How to pack for business and leisure – my Asian adventures

 

Packing for both business and pleasure is often seen as difficult – I solve the problem by using different packing cells for the 2 different parts. One for business, one for leisure.

One or 2 items may belong both bags, in this instance, it’s a white T-shirt that, once the 5-day business meeting is over, it will be moved into my leisure cell for the month-long exploration in SE Asia at cheap and cheerful destinations and accommodations.

My travel is in Southeast Asia, so will have the extreme heat of July and August, and I suspect, the over-cold meeting rooms in the hotel. This just seems to be what they do in Asia – overcompensating for the heat.

I’m taking 2 pieces of luggage, my trusty red suitcase in the hold, and a daypack no. The suitcase will be left behind in Hong Kong with all my business stuff in it, while the backpack will be my luggage for Taiwan, Cambodia, and Vietnam. My red suitcase will be about 10kg max. (22 lb) while my backpack will be under the regulation 7kg. (15lb). What

carry-on luggage

It’s always a treat to just have carry-on luggage when travelling – no waiting at the luggage carousel for my red case to appear. I will also use my backpack as my carry-on luggage when I leave New Zealand for Hong Kong. It will contain vital business papers, my camera and tablet, as well as medication, Kobo e-reader and phone.

So what are in those cells? Two trouser suits – a white one with 2 tops to wear with it, and a yellow one with the white T-shirt. So over the 5 days of work, I have 3 different outfits, so one will be repeated, and if I decide to, I could wear my black travel trousers with one of the tops. One pair of black shoes will accompany them all :-).

business clothes cell

All these will remain in HK storage when I leave for Vietnam, Cambodia then onto Taiwan, before returning to Hong Kong for a couple of days and pick up my red suitcase, and go home to New Zealand’s late winter weather – and where my daughter will meet me at the airport with a warm coat 🙂

My red leisure cell contains a long sundress, a loose pair of trousers, 3 tops and my trusty Teva’s while the blue one has underwear, swimming costume, and nightwear. So that’s how I pack for a combined trip that is both official and laid-back – very different needs clothes-wise

I hope this helps you keep your clothes to the minimum -after all, we don’t have to dress to impress when we’re on holiday, you will, mostly, see a person only once, so even if you are in the same clothes daily, most of them would not even notice. We, humans, are pretty self-centred and concentrate on ourselves.

plane travel including a long warm cardi

toiletries, medication, first aid, electronics

leisure clothes cell

 

I’m given a very small umbrella for sun protection

ready for the airport

How to pack, and what to take, for six weeks travel?

I’m off to India shortly, so, once again I wonder (and others asked me) how to pack and what do you take for six weeks travel? If I didn’t need my electronic gear I’d be taking carry-on only – and I obey the airline rules re carry on weight: like AirNZ, Singapore Airlines – which I’m using this trip – have a 7 kg (about 15 lb) limit.

It’s the ‘other stuff’, not clothes that take the most room: electronic gear in particular! We all will have different needs – mine are; batteries and chargers and selfie stick and tablet and camera and power plug adapters, for instance. It pays to put them in a pile and consider what’s missing? And what don’t I need? I carry that mostly in my carry-on bag as they’re essential for travel writers. As ‘they say’ no photos, no story.

Then of course there’s the toiletries and first aid and medications. I also take a bag of ‘curiously strong’ peppermints or other sweets for midnight snacks!

As well as the travel clothes and shoes I’ll wear, I’ll also take a pair of jandels (that’s kiwi english for flip-flops or thongs in other forms or variations of English) and a my trusty can-walk-anywhere Teva sandals.

I’ll also have an umbrella for sun or rain and these clothes.

I’m off to India so taking my Indian clothes back to India😀

Add a pair of ‘western’ pants and top, and a long lounging dress for either nightwear, or pool wear, or just lounging and writing in my room – or under a tree :). And, of course, underwear, and togs/swimming gear – as always, that will be about 10/12 kg

‘western’ top and pants

My carry-on (7 kg max) will have my electronics and camera plus tablet, e-reader and paper book and my medications – plus for the first time a mask for smog!

missing from this photo is my tablet!

It will also have, tissues, sox for on the plane, headphones, notebook and pen, travel docs, water bottle, inflight snack, sleep mask and compression socks – to be put on at airport. Plus of course things security want to see like batteries and any liquid, like my moisturiser.