Packing for my first road trip

August 2021. Bee and I are getting ready for the road.

Trying to squeeze my whole life into a set of motorcycle luggage is not an easy task.
Even harder is to guess what I will need during my first ever road trip (I estimate it would last 10 months!)

Based on my previous travel experience (mostly around tropical countries) I packed 3 dresses, a bikini, a beach towel, some shorts, and a number of tops – what was I thinking? Should I mention that I ended up buying a few thermal layers and waterproofs along the way?

A pair of sneakers and flip-flops (I also wanted to take hiking boots, but they didn’t fit in )

Shampoo, conditioner, soap, body lotion and some other self care products happened to occupy two full organizers

A bag of medicine: pain killers, antihistamines, anti-inflammatory, and some vitamins (It’s 2021 and Covid is still an issue)

Now, tools. Which ones would I need? I had no idea, the only thing I could do myself at the time was cleaning and greasing the chain. But I guessed I might be forced to learn something about motorcycle maintenance along the way.

My laptop (sometimes I work) and other electronics (power bank, GoPro, external hard drive), and a bag of chargers.

A super light travel yoga mat (that I never regretted having around with me) and an ab roller

A mug, a mini water heater, and a set of tea and coffee.

A bag of random uncategorised items that I absolutely had to take with me and of course never used

Documents (passports, driving licence, motorbike registration, insurance, etc)

All of this got squeezed into a set of Shad panniers, a Givi central case, and a Merrel backpack (which soon got replaced with a Louis motorcycle backpack that I still use today)