Saturday, June 22, 2013

Necessary stuff

For future Extended India Travelers, I thought I would post the stuff I've been collecting for the trip to give you an idea of travel supplies.  We've been told that medicine all needs to be in its original packaging so that changes my usual travel where I throw the tylenol and advil and migraine excedrine all together in one bottle.

To start with, this is my new cool camera backpack.   It's going to be a bit of a hassle to take my dSLR camera with me, but how can I go to a dream destination without my good camera??  I bought this bag at Sams Club on a special $69.99 marked from $129.99.  The front part of the bag is for a laptop and the back is for the camera and lenses and cords etc.  This will be one of my carry-on bags for the plane.

 

And I also need my electrical converter type things so take a look at this stuff:


Shopping!    :)   Ok, starting at the top left, there are 2 boxes of travel converters with adapters.One I bought long ago for a trip to Europe, and the other I bought at Menards for under $20.  Find a description of what could be needed here: http://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/world-electricity-guide.html.  In the US, for the most part, our items that use electricity are made for 110V so we need to convert it to be used in India. Also, our plugs don't fit in their holes (yeah, that's a technical description :) ) so we also need adapters.  And since the power is not as, hmmm, don't know a word for smooth or consistent in the electricity world, anyway, we need a surge protector.  Some things, like our computers and cell phones, are made for dual voltage so they can plug directly into the surge protector and adaptor and skip the converter.  So, moving right in the picture is a Belkin Travel surge protector (around $15 on Amazon.com) and below it, 4 adaptors for India ($6.50 on Amazon.com). Different countries get different adapters so make sure you have the ones specifically for Asia/India.
Just below those, 2 2-to-3 pin adaptors.  My converters are both ones that only take 2-pin plugs.  Most plus have the ground so they become 3-pin.  This allows that 3-pin to now plug into my converter.  I found these at Menards for under a dollar for both.

Hearing that most curling irons burn out even with the converter, I bought a dual voltage curling iron on Amazon.com for around $20.   With all the humidity there, this is probably a wasted purchase but I hold out hope for looking good at least ONE day while I'm there.

Nestled in by the curling iron is a flashlight and batteries.  I'm prepared for the power outages.  Our hotel will probably not have them, but who knows where our weekend travels will take us.

Middle row includes some travel bags.  The long skinny one is a PacSafe travel wallet ($30).  The straps have metal inside to keep them from being cut.  There is a place for the passport in there.  The gray bag next to it is a cross-body travel 'purse' designed by the Heys company.($40)

And on the bottom row, a doorstop.  In the book Wanderlust and Lipstick For Women Traveling to India (http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/books/buy-india-book/) a traveler suggested a door stop.  It's a comfort thing to let you know that at least while you are in the room, no one will be able to come in.  Once again, at our main hotel, there will probably be deadbolts, but at our weekend excursion hotels, this may not be the case.  Rounding out the row, headphones, portable fans (did I mention it's going to be HOT!, and a multiple plug surge protector.


This purchase speaks to the what-if side of my personality.  Certainly not necessary but I feel better that I have it.  Obviously water is a problem when going to India.  We're only allowed to drink bottled water and brush our teeth with bottled water.  This item was recommended to me and I did research on it.It's small and lightweight and will fit in my bag whenever we go somewhere.  I'm thinking if we're out somewhere and it's hotter than heck and we don't have ready access to bottled water, we can use this and we won't get sick.   You can read bout it here:  http://www.steripen.com/.  I bought mine for around  $70 at  www.backcountry.com on sale.


So, yeah, I've bought a lot of stuff you're thinking.   Since the trip is delayed, I added a rain poncho to my stuff since our visit may now run into monsoon season.   Next to the rain poncho, I have some of those packing bags where you put your stuff inside and then squeeze out the air. And then there is a thing that will bungee a smaller bag to my large suitcase.  How I am going to get all of my luggage through the airport is a mystery.  Oh yeah, I also had to buy a giant suitcase.  I had one, but need two for the trip.  Maybe not so much for going over, but definitely for going back. :)  Suitcases at that size run between $100 and $150.  I stopped at Goodwill to deliver a load of stuff I was getting rid of and decided to stop in to see if they had a large decent suitcase.  Woohoo!  A Samsonite suitcase in excellent shape and no odd smells was $12.99.  I was pretty proud of that buy.

Mosquitos and sun are going to be a problem so we were instructed to buy mosquito repellent, in both the big and the travel size, that contained at least 30% DEET (DEET being the active ingredient in mosquito repellent).  OFF!, the most popular mosquito repellent here has between 7% - 25% so not enough.  I did find this brand at both WalMart and Meijer and it contains 40% DEET.   And there's some travel toilet paper in there as my hope for avoiding public bathrooms may not always be possible.

I bought pepper spray although I need to google to see if I can even take it.  And rounding out the picture on the bottom right are two kinds of those water flavorers because although I can sterilize the water with my Steri-Pen, I can't make it taste any better.  So this will cover any yuck...or that is my hope.


This was my trip to the Dollar Store for supplies.  Notice the toilet seat covers in the middle.  That's my positive outlook hoping that there WILL BE a seat on the toilet.



We have been told that all medicines must be in original packages so here is my medicine stash. And there included are my Malaria pills.

So that's what I have purchased so far for the trip.  Whew!  Any questions?

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