Packing To Volunteer Abroad

Hello from 35,000 somewhere over Siberia. In a few hours I'll be landing in Beijing.

I'm going to be in Beijing for a week. I'm taking 2 tours, 1 cooking class, I'm volunteer teaching at a school. And I have an afternoon of seminars to moderate and 2 days of business meetings. I'm traveling with a computer bag and a small carry-on.

Recently, I read a Blog post from an author who is out doing a book promo tour and he listed out the items he always includes in his packing list. I travel so much, it is always helpful to read what others pack in their bags. I thought I'd list out a few "must-pack" items of my own, and hopefully others will add some of theirs in our comments section.

I always bring a bag for dirty laundry. Some hotels provide them, smaller hotels and hostels tend not to include them. I find they keep clean clothes, well, clean.

For a week-long business trip, I'll pack:

• Exercise clothes
• 2 pr. slacks
• 1 pr. jeans
• 3 dress shirts
• 2 tee shirts

If I'm not having formal business meetings, I'll modify it this way:

• Exercise clothes
• 1 pr. slacks
• 2 pr. jeans
• 1 dress shirt
• 3 tee shirts

In the toiletries department, I always include:

• disposable sanitary cloths for the germophobe in all of us. A bottle of Purell can open or break…the disposables are just that.
• Lip balm. Silly to think about, but chapped lips can be really painful.
• Instant stain remover. I've never eaten a meal that I didn't drop some kind of food or drink on a shirt.

A lot of people ask me about foreign currency. Remember travelers checks? I take the minimum amount of foreign cash on the flight. (I include $20 U.S. simply because that is habit.) ATMs are everywhere now and your local bank ATM card will work anywhere. Just make sure you have the cash in your checking account! You get a much better exchange rate and you don't have a lot of money tied up in a wallet that can get lost or stolen. At the end of the trip I try to keep about $100 and bring it back. First, my youngest son loves looking through it. But it is helpful when you go back to that country to grab that cash and put it in your travel wallet. If connections are tight…you have a little cash with you to get you started.

Small bag for the day out. Not exactly a man-purse, but a smaller bag to easily fit my iPhone, a journal, some note cards and snacks.

If you take presription medication, be sure you tape the label to the container so anyone at an inspection area will know whatever it is is a prescription. I find when I fill my 3-1-1 bag and have a prescription...the agents will let me get away with it if it's labeled.

Don't forget your adaptor…most of today's electronics have built in converters. I have to charge an iPhone, MacBook Air, Bluetooth headphone, camera, and tooth brush. Everything on that list needs only an adaptor except the tooth brush. As many hotels have at least one 110 plug in the bathroom…I can normally keep that charged. So I'm always converterless.

I travel with an iPhone, so the day before I depart I sign up for the data plan and International calling. You can buy an international calling plan, a data plan or both.  Be sure to wait a week after you return, and turn all that expensive stuff off. Check with your phone company for their plans because using it ad hoc or accidentally turning it on abroad, without a plan, can be very costly.

If you have items I haven't mentioned, or ideas to make packing easier and lighter, please leave them in the comments section below. Everyone is always eager to learn new packing hints.