. Ethiopians make this delicious layered smoothie with fresh, ripe fruit and serve it with lime on the side. You can drink it using a straw or spoon it all up to make the pleasure last longer. A good Sprice is thick and full of flavor, never watered down.

The layers usually consist of: creamy avocado smoothie in the bottom, followed by a middle layer of thick guava juice, topped by naturally sweet and thick mango juice plus a final thinner layer of papaya or banana smoothie.

This flavor rainbow is brought out in a huge mug and sometimes topped with vinto, a super sweet sugary sauce that we always opted out of.

The best part of Sprice? It's a great way to start the day plus you get at least 3 servings of fruit.

We usually found Sprice in most fruit shops, especially in bigger cities like Addis Ababa, Gondar, Lallibella and Bahir Dar. Unbeknownst to us, most fruit shops have a small 'restaurant' inside where the secret Sprice as well as gem #2 are served...

#2. SALAD "ATAKELT"

The strangest, best salad ever: Atakelt

Oh yes, we found legit salad in Ethiopia! After having Sprice for the first time, we indulged in an enormous plate of fresh and amazing Atakelt, a unique and incredibly filling salad.

I would have never, in a thousand years, thought to put all the ingredients in an Atakelt together and serve it as a salad. Good thing someone else did because this thing is amazing!

Atakelt salad consists of a bed of lettuce topped with an entire, sliced avocado, an entire sliced up, boiled, peeled potato, chunks of ripe, sweet tomato, sprinkles of red onion, carrot and green hot peppers PLUS sliced bananas! Atakelt is dressed with vinegar (OMG had not had vinegar in months!!!), a bit of salt and, if you want, a dangerously spicy and tasty powder that tasted like a mix of ground pepper and chili.

I know it may not sound good but this strange concoction is one of the best salads I've ever had! We often had a giant Sprice followed by a giant Atakelt (it's so large we had to share one!) for lunch and were incredibly satisfied and full of healthy energy. I'm definitely adding Sprice and Atakelt to my diet back in California! Can't wait to make it, especially during Hass Avo season.

#3. REAL AUTHENTIC ITALIAN FOOD. I REPEAT, REAL AUTHENTIC ITALIAN FOOD, JUST LIKE IN ITALY.

Delicious italian appetizers @ Castellis in Piazza, Addis Ababa

A long, long time ago (2004), I lived in Italy for a little while. One of the saddest things about leaving was knowing that unless I went back to Italy, I would never, ever again have the opportunity to indulge in one of the world's best cuisines. Italian food elsewhere is not the real deal. In order to have the good stuff, one must go to Italy.

Or Ethiopia.

Several decades ago, Italy decided to try to invade Ethiopia and failed. Twice. Ethiopia's army kicked Italian butt and protected Ethiopia from becoming yet another European colony. Ethiopians are very proud of this part of their history and although the Italians were swiftly kicked out, they left a bit of culinary legacy behind. Many of the macchiatos and espressos found throughout the country's cafes are, of course, made in Italian espresso machines. Many Ethiopians even adapted spaghetti as part of their diet.

But one of the best parts of this culinary legacy is a restaurant in the heart of Addis Ababa called Castellis.

Italian food: oh how I've missed the REAL you!

One random night in Addis, we saw a sign for an "Italian" restaurant. There's only so much injera we could eat so we decided to give it a shot and boy am I glad we did! Apparently we lucked out because we needed a reservation but managed to sneak in the second they opened their doors at 7pm. Dining at Castellis was like being zapped back to Italy. Eliot had never ever had real authentic Italian food and was completely enamored by it. I couldn't believe the authenticity of the food here- even our Ethiopian waiter spoke Italian. A fellow Italian diner commented on my "good pronunciation" (wohoo!) when I ordered the fettuccine al nero di seppia con calamari and he vouched for Castellis by saying it was indeed like a little part of Italy and that the food here was absolutely excellent.

That night we indulged in the insalata di casa plus some home made cheese, sun dried tomatoes and grilled veggies as appetizers. Sadly, they were out of the fettuccine so we ordered the lasagna and some porcini mushroom raviolini as our primi piatti - to top it all off, all of the pasta was home made and they use real e.v.o.o (extravirginoliveoil)!  

Raviolini with porcini mushrooms: yes please, I'll have one of those!

Well, there they are! I have to admit when we decided to go to Ethiopia for the "food", I never thought I'd find these three gems there. Thank you, Ethiopia for a healthy and unexpected dose of FRUIT, SALAD and ITALIAN FOOD!

Living out of a backpack, minimalist style

How to pack for long-term travel: the ultralight version 

2 people, 6 months

Hopefully by now you've read our post on how to leave everything behind, hop on a plane and go have the experience of your life (If you haven't, it might be a good place to start!).

Now- congratulations! You've booked your tickets and now you have to do a myriad of things, one of which, of course is deciding what to bring and how to bring it. Our advice? Leave as much behind as possible. You'll be surprised at how little you will actually need once you're on the road.

The minimalist approach

Traveling with less is the way to go. It will make your life so much easier and you'll thank yourself later for not packing your blankie or your favorite pillow.

Everything we have for our 7 month travel fits in a 40 liter bag and each bag weighs approximately 12 kilos (26 pounds). Even that seems a bit much now that we're more than half-way through our trip. It's awesome because it fits in the overhead bins on most planes so we never risk losing our luggage. Plus, we can walk around relatively comfortably in any kind of terrain -- we're talking desert, snow, mountains, beaches, cities, you name it...

We spent a significant amount of time doing research in order to find the most ultralight, minimalist solutions to our packing needs. On top of that, we wanted to make sure that everything we brought with us was practical and had a use -- for example, we did not pack any cotton t-shirts.

What and how to pack

The following is a list of the essential and practical ultralight items that will make your globe trot a breeze. The stuff in brackets are things we should have packed and the strikethroughs are things we wish we hadn't packed. We are also including recommendations and some links to where in the U.S. you can find most of this stuff.

*Disclaimer: we've added some useful links for Amazon so you can just click and check out some of the essentials if you'd like. We get a few cents if you click the links below -- our intention is not to make money but to try to make your life easier. We spent a long time researching these things, 90% of it is the exact style/brand we use!  

For him...

Clothing (per person) -- most items are on the expensive side but oh so worth it!

• 3 short sleeve quick dry shirts. Why quick dry? Keeps you cool or warm and is very easy to hand wash. Patagonia has great options ($30-$50); here are slightly cheaper but still great ones for men and women.
• 2 long sleeve quick dry and/or merino wool shirts. REI, Patagonia and Costco may carry them depending on season/location; otherwise try this for women  and this for men.
• 2 pairs of quick dry convertible pants. REI and North Face.
• 4 pairs of quick dry active underwear. Patagonia has pretty good stuff.
• 4 pairs of merino wool socks (if you're planning on hiking a lot, which we did). Smartwool and REI socks worked great-- if you suffer from blisters, consider buying additional liner socks.
• One nice fleece. Patagonia's R1 is AWESOME.
• One windbreaker and rain jacket. Again Patagonia's super cell rocks for this.
• One wool hat for the cold.
• Windproof gloves. Eliot bought woolen ones in Nepal and they weren't as useful.
• One pair of board shorts.
• One bathing suit (Eliot's board shorts double as a bathing suit).
• Sunglasses -- the Peppers ones have worked really well so far. In addition to their more traditional applications, these are great to hide behind on crowded public buses.
• For Drea: One bra, three quick dry, seamless sports bras since our trip is so active... 
• [Sun hat, especially for, er, paler people like Eliot.]
• [Sarong - we have almost 3 months of islands and nothing to lay on. Oh well, at least its cheap if you forget.]

Electronics

For her...

• 2 laptop computers . We preferred this over an iPad since we knew we'd be writing quite a bit and I have to say, having a laptop has been great!
• Laptop sleeve for each computer. Note, make sure you get a sturdy and protective case too, Drea's computer literally got crushed in the backpack during the Nepal trek...
• 2 universal adaptors, make sure you get just the adaptor, converters aren't really necessary plus they weigh a lot: this one is really cheap and ultra light. 
• One camera and its battery charger. We just have a cheap-o Canon point/shoot one, the risk of having something nicer stolen (happened 3 times to Drea in Philippines, Spain and Colombia) scared us away from something nicer like an SLR.
• [Extra camera battery charger. Ours broke, resulting in a full week of no pictures.]
• [Extra camera battery for those times when there's no electricity for weeks on end...]
• 2 Kindles. Paperwhite is really nice and the batteries last for weeks! This is significantly--no-- ridiculously better to packing bulky, heavy books. We have a library of over 11,000 books that weighs nothing. Get it at Amazon.
• A waterproof case for each kindle. You can read while you float!
• One iPod and a splitter so we can both listen to music at the same time. Amazon has pretty cheap ones.
• A 32 GB memory card for the camera- one will do, 32 gigs is a ridiculous amount of space.
• 2 ultralight Petzl LED headlamps. 
• Replacement batteries for the headlamp. I don't think we'll run out of batteries any time soon...
• 1 Freedom SteriPEN . This thing is awesome! You don't have to buy bottled water (contribute less to waste) and it purifies water right in your Nalgene in just under 2 minutes!!
• Jailbroken, SIM-card-enabled, smart phone. This way you can buy a local SIM for calling/data in every country, it's a cheap lifesaver.

Shoes (just two pairs will do!)

• A pair of flip flops (Reefs for her, Rainbows for him).
• A solid pair of high-top hiking boots. For multi-day hikes, high-top boots are a must! Our ankles would've both been broken by now if we had opted for lighter shoes. Try Zimberlains or Solomons. These suckers have about 600 miles on them as of writing! 

Toiletries

Waterproof stuff sacks are key!

For him:

• Shaving oil. It's tiny and it works! It's like 4 ounces of goodness and lasts for ever.
• 4 razor blades and a razor.
• 2 deodorants. Boys stink more than girls.
• [Condoms]. The legit ones are very expensive abroad ($2/condom!). These are necessary when taking anti-malaria pills which can reduce the effectiveness of BCPs. 

For her:

• Simply using soap for shaving works great.
• 3 razor blades and a razor.
• Birth control pills (BCPs) - make sure you get a long-term prescription from your doctor that can be filled in full at once!
• Tampons and a moon cup. Tampons are extremely hard to find abroad, everyone seems to prefer pads.
• Hair brush and ample hair ties (8) and sporty head bands (4).
• Hair conditioner (travel size).
• 1 deodorant.
• Contact lens solution and contact cases. Bring a small bottle from the U.S. and then buy a big bottle of solution once you reach your first destination. Drea's the blind one in the relationship.

For both:

• One small and one large pair of nail clippers.
• 2 Sportsmen sticks of 30% DEET repellent. The liquid stuff spills way too easy and will ruin everything.
• 3 sticks of 50 SPF sport sunscreen. Whatever toiletries you can get in a solid form, do it! It's easier for carry-ons. 
• One travel-size 40 and one 50 SPF sunscreen cream. Again, good for the pale ones!
• Razor Gator. This silly little thing actually lengthens the life of a razor blade by months! 
• Two compact travel towels from Sea to Summit. 
• One travel mirror. 
• Two steripods (great little pods for your toothbrush!). Drea lost hers on a plane and misses it terribly. 
• Super concentrated shampoo and body wash. You can easily buy this stuff locally, no need to bring it along.
• Sea to summit soap strips. These are little strips of soap that have come in very handy.
• [Hand sanitizer!] We stupidly did not pack any and it wasn't easy to find. 
• Face wash. If you finish it you can easily buy more locally. 
• Floss, keep away those cavities! Also works great to sew things back together- it's sturdier than thread!

Other Stuff

• Travel Clothesline . We love this and have used it extensively!
• One Nalgene wide mouth so you can SteriPEN your water and then transfer it to your Platypus. 
• 2 Platypus water containers. 
• 2 sets of personalized cards. Moo cards and Vistaprint worked wonderfully for us both. 
• Cliff bars. 
• One travel First Aid kit plus extra moleskin for blisters. They took away our medical scissors at Kathmandu airport :(.
• 6-months worth of contact lenses. 
• 147 days (or however long you'll travel) worth of doxycycline (anti-malarial) for each of us.
• Cipro antibiotic for emergencies (nuclear bomb for anything bacterial).
• Hard shell camera case with a small carabiner. 
• 3 pens and one sharpie. This is a must!
• [A box of cheap pens.] We really meant to bring this and totally forgot. A lot of local village kids really want pens/pencils for school. It's a great substitute to cash. 
• 2 notebooks. Paper and pen are SO MUCH FUN when there is no electricity for weeks on end...
• [Toilet paper and tissues.] It's bulky for sure but the quality of TP and tissues from home is just so damn superior and cheaper than anything we've found abroad. It's especially nice to have when you're out in the wilderness... We bought it all locally but it was often super overpriced and, let's just say, rough around the edges. 
• Dark chocolate. Gone in a matter of days, one wounded soldier didn't survive the heat on our way to Karnali in Nepal. We should've brought more...
• Jewelry -- don't bring ANY! Girls, if you wear earring just bring one pair of studs
• [Peptobismol or tums or anything equivalent to make your tummy feel better. We've had unfortunate food poisoning one too many times]

Ready to rumble!

Luggage

• 40-Liter Boreas Buttermilks. These backpacks are awesome and come with a rain cover. Very simple and so easy to use. PLUS very hard to pickpocket as there is only one point of entry. We love 'em!
• 3 ultralight waterproof sacks from Sea to Summit and one non-waterproof packing cube each (different sizes to match your needs). Although the ultralight model is very light, it's not as sturdy as the light ones and some of our sunscreens poked holes through. These are great for packing: we use one for electronics, a small one for toiletries and another for other stuff. We use the non-waterproof packing cube for clothes and that's it! It makes packing SO easy.
• Sea to Summit's key chain bag. This backpack has been crucial and is super light and fits in a lot of stuff including both of our laptops and fleeces all at once. 

Believe it or not, all this stuff weighs less than 60 pounds combined!! And it all fits in a small, 40-liter backpack. Thinking about it now, there are only a few things we haven't used at all so the list above should help you get all set for your big trip. Have fun packing!

Other Resources

Other people with kick-ass advice on long-term travel packing:

• http://www.legalnomads.com/wds#packing
• http://www.neverendingvoyage.com/what-do-you-pack-when-you-are-leaving-forever-our-packing-list/ 
• http://breakawaybackpacker.com/2011/02/what-im-packing-for-my-trip-around-the-world/
• http://www.everintransit.com/adventures-in-carry-on-only-travel-mens-packing-list/
• http://www.everintransit.com/carry-on-travel-womens-packing-list/
• http://www.answeringoliver.com/2012/02/my-rtw-packing-list.html
• http://www.yallabye.eu/en/preparation/

co-posted on www.eliotpeper.com