Packing Suggestions, 2.0
I made an earlier post (Peace Corps Packing 101) during training that touched on the items that I was glad that I had packed. I’m going to add onto it now that I’m at my site. Just a reminder, I’m in Omnibus 103 (April 2010) in Ecuador.
You may recall that my previous list of recommendations was:
- Flashlight (I brought a headlamp)
- Aloe vera. It’s not in the medical kit that they give you in training, and you will get sunburned.
- Another pair of jeans (I brought 1 pair slacks, 1 pair jeans, 1 pair outdoors/convertible pants). There are no laundry facilities in the hostel we stayed at in Quito nor at the training facility. So we will have gone 10 days or so without access to laundry facilities.
- A 2-to-3 prong power adapter.
- Enough underwear and socks to get you through two weeks.
- Layered warm items. I brought a fleece and a light jacket. A heavy jacket would have been overkill.
- A small USB headset to use at Internet cafes. The ones there are either nasty, broken, or nonexistent.
- A hat and sunglasses.
- Pictures of my family, friends, and significant others if applicable.
- A small gift for your host family.
To this list I would like to add:
- Duct tape. I brought some and it has been immensely useful for a million little things.
- A set of bedsheets. It’s mentioned on at least one of the many packing lists that I saw. I thought it was a stupid suggestion. It’s really hard to find a good set of bedsheets, even in Quito, for a good price. Pack it in the bag that you won’t have during training.
- A camping towel (quick-try) and a standard towel you could get at Target or Wal-Mart. Exact same story as the bedsheets. The towel I bought in Cayambe starting falling apart on me within a month. Bring with you to training.
- Swiss-army knife, so that you have basic tools like a screwdriver and a knife.
- A large external hard drive for trading media with fellow volunteers.
- Small external speakers for playing music or watching movies.
- A flash drive with a decent capacity, at least 10 gigs. This comes in very useful for downloading stuff at Internet cafes.
- At least one set of clothes that you can wear and not get turned away from a nightclub. A t-shirt and REI pants won’t fly for most clubs. A button-down long sleeve shirt and jeans is fine if you’re a guy.
Need me to send one of those quick dry towels from the states? Maybe some spare duct tape?
Note for those buying camping towels. Quality matters and never put it in the dryer (at least not with the heat on). Get a good one and it'll last you a long time. Get a cheap one and it's better than nothing, but not by much.