Packing

Packing was hard. We needed to pack for everything from the Italian Rivera to the Dolomites to Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro to the Serengeti to the beach on Zanzibar. Each of these places had drastically different requirements. With temperatures from -7℃ (20℉) to 33℃ (92℉) and elevations from 0 to 5,895M (19,341ft). Additionally, we were under the impression that this all had to be done with a 15kg (33lbs) weight limit for our flight from the Serengeti to Zanzibar. This was for our checked and carry-on bags.

2 days before our departure we packed our backpacking bags with everything we might need. The next day we spent the entire day getting on and off the scale slowly pulling out duplicate items, city clothes and a number of things we really should have brought with us. We had also created a pile of things that we would consume or throw out before boarding the plane. The pile included toothpaste, moisturizer, altitude pills, etc.

In the end, it turned out that the flight had a 20kg (44lbs) limit that we were now way under. We ended up using everything we brought and regretting not bringing some things like an extra pair of shoes, a more supportive day pack, a cotton sleeping shirt, etc.

On the plus side, the lighter weight made it easier to get around especially given our stay on Bonossola was a 1.3-kilometer walk with a 156-meter elevation gain