PACKING FOR A TYPICAL INTERNATIONAL FIELD COURSE

Two Key Suggestions

1. As one of the books in the famous "Let's Go" series states in the introduction, "Pack only enough that you could carry on your back comfortably at a stiff run".  In other words, pack only ONE moderate-sized suitcase for your clothes, and bring your daypack with your camera inside as a carry-on item. There will be no extra room for multiple pieces of luggage, either on the plane or--more importantly--in our rental cars, and you won't want to carry them all from place to place on the trip (trust us, we know). Pack enough clothes to carry you through about 1-1/2 weeks. Many of us wash some clothes (hence the benefits of synthetic lightweight shirts and thin pants) out at least once in our rooms to reuse for field clothes; if you choose this option, be sure to bring Dr. Bonner's soap, Woolite, or another bottled laundry soap. You can have laundry washed for you in many places, but it's always quite costly. Expect to wear "field" pants and some outerwear for two to several days without washing. Also pack a smaller duffel bag or daypack to fill with souvenirs, in the event that you need a second checked bag for your return. Don't bring jewelry, makeup, expensive clothing or other valuables, or audio or video equipment, aside from a camera. We will stand out enough as it is, and our goal is to assimilate as much as possible. In addition, we wish to avoid possible theft or burglary by carrying only items that nobody would want to steal.

2. Pack a range of clothing for "layering", to reduce your luggage. Pack to accommodate mostly warm, humid temperatures in the lowlands: thin long-legged field pants and some shorts (or zipper-legged field pants), short-sleeved t-shirts, and a broad-brimmed hat (not a visor!). Also pack one or two flannel shirts or a sweatshirt for periodically cool evenings, a thin windbreaker, and a rain coat or water-resistant poncho. For footwear, bring a well-fitting pair of boots and suitable socks for hiking, and tennis shoes, sandals or flipflops for casual wear.  If you're heading to high elevations, make sure to bring a few warmer thin long-sleeved shirts and a couple of heavy flannel shirts in addition to the t-shirts, a stocking cap, warm wool or cotton socks, and "painter's" gloves.

Recommended Items for Packing (modify according to your needs); items specifically for international travel are indicated as such

Clothing (for lowland warm weather; add other clothes noted above for high-elevation areas)

• Underwear and socks (bring a few pairs of field socks that will get very dirty or wet)
• T-shirts, perhaps some synthetic "quick-drying" shirts
• Long-sleeved shirts (one or two for cool evenings--unless you also prefer to wear long-sleeved during field work)
• Sweatshirt (1-2)
• Pants (2-3 field pants, 1-2 casual or zipper-legged)
• Shorts (1-2 pairs casual or zipper-legged)
• Socks (few pairs thick cotton, or "smart wool", for field)
• Windbreaker
• Rain poncho or rain coat, umbrella
• Broad-brimmed hat
• Sunglasses
• Extra pair of glasses if available (older prescription is fine), if you wear glasses

Accessories

• Neck- or beltpouch for money, checks and documents (holds more stuff than a money belt)
• Camera w/case
• Film-for 35 mm non-digital, higher speed (200-400 ASA) is better, for forest or overcast pictures; 5-10 rolls
• Extra camera battery (recharger if needed, plus adapter and plug converter where necessary)
• Swiss army knife or similar
• Flashlight, plus extra batteries
• Portable alarm clock or watch with alarm, plus extra clock/watch batteries
• Luggage tags for every piece of luggage, including carryon bag
• Small locks for luggage and carryon bag
• Small to mid-sized thin duffel bag for souvenirs or extra checked bag
• Shoulder daypack, for lunch food, books and field equipment during field work--NOT A FANNY PACK
• Plastic garbage bags and ziplock sandwich bags (a few of both are useful)
• Pleasure reading books (1-2)

Toiletries, medications and consumables

• Sunblock (30-45 is best)
• lip balm
• Immodium [for international trips only]
• Aspirin or Tylenol
• Malaria pills [for international trips only]
• Pocket-sized packets of tissue (doubles as toilet paper)
• Toiletries (for example, shampoo, soap, deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, nail clippers, razor, shaving cream)
• Towel
• Washcloth
• Jar of peanut butter, especially if you're vegetarian
• Fork, knife and spoon in ziplock bag
• Box of Cutter "insect repellant wipes"
• Small box of anti-bacterial "wet" wipes for cleaning hands
• baby powder
• Fels Naptha, calamine and/or Rhuli gel for raches/insect bites
• moleskin for blisters
• Dr. Bonner's soap or dishwashing/laundry detergent

Course-related Items

• Textbooks
• Language phrasebook (e.g., Lonely Planet or Berlitz guides are good)
• Hand lens
• Pens, pencils w/erasers
• Notebooks for journal, field observations (1-2)

Money and Important Documents

• Passport  (and visa), if necessary
• OU identification
• Driver's license
• International Student Identity (ISIC) Card
• Major credit card

Concerning Money and Documents

Since you will only be responsible for bringing food money and your "fun" money, and because it's a challenge to cash traveller's checks in some countries even in big cities, we would encourage you to bring cash in US dollars ($20s or $50s). We will cash most of what we need immediately into local currency when we get to our destination, probably in the airport.

Store 2/3 of your cash in your neck- or beltpouch, and the rest in a wallet or some other secret place that is NOT exposed. The pouch is a perfect place to store identity and credit cards, and your passport, too.

Prepared by Harvey Ballard; last revised on 1 March 2007.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Return to "Global Studies" Web Page]

[Move Forward to the "CPR and First Aid Courses" Web Page]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

| Harvey Ballard's Web Page | | Kim Brown's Web Page | | Glenn Matlack's Web Page | | Morgan Vis's Web Page |

| Environmental and Plant Biology Courses | | Environmental and Plant Biology Welcome Page |

| Ohio University's Front Door | |College of Arts & Sciences |