For our year-long journey in South America, we had to think twice about everything we were to take with us. Since we planned to do lots of paragliding, we didn’t want to make many compromises there, in particular when it comes to safety. On the other hand, we didn’t want to get bogged down by our luggage so we could walk and take local transport easily.
This was a real challenge that stayed on our minds during all of our preparation time and something we came back to repeatedly. In this article, we want to share what’s in our backpacks and some of the thoughts behind it. We will also update the post with images & weights before we depart and share what worked well and what didn’t after gathering some experience over the year.
Clothes
While we mostly expected to stay in warmer regions, we needed to prepare for the full temperature range. Think of the capital city of Columbia, Bogotá, being at an elevation of 2640m or us flying with our paraglider at 3000+ meters. At the Pacific Ocean, we will easily have 32 °C while in the Anden or flying we expect low minus degrees.
To achieve this while still staying light on luggage we made heavy use of layering. Every layer can be easily combined with everything else to adapt to all kinds of weather:
- Base layer: (long) underwear, long sleeve, T-Shirt
- Middle layer: fleece & puffy jackets, leggings
- Outer layer: Softshell/rain jacket
Wherever possible, we looked for clothes with merino wool or a merino wool material mix. Merino wool is a natural temperature-regulating material that prevents sweating and neutralizes odor. By combining it with other materials (like the tree-based Tencel) you get even more durable and sustainable clothes with excellent properties.
All that means that we spent quite a lot on single clothes. Since we take very few clothes with us that need to survive a year of traveling, we believe (hope) that the expenditure is worthwhile.
Katy (4345g)
Upper Body
- Merino long underwear
- 2x Merino T-Shirt
- Cotton Shirt
- Sport Top
- Long sleeve
- Merino mix fleece jacket
- Puffy jacket
- Rain jacket
- Merino Tube scarf
- BH
- Sport BH
- Bikini Top
- Cap
Lower Body
- 7x Underwear
- Long Merino underwear
- Bikini bottom
- Leggings
- Sport leggings
- 2x Shorts
- Jeans
- Belt
Feet
- 3x Merino socks (1 short, 2 trekking)
- 1x Sneaker socks
- Uyn Wander shoes
- Flip flops (not on the picture, bought in Panama)
Simon (4080g)
Upper Body
- 3x Merino T-Shirt
- Merino long sleeve
- Merino fleece jacket
- Puffy jacket
- Softshell jacket
- Merino Tube scarf
- Cap (bought in Panamà)
Lower Body
- 3x Merino underwear
- Long Merino underwear
- Trekking trouser
- Jeans
- Shorts (also for swimming)
- Belt
Feet
- 4x Merino socks (2 short, 1 long, 1 trekking)
- Uyn X-CROSS TUNE shoes
- Flip flops (bought in Panamà)
Paragliding
Katy (9100g)
- Gin Calypso XS glider
- Gin Concertina Compress 2.7m bag
- Woods Valley Wani light 2 harness
- Gin Yeti UL rescue
- Supair PILOT helmet
- Supair light Cockpit
- SkyBean SkyDrop vario
- Albrecht Tectalk Deluxe ham radio
- Garmin inReach® Messenger satellite tracker
- 2x Hummel gloves (for layering)
- Glider repair kit
- Tree loop
- Rescue rope
- First aid kit
Simon (8460g)
- Gin Explorer 2 S glider
- Gin Concertina Compress 2.7m bag
- Skywalk RANGE X-ALPS2 harness
- Gin Yeti UL rescue
- Supair PILOT helmet
- SkyBean SkyDrop vario
- Albrecht Tectalk Deluxe ham radio
- Garmin inReach® Messenger satellite tracker
- Vaude La Varella gloves (inspired by wenigdabei.de)
- Hydrapak hydration reservoir 2l (not on the picture)
- Glider repair kit
- Spare brake lines
- Tree loop
- Rescue rope
- First aid kit
Tech
Katy (795g)
- Samsung S10
- PowerBank 10000 mAh
- AirPods Pro Kopfhörer
- Kindle e-Reader
- Anker 735 Charger (Nano II 65W)
- USB(-C) cable
- Power adapter (bought in Panamà)
Simon (2900g)
- iPhone 12
- PowerBank 10000 mAh
- AirPods Pro Kopfhörer
- Kindle e-Reader
- Apple 35W Dual USB-C Charger
- Nikon Z50 camera with case
- MacBook Air M2 with case
- Lightning & USB(-C) cable
- Power adapter (bought in Panamà)
Shared
Care (1320g)
- 2x Sea to Summit Airlite L travel towel
- Philips One toothbrush with spare heads
- Toothpaste
- Dental sticks
- Straight razor with spare blades
- Solid shower soap
- Nailcare
- Oropax
- Condoms
- Sun protection (50+) 200ml
- Skin cream
- Hairbrush
- Nivea
- Menstrual cup + spare tampons
- Contact lenses + fluid
Pharmacy (360g)
Based on the recommendation and prescription of our doctor.
- Plasters
- Fenistil
- Pain killers
- Electrolytes
- Malaria pills
- Antibiotics
- Disinfect ointment
- Diarrhea medication
- L-Thyroxin
Misc
Katy (875g)
- Katadyn BeFree water filter (1l) (not on the picture)
- Sunglasses
- Spectacle case
- Purse (+ 1 spare with dollars)
- Passport & ID
- Driver license
- Vaccination record
- Paragliding license, insurance & IPPI card
- Paper notebook
- 3x Pencils
- Little Spanish dictionary
- Card games
- Bronner soap (for washing clothes and body/hair)
- Mini sewing kit
- 2x Masks
Simon (290g)
- Katadyn BeFree water filter (1l) (not on the picture)
- Sunglasses
- Spectacle case
- Purse (+ 1 spare with dollars)
- Passport & ID
- Driver license
- Vaccination record
- Paragliding license, insurance & IPPI card
- Small padlock (bought in Panamà)
Bags
Katy (1100g)
- Gin light backpack (90l)
- Frilufts CUBE BAG UL L pack sack
- Light linen/cotton bag
- Light daypack
- Light waist bag
Weight
The total weight if Katy is taking the care and I take the travel pharmacy items:
- Katy: 17.53kg
- Simon: 17.04kg
Of course, we will wear some of the clothes, so it’s about 1.5kg less to carry around but that’s quickly offset by adding food and drinks.