What's in my bag? Vietnam Edition!

Greetings, summer holiday lovers! Coming at you live, from monsoon season in Vietnam! I flew into Hanoi, the northern capitol to meet up with my parents and my friends, Ethan and Kellen aka the most beautiful husband and husband pair, who flew in from Boston. We are roadtripping Vietnam from north to south, with a popover to Cambodia to visit Angkor Wat for the next three weeks! It is a proper summer holiday :) Time (and wifi) allowing, I'll be sharing updates from my trip, probably in the form of image heavy "post" cards. I have a couple style posts queued up that I might throw in as well!

This is my 5th time in Vietnam (2008, 2011, 2012, 2013), so I consider myself quite familiar with my mother's land. Maybe I'm a bit overconfident because I saved packing for the day before. Work has been so crazy that I didn't really have a whole lot of time to ponder this trip as it was approaching, sort of just got on the plane, you know what I mean? I think it shows in my packing because LOL why did I bring SO MANY sports bras?! I wanted to share my thought process for packing on this trip, in case any of y'all are gearing up for your first tropical SE Asian adventure! First thing to consider- space. I wanted to limit myself to one backpack. Kasey discovered the Osprey Porter 46-Liter duffle bag for her first big trip to India and I've been using it ever since! Coupled with these AWESOME medium sized packing cubes from eBags, I feel like I've got an easy and convenient packing system. It's so nice being able to organize my clothes with cubes so my duffle doesn't become one giant cotton explosion.

Next, I considered the climate I'd be in and the types of activity I'd be doing. I will be trekking through Vietnam during monsoon season, where temperatures hover in the mid 90's and being constantly covered in moisture from the humidity is a fact of life :) A lot of activity is planned with a mix of city life and country sights. So basically, my main theme is COMFORT. Hence, a shit ton of cotton. Basically, the idea was- comfortable workout clothes to move in and easy going sundresses for some variety. Also, I'll be exclusively sporting sport bras this trip. I've found them to be more comfortable and more practical for this type of travel. I brought almost zero cold weather gear. Monsoon = flash flood raining anytime, anywhere, so my one and only jacket/long sleeve of choice is the Brooks LSD Jacket, which is wind proof, water resistant and folds into its own pocket for super mega space saving! I also have one pair of yoga leggings that I wore on the plane ride over and will wear for the plane ride back. For shoes, I brought one pair of adventure sandals, I recommend a pair with straps, and one pair of tennis shoes because I told myself I'd attempt to go running a couple times while out here :)

It's worth mentioning toiletries- SE Asian skin care products contain chemicals to promote skin whitening. Light skin is coveted in these parts and ladies will do anything to maintain fair skin. This is bad news bears for me because I most definitely do not want dat shit on my skin. I recommend bringing your own face wash and your own body wash. I've found hair care products to be okay to purchase here. You may want to bring your own toothpaste if you're picky about the taste (which I totes am!). I've used sunscreen from here and it's been fine, but tend to bring my own because I prefer specific brands. Most international flights give you 2 free checked bags, so bringing liquids shouldn't be too much of a hassle :)

As far as other non-clothes items, I have my Canon SLR and a Surface Pro 2. I also brought a small hydration pack, similar to this one to carry my absolute essentials on me (passport, cash, phones). I've learned over the years, light and lean is the way to go! Leaves more room for you to haul home goodies! Next, we're on to Sapa, famous for its picturesque rice terraces. Until the next, my friends!