What we pack for a long trip: Part 1 clothes and consumables

Packing is one of the most difficult parts of our travelling.  Our bikes can be hard to get through the door if we've packed badly and they do take up a lot of space if not weight.  So we do our best to pack light to make life easy for ourselves.

I did a bit of research into travel clothing before we started out last year, and came to the conclusion that merino wool is the technical fibre of the future, as it not only breathes, it also stays clean (except if you eat spaghetti bolognaise!) and doesn't get smelly.

So the clothes I have packed are:
2 merino t-shirts.  I wear my favourite pink one 5 days a week, then it's often due for a wash.  I figure that I've now got the equivalent of 6 years worth of wear out of this t-shirt, when you consider than you (I) would usually wear a t-shirt at home once a week and only in the 6 months of a year that the season is right.

3 merino long sleeve t-shirts (this is probably 2 more than I need, but my favourite from last year is worn out and is now my sleeping shirt)

5 pairs of undies (3 would be fine)
5 pairs of synthetic socks (last year I only had one pair, this is again probably at least 2 too many)
2 pairs of ski socks for cold days
3 silk scarves
1 pair of cycling knicks
1 sleeveless jersey
winter gloves
summer cycling gloves
beanie
thick wool jumper
thick wool jacket (the brown one in every photo of me)
cycling trousers by swrve
cycling shorts also swrve
1 wool multi functional little black dress
wool stockings

1 pair thongs for the shower

1 pair cycling (cleat) shoes

1 pair boots

1 pair light impractical evening shoes to be dumped as I now have purchased some light purple outdoor moccasins

Hmm sounds like a lot, isn't too bad once packed.

Julian has gone more with the synthetic quick dry option, this means that he's got 5 long sleeve t-shirts, which have to be washed all the time, one of which is merino which is saved for wash days / can't be bothered washing days.  Last year I got him 3 pairs of silk boxers, which dry really quickly and like the hand washing.

We hand wash everything in a foldable bucket - finding a machine and waiting around for it is generally not an option for us.  Soap is soap.  I get bulk refill packs of body wash, which also takes care of our clothes nicely, shampoo also works well.  That said I have a separate mini bottle of  dishwashing liquid for the dishes, as the moisturising components of body soap are less desirable on plates.

So far this year we've had 7 days of camping without a shower, funny as last year we had only 3 days in the entire trip without a shower!  For such occasions we have microfibre cloths and the foldable bucket.

I have a Lifeventure micro fibre towel, in giant size which is light, dries quickly and is wide enough to cover me completely (unusual for a trekking towel).
Julian has a Kathmandu towel, which works well as it's waffle pattern, but is bigger and heavier, gets smelly quicker and now we have chopped 2 little pieces off it so we each have our own bath mat..

We have a whole heap of microfibre cloths for washing, cleaning the plane, wiping up spills, using as rags etc.

We keep our food supplies in a purple basket of the style very popular in Scandinavia, this includes clips for sealing open bags, salt and chilli sauce, packs of spaghetti and instant mash, and the ever increasing number of jars of jam.  No idea where they come from!   We try to eat a lot of fresh vegetables, but they are an overhead in terms of weight, going off and space. This year we are trying to carry less.

For remote camping we have an Ortlieb 10L water bladder, you can get a shower attachment for it, but we've survived without.