My Packing List

                       

Howdy!

Well here is my packing list, I hope it helps anyone in there packing endeavors. I will also include tips, brands of some of the things I took; for durability and quality reasons and things I wish I would of brought. If you have questions please post them I will gladly help your packing mayhem. Enjoy!

Packing List:

CLOTHES & ACCESSORIES:

1 Black suit (Good for swearing-in and any important meetings that may come through, presentation is of an essence)
2 Grey suit jackets (Casual meetings or just whenever you go out in the city)
3 Dress shirts
1 Dress pants
2 Jeans (Use them for everything)
1 Khakis
15 Polo Shirts (Use them for everything)
20 T-Shirts (Use them for everything)
12 Casual shirts (Use them for everything)
1 Windbreaker jacket (Adidas)
1 Fleece jacket (North Face) [Good for chilly places]
1 School sweatshirt (Represent!)
3 Bathing suits (Ralph Lauren and Zara) [you will swim a lot; to make your suits last, alternate and also you can use them as shorts]
2 Training pants (Adidas)
3 Dry fit t-shirts (Adidas)
1 Running short (Nike)
4 Shorts (Adidas & Nike) [Chilling and exercising]
12 Underwear (Good idea to bring as much as you can)
2 Pairs of cuff links
5 Handkerchiefs
3 Ties (Swearing-in brought to many, but better safe than sorry)
2 Bow ties (Thought I would use them)
2 Scarves (Haven't used them yet, but  in mountainous areas it gets chilly)
2 Shemagh's (Use them a couple a items, perfect for hot or cold weather)
2 Dress belts (Bring at least one)
2 Casual belts (Bring at least one)
2 Dress socks
5 Running socks
6 Sunglasses (Rayban's)
2 Watches
2 Eyeglasses
Towel
Hand towel
Face towel

ELECTRONICS:

Laptop (Lenovo Ideapad Yoga 13)
External Hard Drive (Passport) [Bring music, movies, tv series anything to watch on your computer, you will enjoy having something to do in your down time. A lot of PCV's have many things to share so it's essential to have this item on your list]
2 Earphones
Speaker (Jawbone)
Digital Camera (Sony [I honestly don't use it at all, use my Iphone mainly for all pictures])
SD Card (16GB)
Ipod Nano
Iphone 4S Unlocked with Sim Slot (Highly recommend it, it doesn't have to be an Iphone, just make sure its unlocked and has a sim slot. You will definitely need a phone while in service; many volunteers buy a cheap or moderately priced phone in country through a prepaid service (Kolbi [most used service], Claro, Movistar). In my case I just bought the prepaid sim card for my phone very inexpensive). Prepaid phone service in Costa Rica is relatively inexpensive.
External CD Drive
USB flash drive (64 GB)
AA and AAA Rechargeable batteries with charger (Brought 4 of each, I only recommend it, if you actually have things that use batteries, or bring them if you think you might need them in the future for items you will purchase that require batteries.

OFFICE SUPPLIES:

2 Journals
Pens (Bring a nice one)
Pencils
Pouch  (TUMI)
Duct tape
Masking tape
Clear tape
Pins (Recommend them for notes and reminders)
Mini Stapler
Scissors
Folders
Large Envelopes (For important documents)
Large Ziploc Bags

GENERAL TRAVELING & MISCELLANEOUS:

Swiss Army knife
Hunting knife
Gerber Multi-tool
Nalgene Bottle (Lost it!)
Sigg Bottle (I think I left it at Peace Corps Office, hopefully I will find it)
MagLite Flashlight
Book (favorite one)
Deck of Cards
Resistance bands
Chess set
Umbrella (good quality one, not to small but not to big)

TOILETRIES:

Electric Toothbrush and replacements (Oral B)
Toothbrush
Container for toothbrush
Toothpaste (Unless you use a specific brand, buy as many as you can back home, otherwise you can buy many typical brands here for around the same price)
Burt's Bees Lip Balm
6 Deodorants (Highly recommend it if you have a specific brand you like, they sell many brands here; but for twice the price or more)
Aloe Vera (Very good for burns, price is way less expensive at home)
Sunscreen (Even though you get some in your medical packet 30 spf, if need something stronger buy it home, sunscreen here is ridiculously expensive)
Cologne (You gots to smell good)
Soap (Bring your favorite, or you can purchase many American brands in CR, very specif brands are  pricey)
Dental Floss
Disposable Razors
Shampoo (Not a lot just for a few days, you can get any shampoo here for around the same price back home)
6 Hair Paste Tins (Waste because I'm letting my hair grow, which I just decided so don't really need them, will donate them to other PCV's)
Beard Trimmer (Norelco) [I highly recommend it; saves time, money on razors and you can also trim up your hair when you don't feel like spending money on a haircut; even though haircuts are really inexpensive]





BAGS

North Face Router Backpack (Great for laptop, and anything expensive you want to hold on, also works great for 1-3 day trips)
North Face Terra 65 Pack (Great for trips over 3+ days, easy on your back and shoulders  for backpacking trips)
North Face Base Camp Duffel X-Large (Excellent medium to transport anything you can imagine, you can use it for very long trips. Bag has shoulder straps so you can turn it into a backpack).

SHOES 

6 Pairs of loafers (TOMS, Sperry, Cole Hann and Johnston and Murphy)
Dress shoes (Johnston and Murphy)
2 Pairs of sandals (Rainbow & Birkenstocks)
Running Shoes (New Balance)
Boat shoes (Sperry)
Trekking shoes  (Vibrams)
2 Pairs of Slides (Crocs & Adidas)

TIPS:

- Roll your clothes, it will give you more space in your bags and prevent them from wrinkling.
- Be sure your around the baggage weight limit, to avoid hefty baggage fees. Here is a tip from a fellow volunteer to know the weight of your bag: weigh yourself first, then with your bag on and subtract your weight and simple as pie. Another option is to buy a hanging scale you will use it when you depart, come back home or do any traveling, highly recommend it.
-Use large Ziploc bags to organize your items.

THINGS I WISH I WOULD OF BROUGHT

Beef Jerky (Haven't found any)
Peanut Butter (Price is twice as of much)
Bed, pillow and fitted sheets (There extremely expensive and very bad quality)
Jeans (Even though I brought jeans, I wish I would of brought more; they will wear off in a few months, it's good to alternate if you like to wear jeans most of the time)
Bicycle lock (Most likely you will decide to have a bike at site, so you will end up buying a bike, thus you need to protect your investment. Bicycle belts here [good quality ones] are expensive)
Earl of Grey Tea (They have it here, but more expensive)
Water goggles (I actually didn't know I would be using them, but I have a pool in my site, they will send them too me though)
Rubber flip flops (Even though I brought sandals and brought every shoe possible, I forgot normal flip flops)
Tabasco Sauce (They have it here, but more expensive)
Hanging scale  (To weigh your bags when traveling)

I hope this list helps anyone in there packing and if you have questions please feel free to post your questions or email me. I honestly packed to much clothes and shoes, but I don't regret it, I do use 95% of them. If you can carry it and don't mind the weight bring as much as you can.

Next week I will talk about what happened once I arrived in Costa Rica "PST" Pre-Service Training.

Pura Vida!