unpack with me after backpacking Southeast Asia (what I regret/what you NEED to bring with you)

hello what's up and welcome back to my channel my name is Rachel I make videos on fashion travel and environmentalism if you like any of those things you should consider subscribing to my [Music] channel you can probably tell I'm a lot Tanner I'm a lot cooler a lot more confident in this video I'm going to be unpacking my backpacks from my 3-month trip in Southeast Asia if you're new to my channel hello I just came back from a life-changing trip everyone who's asked me about my trip is always like how was it and the best way I can describe it is that it is everything and more it met my expectations and also exceeded them I had such a fantastic time if you don't know where I've been I backpacked through Thailand La Vietnam Cambodia and Indonesia for the last 3 months I traveled only with a carry-on and a personal item so my main backpack is my Eagle Creek tour for 40 L this was the main one and then I had a personal item it started off with just a simple Roots backpack that I had from home but that actually broke if you follow me on Instagram you'll know that that broke in Thailand I think it was in kotal and that broke and so I had to buy a new backpack but this is just a normal size backpack that was on my front my two or 40 L was on my back and that is what I tra Tred with honestly I do not regret it I love this bag a lot of people are asking me for a review on this bag so this video will kind of talk about in detail why I like this bag how it was traveling with a 40 L All That Jazz and spoiler alert I loved it I highly recommend and everyone who saw me with my 40 ler was like that bag's pretty small compared to mine cuz a lot of people travel with like 60 70 80 L almost everyone told me they're like I didn't need this much stuff I wish I traveled with a 40 l i could have saved on baggage fees at the airport and I could have saved my back because traveling with a bunch of stuff is just so annoying I even found myself getting like not annoyed but I was definitely like wow this is there's some stuff in here that I did not need but I think overall for the most part I'm pretty proud of myself for the way that I packed and yeah let's just get into the video so I can tell you what I did we're going to start with what was in my main backpack the two or 40 L A lot of it was packing cubes and clothes so to start I have this really small I think it's the extra small yeah extra small Eagle Creek all that was in here was my period underwear if you know me I love reusable menstrual products and so a lot of my period underwear was really helpful when I was traveling and I highly recommend it highly recommend packing cubes all the packing cubes that I used I really liked I went out before my trip and bought some Ops spree packing cubes these two had my shirts in it my shirts and my swimsuits mainly if you want you can go and see my packing video so the video I filmed right before I left then I had these packing cubes that I've actually had since before this trip I can't remember where I got these ones but if I do remember I'll put them in the description of this video These packing cubes actually have like an accordion style you can pack them in and you can what's the word I'm looking for get out there compress compress compress is the word I was looking for you can compress them and make it tinier and also something that I would do a little backpacking Pro tip is when I would have these completely full I would sit on them while I was packing my luggage so when I would put everything in I'd sit on it and while I was packing up other things and it kind of compressed it even a little bit more before I put it in my backpack let's talk about the pants that I brought here are all the pants that I've come home with okay first just because this is what's on top top is my North Face pants I actually bought these in Vietnam there's a lot of these like made in Vietnam stores where they have like potentially counterfeit potentially not stuff I feel like they're legit they These are nice because they're super versatile they're lightweight but I can fit stuff under them when I was in Northern Vietnam I wore my leggings under these and I felt that that was warm enough when I was doing the Hang Loop and Sapa and all that stuff they have cut off zippered bottoms so you can wear them as like board shorts or you can wear them as full length pants I do wish that I had originally bought more long pants or maybe something like this before my trip but it was no big deal because I was able to purchase one that's the thing overall very proud of the stuff that I brought the only thing I would say is that I didn't plan for Vietnam being so cold because I didn't realize Northern Vietnam was going to be cold that was a misstep on my part then um you'll see before if you saw the packing video I had two skirts this is one of them then I have a black black one love the fact that I brought skirts I found the skirts were really versatile especially long skirts for temples when you need to have your knees covered but also just like when you want something lightweight some countries were very very hot Thailand was very hot Cambodia was really hot Indonesia I found those were the hottest places and sometimes you just want some sort of airf flow for sleeping I just had these like comfy like Champion shorts these were great to have on me I also really enjoy like lounging shorts for travel days sometimes or just going to the beach then I have these black pants um these black pants I use these a lot as well these are like a capri length dress pants sort of material they're just from babaton from wri I found I use these a lot again because they covered my knees at temples and they were really lightweight and flowy material so I could wear them even when I was dying of heat and they were black so they were just so versatile and they just went with everything that was a lot of my thought process when I was packing everything I brought I was like what can I wear with more than one thing like what can I mix and match all my pieces were very staple basic pieces that mix and matched very easily with each other next I brought these biker shorts actually had two biker shorts I think I got these from Walmart and then the other ones are from Lululemon I liked how my Lulu shorts had the side pockets that was really helpful for travel days I don't know that I needed two biker shorts but I did use them both so take what that information what you may then I only had one pair of leggings I was able to get by with one pair of leggings and that was fine wore these a lot on my travel days and for layering then I had my two jean shorts I just had one pair that was black and one pair that was a light wash wore these all the time I like the fact that I brought jean shorts that were a bit longer can't wear them at temples but I did feel comfortable wearing them almost everywhere else I didn't have to worry about like my bum showing or them riding up and they're high-waisted so they were really versatile with like crop tops and made me feel very like comfortable and supported I just think a good high-waisted Jean short is I don't know classic they just went with everything it was great next I have just these like comfy stretchy material black pants these you can kind of dress up dress down I wore these a lot um again they're kind of like Capri length and yeah these were really versatile as well and then and this this skirt you know I brought this skirt because I don't wear this a lot when I'm in Canada and I thought maybe I'll wear it when I'm backpacking never do that never never bring something on your backpacking trip that you don't wear a lot at home because you're not going to reach for it when you're backpacking honestly out of all the bottoms that I brought one that I didn't wear that much I consider that a win let's move on to bathing suits I brought four bikinis um I found that all of them were pretty versatile and great the only thing that I would not recommend to bring is a white bathing suit I found that some days when my white bathing suit was a little bit wet and I was on a travel day and I was in between cities I would have to shove it in a bag with a potentially dark colored bathing suit and I did find that my brown bathing suit like kind of leaked onto my white one so it wasn't ideal other than that make sure you bring bathing suits that you like to tan in if you're someone likes to tan I found all my bottoms were pretty similar and then my tops gave me like different tan lines that you'll notice that I don't have like really intense Tan Lines cuz I was able to like shift out my different bathing suits that' be my only tip my brown one I use this brown one so much my brown one was my favorite I think I'm most photographed in my brown bathing suit I brought this fun like cheetah print one because this top again different Tan Lines it kind of goes horizontal almost like a sports bra kind of eye so I found that that was nice for like different water activities this black one was great um it this one was the one I probably used the most when I was like snorkeling or underneath my scuba like wet suit like this was really versatile in that sense as well the black one I brought so four bikinis and then one one piece bathing suit my one piece I thought I would get more use out of it doing like underwater activities but I did find the only time that I used this was when I was surfing and if you watch my Vlogs my surfing experience was interesting to say the least I only really wore this when I was surfing but I still don't regret it because I don't think I would have felt as like secure and comfortable in any other bathing suit while I was surfing so I don't regret bringing this okay now on to shirts but before that I have this thing this one was just like a little like song that I bought in Thailand I did find it really helpful but not something that you need to pack ahead of time because there's a lot of places that you can buy little song wraps this is really helpful when I went to Temples because then I wouldn't have to be wearing a t-shirt all day you would be surprised the difference between like a t-shirt and a tank top in terms of like comfort in the Heat and a tank top was so much more comfortable most days so I'm glad that I had this that I could just throw on when I got to the temple if the temple was only one stop in my whole entire day because I could just throw this on my shoulders and then take it off to keep my self nice and cool so definitely recommend buying one of these when you're there and I also use this so many other ways like when I was at the beach like as a towel before I got my towel we'll talk about that in a second and I used it just like as a cover up with my bathing suit and you know it was just really helpful moving on to shirts I think I only have one shirt that I regret bringing I had this green t-shirt use this a lot especially on travel days this shirt was very lightweight so so I found I was able to wear that to a lot of temples even when I was hot this is a shirt that I bought actually in Thailand when I saw this shirt I was like this shirt is so cool I need it like it's funny cuz when I bought this shirt I was with like a group of my friends in pi in Thailand and it was actually one of my favorite places that I went to Pi was just so special to me and I was with a group of my friends and I literally made them all come to the store and be like do you think this one's cooler this and we Ned it down to like this one and one other one and all my friends unanimously voted on the tiger shirt so just great memories associated with the tiger shirt it's super oversized so I used it all the time like as a cover up and you know going to the beach and it just gave me that cool Backpacker girl vibe that I was really going for then I have this shirt that I acquired in my travels from scuba diving in kotow it's just a little tank top and that has a funny saying on the back in terms of my tank tops okay here is my tip for tank tops thicker material only one of my tank tops was thicker material didn't reach for it as much because of the thicker material I feel like this whole video is just me talking about how hot I was in so many places tank tops that I didn't have to wear bra in that were a darker color like the Sunday Best like high neck black tank top grabbed for this all the time so easy to throw on goes with everything loved it tank tops like this little crop top again don't have to wear a bra don't have to wear a bra vibing lightweight don't have to wear bra lightweight don't have to wear bra these are tanks I grabbed for all the time here are my downfalls I think first off this tank top now this tank top is comfy it is perfect in every way shape or form don't have to wear a bra versatile the only thing thing is I was scared to wash this at certain points I didn't wear this that much because I didn't want it to get dirty and I didn't want it to get dirty because I didn't want to wash it because I had a lot of friends who washed a white material top of theirs and then it was a different color when they got it back out of their laundry cuz when you're backpacking you don't really do your own laundry you take it to like someone to do your laundry at least that's the Norman Asia because it's very cheap sometimes if they had a white shirt it would get ruined and this is a really good quality white shirt that I bought from a sustainable company and I really really didn't want it to get ruined so there was a point where I just stopped wearing this all together and then it was just dead weight in my backpack I would not recommend bringing anything white when you're backpacking now here's the shirts that I didn't grab for as much now this shirt is a shirt that I just gotten before my trip I thrifted it I thought it was cute for a going out top um only wore it a couple times going out sometimes I was just like I don't want to say lazy but I just gotten that Backpacker Vibe where like I wasn't in the mood to wear like a cute going out top I literally would just throw on a tank top and some hoop earrings and call it a day that is just something to think about everyone's different of course something else that I didn't grab for and wear that much is this bodysuit that I brought and that's because again it wasn't easy to throw on it's a bodysuit I had to hook it together and I know that sounds so silly but it's so true like I I'm thinking like why didn't I grab for this as much and it's cuz it wasn't as easy to throw on as the rest of them and then sports bras okay I brought two sports bras I brought one black one and then this one my black one is in the wash because I wore it to yoga the other day but yeah two sports bras was fine honestly I wore my black one a lot because it kind of looks like a shirt so that worked as well I think on my next trip I could probably just wear one sports bra depends how much physical activity you're doing this is just me getting real nitpicky because I think for my next back packing trip as light as I packed I think I could go even lighter and so these are the things I'm thinking about as I'm unpacking all of my stuff bras man I did not wear these bras like ever I think okay no that's a lie I would wear a bra once in a while and for that reason I only think I need one bra I'd probably bring like my lighter color bra just so it was more versatile but yeah one bra is all that's needed now oh hoodies now I left with one hoodie but I came home with two hoodies and I know you're thinking Rachel you have just talked to us for the last 5 minutes about how hot everything was however I had to get this hoodie because it was from one of my favorite places ever the pie hole okay yes I got it from piie Thailand look at the back tell me this isn't the coolest hoodie ever you can says pie wool on the front and back me and my friend Shar got matching sweaters shout out Shar I love you and so it's just like a nice memory even though it was big and bulky I was able to like squish my one hoodie in my bag and then the other hoodie on any travel days I would just wear it like around my waist not recommending to buy a hoodie when you're backpacking southeast Asia but I just saw this and I could not help myself I I needed this hoodie I wear hoodies all the time in Canada so it was a good purchase for me but yes I just has my pie hoodie and then this other just like oversized black hoodie as well in terms of socks I think that I had packed three socks and then I had one that I was wearing on my feet so together I had four socks I think this was a good amount of socks I utilized it like when I was in Vietnam and doing the Hang Loop and stuff like I needed a couple pairs of socks um so I think four was a good amount I never found myself running out of socks because I didn't wear them that often but that's just because of the type of trip and the type of countries that I was going to this was a sleeping bag liner now this was very very convenient I was almost debating whether like how I wanted to go in this video talking about this whether I liked it or didn't the only thing I found that was annoying like I clipped it to the outside of my bag on a carabiner however the bag itself has seen better days like it's it was ripping so like maybe if I got a better bag I'd consider bringing this on another backpacking trip you know what no I utilize this a lot I utilized this when I was freezing cold in the Sapa Hills I utilize this on airplanes I utilize this when I was in some really sketchy hostels you know what I take it all back I do recommend bringing a sleeping bag liner but next time when I go on a backpack and trip I'll either REO this bag back together or get a bag or a little caring case that's stronger carabiners let's take a moment of silence and appreciation for carabiners I had a couple here's some of mine I think I had like two more these were so useful I clipped my shoes on with I think I'd recommend bringing like one big Carabiner if you have like shoes like Crocs like I could slip my Crocs on these amazing small carabiners for like you know sleeping bag liners and stuff like that um flip flops bathing suits carabiners were just 10 out of 10 people recommend that I bring carabiners on this trip I love you oh something else that's like clothing esque wise this is something that I bought and something that I recommend now After experiencing my first major backpacking trip a little towel these are hard to find when you're traveling so I recommend buying one of these before you leave just a tiny look how tiny it is I literally fit it into the side pocket of my Eagle Creek main backpack and that didn't take up much room at all definitely recommend this was good not only for like drying my body after I shower when the hostle towels were disgusting but it was also good when I was at the beach this is my main little bag that I brought honestly the Pickins were slim this was like the only backpack that I could buy in cotal I think it's a good backpack but I don't think I would use it again as like my personal item mainly because it didn't have like Side Pockets um that you could put water bottles in it just kind of has these things so these were good to clip things onto but I really missed having a spot to put a water bottle in to be honest another thing is that the shoulders weren't padded um as well and they were kind of like the straps were really close together I was like choking myself out sometimes it was hard to wear on my front like I found it way less comfortable than my other backpack was so just little things like that I do like this bag in general and I'll use it for like weekend trips it came with a little strap that you can attach on and turn it into a duffel bag so I did did like that like I think it's a versatile bag I just wouldn't use it again for my personal item when I'm backpacking okay so let's talk about what was in here first thing that I always always put in the bottom was my medication bag is what I call it um some things I love that I used I put electrolytes in here those were great for days that I was hung over those were great for days that I was feeling a little sick a little under the weather needed some more energy used a lot of those those would have also been great if I gotten traveler's diarrhea but your girl did not get it didn't get B belly didn't get traveler's diarrhea I use this bug spray all the time definitely bring yourself a tiny bug spray gravel I did use a lot for motion sickness and I also used it on the flight home to kind of like knock myself out you notice that I separated a lot of my stuff in my personal item with plastic bags definitely recommend this Not only was it easy to like see what was in the bag because it was clear also if something leaked in your bag you wouldn't get all of your stuff wet how I organized things is like medication electronics and then convenience and like miscellaneous and so because I organized it that way I was always able to find what I needed nothing was too cluttered A++ the only thing I didn't really use is this little hand fan I did not use this that much it is really freaking cute but would not bring it on another trip ooh something I recommend and this was a need and this is like a need you just need this when you're back backpacking is locks so I had this main lock big lock use this on lockers a lot sometimes though the lockers would not let you fit a lock like this on it because it's too thick so that's where my luggage locks came in handy I had two of these little luggage locks these came so handy Not only was I able to lock my main big backpack with it because it had locks on it but when lockers at hostiles were tiny you can fit this tiny little lock arm through it definitely recommend bringing like an extra lock like I had two bags so I two locks for those bags and then one extra lock for a locker honestly I I know this is like more locks than I have bags definitely recommend definitely recommend because then if I went in a day trip I can bring one with me if I want or whatnot like it was just always better to have an extra one and then sometimes if I thought like I had lost one it was always good cuz I had an extra one I also brought a first aid kit didn't have to use it too much other than like a couple Band-Aids in poly sporn but so great to have when you do need it so and you never know if any of your buddies when you're traveling might need it too so just always bring a first aid kit I loved having my little camera I took so many cute little film photos on this some days I would forget to bring it out but I love this thing so much snorkel now here's the thing I asked my lovely sister for a snorkel for Christmas before I left because I thought that I would have a lot more free time to snorkel than I actually did that was in part to me just like traveling through some places really quickly that I didn't have a lot of snorkel time I mainly use this in Bali I went snorkeling a couple times in Bali I want to say at times in my trip when I didn't use it a lot I was like h i kind of regret having this big bulky thing in my bag cuz it does take up quite a bit of room even if I pack it down like this however the luxury of not having to put your mouth on a dle that other people have used I don't know I think I don't think I regret it I don't think I regret it I liked my snorkel a lot and it was a good snorkel because sometimes the snorkel that you rent aren't as good and then it ruins your snorkeling experience so you know what even though this is bulky and I didn't use it that much I don't regret it I don't regret it I would travel with my washcloth and so sometimes my washcloth would be a little wet still and I have to put it in a little bag until I got to my next place then I could let it air dry something that I saw that I'm really going to consider getting for my next backpacking trip African net cloth it's like a washcloth that exfoliates you really well but also has holes in it so it dries quickly something to think about something to think about for sure if you're a washcloth girly like myself something else that I brought that I found really useful in my makeup removing cloth even though I did not wear a lot of makeup at all on my trip I'm glad that I had this for when I did it was super lightweight and did not take up a lot of room in terms of Cosmetics here are my main tips for Cosmetics don't bring that much makeup even this little cosmetic bag was too much I did not wear makeup and I don't know about you but once you have a tan I find you don't even need that much makeup so really do some soul searching before your backpack and trim be like am I going to be wearing a lot of makeup cuz the answer is probably no then this bag this bag was like filled to the brim with stuff definitely recommend bringing um a big plastic bag and even like little plastic bags stuff is going to leak from your Cosmetics it's better better when you have stuff in a bag also toothbrush holders toothbrush holders are going to make your toothbrush so gross you need to immediately when you get to a new place open your toothbrush let it out to air dry that's all I'm going to say about that like let your toothbrush air dry I had brought a bunch of cosmetics and the Canadian Airport literally took 90% of them away from me cuz I brought doubles of products cuz I knew it was going to be gone for so long so they played me the Canadian Airport play me I kept all my jewelry just in this little bag this is all I brought Jewelry Wise and I don't regret it so listen up my aura ring this is just a ring that I wear it's kind of like a Fitbit tracks my sleep tracks my menstrual cycle I like it a lot I brought big Hoops these hoops were kind of mimicking these hoops that are my real gold hoops um but they are waterproof and they are not expensive so if I lost them I would not be sad these little Hoops which were mimicking a little Hoops that I wear all the time at home again less expensive if I lost them I wouldn't be sad this chain is mimicking this chain but this Chain's less expensive and waterproof do you see the theme here um I brought some hair clips they were really helpful hair ties like this really helpful to wear even little elastics for when you want to braid your hair a rain poncho even though this is a little bit takes up a little bit of room don't regret bring my rain poncho I used this a couple times and it was well worth the money didn't have an umbrella but I had this highly recommend I did not use this hat that much at first but near the end of my trip I really used it like for keeping the sun off my face at the beach and just dayt day I'm not usually someone who wears a lot of baseball hats but I did end up wearing it a lot okay this is something that I thought I would use a lot but alas I actually didn't if you watch my packing video I talk about how I thought this was going to be so good to have so people wouldn't pickpocket me and whatnot but like honestly did not end up wearing my flip bu a lot like at all and now my fanny pack definitely recommend bringing a fanny pack this is really helpful to have at the airport um I would wear it on the side like on my hip and then I have my front bag and my back bag it was good to just like put my phone in there to keep my hands hands free um put my wallet in there something that I did that was really smart is I had a like a flat wallet so it was long but it was flat and I kept a lot of good things in here kept like obviously cash in here um and just like little train tickets stuff like that also something that I would always have in my wallet is like an extra camera battery but that's just if you like to make videos like me always have the camera battery and stuff in here and then I was able to just fit it slimly in this fanny pack this fanny pack I liked it I didn't love it I found that sometimes when I was out like I like that it was versatile and it could be like a purse or it could be like you could wear it around your waist but I found that like it wasn't big enough sometimes and I'm thinking about maybe investing in like a bagu bag or just like just a bigger fanny pack something to note if you are traveling southeast Asia always have kleenex in your fanny pack because sometimes you're going to go to washrooms and there's not going to be toilet paper I would always just have like some sort of mints right now I have like these grape Mentos that I got from Indonesia and then my earphones this is because I voice note my friends a lot so I would always want to have the earphones to voice note someone mentioned this to me when I was traveling and I thought it was really smart they said it was a really good idea that I had wired earphones because they found with their airpods they would either lose their airpods or they were worried that someone was going to steal their airpods so wired earphones they're the way to go when you're backpacking also had like a hand sanitizer in here and then just a lip balm lip balm had sunscreen in it because you don't want to burn your lips they need sunscreen too then I would just always keep like a hair tie in here or my spiral hair tie that was what's in my fanny pack so the only thing if I could fit like my stabilizing camera or my sunglass case in there that would have been a little bit nicer so maybe something a little bit bigger for my next backpacking trip and then um my neck pillow I love this neck pillow if you know me I've had this neck pillow for a while it has never let me down before I can sleep so easily anywhere on it only thing I would say is that sometimes it was annoying it does clip onto my bag and I would clip it on the outside but I almost wonder if there is another option of neck pillow out there that is like tinier and more compact I think that is everything oh my shoes sorry Brandon I'm almost done you look cute look at my setup here it's a mess last but not least shoes I love Canada with four pairs of shoes and I unfortunately only returned with two pairs of shoes one of them was my own fault that I lit on fire in Vietnam and the other was some thievery that happened in Cambodia but watch my Vlogs to find out about that had flip-flops I had my Crocs I had a pair of running shoes and then I had a pair of sandals um I found my sandals were well used but not my most well used I think if I had to kill one of these it would be my sandals running shoes I was sad when I lit my running shoes on fire I I do think you need a pair of running shoes um Crocs I use these so much these were like my shower shoes as well might flip-flops these are ugly flip-flops I had to buy in LA because my flip-flops broke but always good to have flip pair of flip-flops as well an overall review of my tour 40 L travel bag I really like this backpack I like that it opened like a suitcase I like that it had the straps I put an air tag in it I liked that it had something that you could like extend the bag to be like a 45 L accordion style you can make it a little bigger I like that there was a spt for putting flat materials like a laptop or paperwork um I liked that it had a cover on it I liked that there were a lot of places that you can attach stuff on with carabiners I love this bag I will be keeping this bag I will be using it for other backpacking trips in the future all right that is all this is a mess I wish you guys could see this right now um that's it it's all folks That's all folks thanks for watching hey all right that is all thank you so much for watching this video if you liked it make sure to give it a thumbs up and you consider subscribing to my channel I make videos on fashion travel and environmentalism also I will leave Linked In the description of this video a playlist to all my southeast Asia Vlogs and yeah that's all for this video thanks so much for watching I'll see you next week bye we're done I got so much I think I'm never running out yeah bu me down aitch I don't do this for no CL hey I got so much back I think I'm never running out yeah bu me down

Channel: RoamwithRach

Views: 32,564

Keywords: Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Bali, Backpacking Southeast Asia, pack with me, unpack with me, packing, backpacking, asia, Southeast Asia, travel, packing for asia

Id: Wlnpu_MLIqQ

Length: 31min 56sec (1916 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 22 2023