Good preparation is everything!

A challenge for us as 'backpacking beginners': the backpack itself.

- What do I pack?

- How many clothes do I pack?

- What other utensils do I need?

- How do I pack the backpack properly?

Who doesn't know it? You go on vacation with a huuuge suitcase, realize on site what you forgot, and ultimately come home with a lot of unworn clothes.

But if you plan a trip with a backpack, without a big hard-shell suitcase that you can easily pull behind you, you should carefully consider what to bring. You should aim to stay below the usual 20/23kg luggage allowance on the plane to minimize the load on your back.

So how do you manage to limit yourself to the important things?

Of course, we are not the first backpackers ever to travel to Costa Rica. You can find numerous blogs on the internet that include country-specific packing lists (including clothes, technology, hygiene items, and other important utensils).

Lucky us - we don't have to reinvent the wheel!

So I combined various packing lists from other bloggers with personal items, and voilà - my personal packing list is ready, without a lot of unnecessary stuff.

Then we packed our backpacks for a trial run - just to make sure that the created packing list fits together with the backpack's capacity and that it can be comfortably carried. For that, we already used our practical packing organizers, which are especially useful during the trip to quickly find certain things.

In retrospect, I was surprised how easy it suddenly was to really limit myself to the essentials with the help of the packing list. For Stefan, it was no big deal, but I had my doubts - because us women usually 'need' a bit more stuff.

Our conclusion: good preparation is everything - then even a woman can manage not to pack too much.