What Dan brought

Dan's disclaimer: I'm an over preparing kind of guy. I like to have what I need for that one time you meet a plug your computer doesn't plug into or you meet someone having a severe asthma attack. I also like my gadgets.

Footwear

• Reef Sandals
• Old Navy cheap sandals
• North Face Gore-Tex sneakers

Clothing

• 6 pairs of socks including five pairs of DeFeet LeviTator Lite Low Socks. (Awesome socks)
• 5 Pairs of boxer briefs including 4 pairs of MEC's Mens seamless boxer briefs (best underwear I have ever owned)
• Belt
• 6 t-shirts (5 of which are polyester/quick dry)
• Shorts
• Bathing suit (doubles as pair of shorts)
• MEC travel pants
• Marmot waterproof breathable shell
• MEC zipped hoodie

Bags, Luggage, & Organization

• ElectricBaby cord bag
• MEC Pocket Dry Bag
• SealLine urban tote
• LowePro Rezo 160 AW camera bag
• Osprey Porter 46 (The best travel bag I have ever owned)
• Lowepro quick release camera strap
• Waterfield Laptop Sleeve
• A wallet full of expired credit cards and a day's worth of cash
• Retractable Luggage Cable Lock
• Mini luggage padlocks
• Zip Lock Bags (ALWAYS bring extras)
• Travel Docket & all travel documents (Blurr)
• First aid bag for drugs
• First Aid bag for band-aids, blister stuff, etc

Technology & Gadgets

• Steripen Adventurer Water Purifier with solar charging case
• Canon 50mm 1.8 lens
• Hoya Circular Polarized filter
• Canon Digital Rebel XT
• Cannon 24-105mm L series lens
• Extra Digital Rebel battery
• 4GB compact flash cards (x2)
• Lenovo X60s Thinkpad
• Lenovo X60s Power adapter
• Petzl Tikka XP Headlamp
• Caribbean plug adapters
• Canon battery charger
• Rechargeable batteries
• Energizer compact battery charger
• Shure SE210 sound isolating earphones
• 16GB iPod Touch
• iPod cable
• iPod earphones (backup for my sound isolating earphones)
• Timex Expedition Watch
• Energizer's energi to go AA batter power adapter for the iPod (a MUST for anyone who travels a lot with an iPod. Exceptionally good for the iPod Touch as it works as a video stand)
• Mini tripod
• Garmin Vista HCX GPS Receiver (Not pictured... I um... forgot this in a hostel in San Jose, Costa Rica. Luckily they found it and are holding it for us until the 28th when we fly back to the city)

Books & Reference Material

• Lonely Planet Costa Rica Guide Book
• Wilderness Medicine and Rescue field guide (I am a certified Wilderness Rirst Responder - don't buy or use this guide unless you have the proper training)
• Lonely Planet Costa Rican Spanish Phrasebook. I'd recommend the Lonely Planet Latin American Spanish Phrasebook over this one.

First Aid, Drugs, & Hygiene

• Ben's insect repellent wipes
• Ultrathon insect repellent cream (absolute best bug repellent out there)
• Small roll of toilet paper
• Q- tips
• Band aids, blister care
• Thermometer (essential in knowing when you're really sick)
• Soap - Campsuds soap for washing laundry in sinks
• Sunscreen
• Travel sized tooth brush
• Travel sized toothpaste (x2)
• Travel sized dental floss
• Travel sized shampoo (2 in 1 style)
• Travel sized shaving cream
• Razor & cartridge of new blades (Mach 3)
• Travel pack of tissues
• Allergy/Sleeping pills (Diphenhydramine/Benadryl) - Helpful hint: You can use this instead of Gravol if you get motion sick.
• Prednisone (corticosteroid - part of the long-term treatment of severe asthma and anaphylactic reactions. We were traveling with an anaphylactic person earlier on in the trip)
• Ciprofloxacin - Hard core antibiotics. Used to treat a host of things including traveler's diarrhea
• Ibuprofen/Advil
• Dimenhydrinate/Gravol
• Loperamide/Immodium
• Dayquil/Nyquil cold medicine
• Benadryl quick dissolve tongue strips
• Antibiotic ear & eye drops
• Malarone anti-malaria medication. We were traveling in a Malaria prone area for the first 5 days of the trip
• Diphenhydramine Cream
• Antifungal cream (Tenactin)
• Antibiotic cream (polysporin)
• Anti itch/Sunburn cream (1% hydrocortisone)
• Antiperspirant
• Deodorant
• Finger/toenail clippers (YES! You can bring these on as carry on.)
• Polarized sunglass, cleaning cloth and hard case

Misc Travel Goodies

• Hacky Sack
• Pack of gum
• Pack of playing cards
• Inflatable travel neck pillow (yes, I'm _that_ guy on the plane)

What Dan should have, in hindsight, left at home

• MEC Zipped Hoodie
• 1 T-shirt
• Steripen Water Purifier. It's an awesome product but I really just didn't use it enought to warrant bringing it along
• My nice reef sandals/flipflops. I only wore the cheap Old Navy ones
• 1 or 2 pairs of socks
• Belt
• Plug adapters. I didn't think that I would need these but gadgetery without power is dead weight. It turns out I was right. I didn't need to use them
• Bring 1/2 as many band aids
• 1 tube of bug repellent

What Becky brought

Becky's disclaimer: First of all, I must confess to being a complete 'girly-girl'. The idea of wearing the same pair of travel pants for 30 days in a row does not sit well with me. Under no circumstance would I ever wear a dirty pair of underwear, and even though I can go days without wearing a stitch of makeup, I need a little bit on hand…just in case. If this description does not fit you, you may be able to cut this list in half.

Clothing and Accessories

• 7 Tank-tops (3 dressy, the rest casual)
• 5 T-shirts
• Sundress
• Jean skirt
• Pair of jeans (I travel in these. Airplanes, airports and busses can be cold and I like to have a pair of jeans for these occasions)
• Belt
• Hoodie (Also good for cool airplanes and any unexpected cool weather)
• Pair of gym shorts (Good for sleeping and hiking)
• Travel pants (Mine are North Face Women's Horizon Utility Pants. I love these because:
  • they don't have a tapered leg
  • they sit below the belly button
  • they pack incredible small
  • they are fast drying
  • they easily convert into capris
  • they are the only semi-flattering pair of travel pants I have ever tried on)
• Rain jacket (Mine is Eastern Mountain Sports- make sure it is waterproof, not just water resistant)
• 4 regular bras
• Sports bra
• Bathing Suit
• 4 pairs of socks (to wear in sneakers)
• 15 pairs of underwear (This is probably overkill but, like I said, I will not wear dirty underwear)
• Sunglasses
• Money belt (Though I didn't even use it on this trip, a money belt is great for situations where you have to carry all of your cash with you in a sketchy area). Dan prefers a dummy wallet.

Footwear

• One pair of sneakers
• Two pairs of sandals (One cheap pair of Old Navy flip-flops for showers and the beach and one pair of sturdier Rider sandals for walking around)

Toiletries

• Travel toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, hair products, deodorant (You can buy bigger versions when you reach your destination)
• Toothbrush
• Tweezers (YES! These are allowed in carry-on)
• Sunscreen and Bug Repellant (Ben's Insect Repellent wipes are excellent)
• Contacts, contact case, contact solution and an extra pair of contact lenses (Contact solution does not fall under the restricted liquid category when you fly. If you are going carry-on only, like we do, your contact solution does not need to fit in your zip-lock bag of liquids. Just make sure that you declare it at security.)
• Eyeglasses and Case (I never wear glasses but I always bring them in case of an eye infection that prevents me wearing my contacts)
• Feminine Hygiene Products
• Medication (Dan takes care of most of the first aid and medications. I bring Gravol in my purse for the flight.)
• Hairbrush and Hair Elastics
• Makeup (Completely unnecessary- I know, but I brought concealer, powder, bronzer, eyeshadow, lip-balm, eyeliner, lipstick, brushes and nail polish)

Electronics and Accessories

• IBM Thinkpad (Mine is huge- you'll save a lot of space and weight if you have a smaller one. A computer is completely unnecessary on most trips)
• Thinkpad Power Adapter
• Panasonic Stereo Zoom Mike, charger and computer hookup (This has been a great device to record ideas, conversations, and sounds from our trip. We used it to record the sounds of the jungle, conversations over meals etc. It is a good replacement for a daily written journal)
• Pentax Optio W20 Waterproof Camera (This camera is tiny and great for days when carting our large camera around is unrealistic or unsafe. It takes pretty decent video clips and can also take underwater pictures and video)
• Extra Camera Batteries, charger and computer connector
• iPod, iPod Charger and headphones
• Headphone splitter (for watching movies on the computer or the iPod touch. Our splitter is the Radioshack 3-channel headphone volume booster which is excellent)
• Headlamp (Mine is a Tikka Plus. They are great for power outages, for going to pee in the middle of the night when you are sharing a room with 5 other people and for when you are staying in the middle of the jungle with no electricity available)

Bags

• Backpack (35 Litre REI Aires Women's Pack. This is small enough to be allowed on as carry-on but, surprisingly, fits all of my stuff, including my computer and computer case)
• Computer Bag (Though I wish I didn't have to bring this clunky bag, it does protect my computer. It also works as a slightly larger day bag which came in handy a few times on the trip)
• Purse (Well, it's more of a small day bag. Just big enough to fit a bottle of water, a book and some snacks for the plane. This is what I carried around with my most days)
• Zip-locks (I put everything possible in zip-locks. Not only does this keep your stuff dry if your bag gets wet, but it also allows for easy unpacking and repacking. I can fit all of the clothes that I brought (with the exception of my jeans, hoodie and rain jacket) in 5 zip-lock bags. Bring extras for dirty clothes and shoes.

Other

• Blur Travel Docket containing:
  • Passport, Global medical insurance card, credit cards, bank card, driver's license, plane tickets, student ID and a pen (I leave my birth certificate and another piece of picture ID at home in case my passport is stolen. We have learned that most places accept a regular university ID as proof of student status. An ISIC is not necessary.)
• Email Confirmations of all bookings
• A book
• Notebook (For keeping daily journals, keeping track of the budget, making quick notes, keeping game scores etc.)
• Bonanza ('The Bean Game'. The best game ever)
• Snacks for the plane (including gum)

Though this is a long list, it all fits in a 35L backpack and a small Roots purse.