Spanish, do you think so? I think that’s about the number of things I brought on our safari.

Shoes will add weight, though. How many pairs, bb?

I think looks like a pretty good mix. Will you be wearing one of the outfits for travel?

ETA: I know this is the last thing you need, but I saw these on Quince and thought they would make good travel pants. They call them a "structured knit".

Our first night in Nairobi is at the Hilton. I have contacted them. They will store our suitcase(s) for the 10 days we are on safari. I intend to wear my usual travel uniform - navy knit pants, navy long sweater, some sort of t-shirt - and leave it in the suitcase at the Hilton.

I will travel in the Merrell waterproof sneakers that I am taking on safari and pack a pair of neutral colored Rothy flats. I may or may not add a pair of Croc sandals.

@rubyclaire, I think I’ve bought those pants from Quince before. To say they least, they did not flatter my shape - or maybe my shape didn’t flatter the pants. 😂

I’m not at home right now to weigh my clothes. A pair of jeans weighs about 1 lb. Those pants are much lighter than jeans, so maybe I won’t be over the 33 lbs.

Bbstx - maybe “structured knit” is code for tight sweat pants. Not really a desirable look on most of us.

Did you see the post by sushipup about The Trouble with Trousers. If these are the pants I think they are, they fit squarely into that category!

@bbstx, are the Croc sandals new? I once took a new pair of sandals on vaca and got blisters that nearly immoblized me. They were similar synthetic material. Now i never take new shoes on vaca, even ones that appear harmless.

No, the Crocs aren’t new. They are so old I thought your were going to say you once took a pair and they disintegrated. 😂 I carry these with me when I might need sandals around water. I have cuter sandals but these are more versatile and they are pretty lightweight.

You may take them then.

Our travel company sent us duffel bags to use. We weren’t allowed to bring suitcases.

The Target scarf that @1929Spanish-GW posted above arrived. I think it is going to work, but I don’t know why Target calls it green. The scroll-y design is shades of brassy browns and the flowers are pinks and blues.

In the same order was a pair of brown gingham seersucker pants. They are going back ASAP. The fabric is weird. It is 100% cotton. It is very stiff fabric. More of a heavyweight poplin. There is no drape. It is like you made a pair of pants out of construction paper.

That’s bizarre, Bbstx— I can’t think of much that would be less comfortable in hot weather than stiff shorts 😳 Target is a funny place; when they get stuff right it’s excellent, but when they don’t it’s not just bad, it’s a trainwreck.

adding.. IME for clothing or housewares. The closest Target to me is about an hour away so I don’t have a vast shopping experience there.

I agree about Target. Some of their clothing is awful. Just like it was years ago. Not worth the small amount paid for it. I rarely even shop in the store for clothing even though there are 3 within 10 minutes of my house. This is when IG influencers are worth following for me. Almost everything I buy from Target is something they've shown that they like. And even then, sometimes I don't like it when I get it. I do go to the closest store to me for returns often. They make it so easy. I just need to show my barcode in the app, they scan that once and scan each item and it's refunded to my Target credit card. Easy peasy. And this coming from the worst returner. I often end up not returning things if I have to mail them back.

I’m not a big Target shopper, as a rule, but only because of distance. The closest one to me is over an hour away. There is a Target 10 minutes from DD. Sometimes, I order online, have it shipped to her house, try it on when I visit. Then I just have to run down the street to make any returns.
My fav sweatpants are from Target several years ago. They are very soft and on the thinnish side - perfect for our weather. Of course, they no longer carry them.

I guess I was surprised at the gingham pants because even though I haven’t bought much at Target, what I have bought was perfectly fine.

Scheme re-worked to eliminate white items and to only have 4 pairs of pants.

Please critique

Row 1: merino sweater, t-shirt, green tech-fabric pants, khaki tech fabric pants

Row 2: heavy gauze shirt; t-shirt, khaki tech pants, green pleated linen pants

Row 3: flax linen shirt, coral and white striped linen shirt, peach t-shirt, linen t-shirt

Row 4: flax and white striped linen shirt, lavender PFG, peach linen shirt, green t-shirt.

The second shirt on the 3rd row is still under consideration. It is coral and white stripe and may be too colorful.

I am also packing a grey ultra-lightweight down jacket, a large off-white linen scarf, and two decorative scarves.

Jewelry for dinner: tortoise shell (necklace, watch band, and bracelet) and pearls (faux, of course - beads, bracelet, and watch band). Gold hoops 24/7.

Shoes: wearing Merrell water-proof sneakers; packing Rothy camel flats and Croc sandals.

I will travel in something totally different which will be stored at the airport hotel while we are on safari. Probably navy joggers, navy long, linen cardigan, and some sort of top with a scarf, but maybe an olive green 2 piece sweatsuit-y thing and scarf. It will be 90+ when we leave home. Hard to contemplate wearing a sweatsuit.

Laundry is available at our hotels/camps and will be used frequently. The hotel stays are 2 nights; 2 nights; 2 nights; then 3 nights. That looks to me like laundry being done every other day.

Have you weighed this in the bag yet.

If you can get reliable laundry every second or third day AND your items have all been prewashed in hot water and dried on the “hellfire“ heat setting with no loss of color or size I would take one less pant and two or three fewer tops. (I’d have to seek out and buy new stuff that can withstand a dryer— but would do that, test it and pack accordingly.)

Good question, @1929Spanish-GW, and something I need to do SOON! 3 items are still at the alterations place, but I think I can find acceptable substitutes for them to get a good idea of weight.

More than my clothes, is the weight of my ”comfort” items. I’m stipping out as much as I can, but I’m still going to take things like my flat iron (9 oz) because it does double duty. It can make my hair look presentable and iron the front placket, collar, and cuffs on linen shirts.

@Kswl, excellent point! Everything has been washed and dried all the way through but not on the ”hellfire” setting. 😂 All of the pants, except the linen ones, are some sort of poly (tech fabric). The worst that can happen, I hope, is the spandex melts and the pants become baggy. The linen shirts can shrink without becoming unwearable, I think. My biggest worry are the cheap t-shirts I bought from Old Navy (browns and green). The linen t-shirt and the merino sweater will probably be handwashed by me.

Just yesterday, I discovered that the place we are staying in Nairobi is a country club. Smart casual is expected in the dining room. Plus we are going to dinner at Carnivore in Nairobi one night, which is casual or smart casual. The green linen pants will be in heavy rotation as my ”dressy” pants. That only leaves 3 pair of tech pants.

If I were to jettison a top, it would be the coral and white stripe linen. It is heavier than the other shirts and I’m on the fence about the color. Leaving it or taking it will be a game time decision.

Off topic, but the dryer at our villa in France was extremely hot even on the lowest setting. At home, I usually dry my clothes for 5 minutes or so on low, then hang to dry. When I opened the dryer door in France, my clothes were literally steaming it was so hot!

The revised dress codes change the calculus a bit, don’t they? Maybe instead of the coral and white shirt you could use that slot for a really nice, lightweight semi-dressy top and save it for those dinners?

Hmmm. Not a bad idea buy when you eliminate black and blue and add that it must go with olive green, there’s slim pickings in my closet for dressier tops. And I’ve gotten to the “take what you have; buy no more” stage. I’ll look when I get back to the house!

Nothing appropriate in closet. Remember the silk Johnny Was top that was too big on me that I whined about for years? It would have been the perfect colors. I could have worn it open over a tank but I sold it a couple of months ago … or maybe I gave it away. I can’t really remember, but it is no longer in this house. I’ll just have to make do with something I have and a scarf.

Based on your description, my estimates for weight are as follows:

clothing in grid: 12-15lbs

jacket + scarves: 1-2 lbs

jewelry etc: assuming worn, 1-1.5 lbs

shoes (rothys & crocks only): 1-2 lbs

underwear+bras+socks+nightclothes: 3lbs

personal items: 1-3+ lbs

camera & electronics: 3-5+ lbs

subtract for clothing on your body

Spanish, knowing that you do a lot of shipping of clothes, I’ll bet your estimates are spot on. Item are being picked up from alterations tomorrow.

Now I’m ready to get everything folded, into the duffle, and weighed!!! The duffle itself is 2.4 lbs according to the LLBean website.

We could start a betting pool🤣

Taking the high end of spanish's estimates, you're still under weight!

Not sure if you're on Instagram, but @cassiesugarplum just back from a safari. It looked amazing. She's a fashion influencer so of course she showed what she packed. She took some fancier dresses for dinner. She did say at one point that if she were to do it again, she would skip those completely.

I now want to do a safari, but I looked at one of the places they stayed for the first part of their trip and it was $2k per person per day. So for them it was $8k per day. That's a wee bit out of my budget. But it did look amazing.

Also, I think you'd have to drug me to get me on those little planes!

@1929Spanish-GW, 😂 yep…y’all need to start a pool!

@jsk, just looked at the IG account you mentioned. That was pretty sweet! Ours is nice, but not that luxurious. We will have 4 people per vehicle, too. But one may have 5. We have an odd number (I’m the odd one - in more ways than one 😁).

We have the option to fly or drive between camps. We are planning to ride in order to see more, but we are packing as if we were going to fly - just because you never know what might come up.

We are doing the early morning balloon ascent in the Maasai Mara, too. I need to add gloves and a cashmere scarf to my list!

Jsk, DH and I went sightseeing in the smallest size SeaBee in Alaska, just us and one other couple, and I was white knuckled the entire trip. Never again !

Our old neighbor (who wasn’t old - maybe 26) went on a fishing expedition in AK. His plane clipped some trees on take off. He said never again!

I hate flying. I am a very nervous flyer. I will give myself a pat on the back because my DD told me she never knew I was a nervous flyer. I tried to not show it when she was young to not make her nervous. I said, you didn't see me digging my nails into DH's arm on takeoff? Ha!

No small planes and no helicopters for me. I would just not be able to enjoy it no matter what the scenery was like.

We once flew a small plane between islands on our way home. Flew from St Croix to San Juan, and then San Juan to Newark. I did not know the St Croix to San Juan was a very small plane. I was a wreck. Now I make sure to check that before booking.

I’m not a big fan of small planes or helicopters either. Flew from St. Thomas to San Juan once on something smallish, but I’ve been on smaller.

My XH was a private pilot and flew an aerobat. We’d do loops in the sky. You’d look down and see the clouds in the sky, up and see the ground. It was kind of fun.

Im looking forward to this trip report.

@dedtired, that sounds almost like the opposite of ”fun” to me! To paraphrase Vivian from Pretty Woman, it would have been the Pirates of Penzance for me!

I discovered tonight that our camps and lodges do not have heat! A/C, I didn’t expect, but no heat never crossed my mind. It is 56 in Nairobi at 4 a.m. I’ve ordered another set of REI merino wool long johns. (Whoever took ”55 lbs” in the pool, your odds are looking up!)

Taking a page out of The Vivienne Files (she uses a painting as her color scheme for a capsule wardrobe), I asked ChatGPT to make a painting using the colors of the clothes I’m taking.

It returned this (I may have suggested a theme). I titled it ”Mud Hole with Weeds)

DD and DSIL have weighed their clothes - 20 lbs between the 2 of them! DD does extreme minimalist packing. There are no ”just in case” items.

Packing in a shapeless duffle is very difficult for me. I’ve never done it before and I’m not liking it.

Roll your clothes. Fold shirts and jackets sleeves in and roll from the bottom. Line pants up by the seams and roll from the bottom.

Underware in clear ziplocks. Anything else in clear ziplocks. Freezer bags are the best.

ETA: I have never been on a safari, but have camped for years with duffle bags. Folding does not work, rolling does.

@Sherry8aNorthAL, I’ve never been able to get the hang of rolling. For the most part, everything is going to be in packing cubes.

I am using a 70 liter L. L. Bean duffle. It is huge. And even with packing cubes, things are going to move around. Plus, there are no corners to tuck things into.

No ziplock bags in Kenya. There is a stiff fine for bringing in ”one time use” plastic bags (up to $40,000 and 4 years in prison).

Trigger warning, tough love talk below.

I think you need to reposition this trip in your head. To pack right, it’s more Tech Bros than Out of Africa. If this is a high end trip, I think ”the richest lady in the yoga class”🤣

Linen will be a mess. It's heavy and can be picky about drying. And are you really going to iron it with a flat iron?

You want to pack layers that wash and (most importantly) dry quickly, that layer and wont trap dirt. Cotton t’s can also get heavy quickly en mass.

A layered outfit is tech pants with a t-shirt, long sleeve topper (shirt or zip front) maybe a vest and jacket for morning/evening cool temps. Good shoes and - more importantly - good socks are a must. Lots of pockets are really helpful. I’d pick SPF shirts and a hat if possible.

If being dressed different for dinner is really important to you, than being one different thing. use a scarf, not jewelry.

This is why I suggest going to something like REI, so you can try on and put three nice sets together that youre comfortable in.

The cubes will work the same.

Rolling. Lay shirt flat back up, Smooth out, fold in 1/3 left then right. Sleeves will turn down at an angle toward the bottom. Smooth. You should have a shirt 1/2 the size. Roll from bottom up, slowly, stop, flip over, and if a collar, make sure point are down and back edge is straight. Crease collar at shoulder of needed.

It makes sense after you get one right.

Omg that ”painting!”

@1929Spanish-GW, I greatly appreciate your ”tough love.” I’ve got the tech pants, plus one pair of linen pants for dinner. I really cannot abide the feel of tech fabrics on me - even good ones - but I’m going to tough it out for the pants, at least. I am taking one Columbia PFG, which I absolutely hate! If the linen turns out to be a terrible choice, I’ll just keep washing and wearing the PFG. I am also taking 2 or 3 AIRism camis. They are supposed to help you stay cool.

Truthfully, looking at the temps we’ve been sent for the areas we will be in, I’m more worried about staying warm than staying cool.

This is the dead of winter below the equator and we are going to be in some higher regions - highest highs in the upper 70s. It’s way cooler than what I dealt with in Bordeaux in early June, where temps were in the mid to upper 90s!

Re: ironing with my flat iron. Not really. I’m perfectly happy wearing rumpled linen. However, if the hem or the front placket, won’t lay flat, I can hit it with the flat iron. If the flat iron is going anyway for my hair, might as well make it do double duty!

Final totals, subject to change and correction:

clothing (from skin out, including down jacket)

Total: 16 lbs

Duffle and the stuff in it (toiletries, first aid, OTC meds, etc)

Total: 9 lbs.

Daypack containing purse, prescription meds, battery packs, etc

Total: 4 lbs

The worst has happened… AI is now making unprompted jokes 😳

😂😂😂

Things may be slightly lighter now. I’ve jettisoned some items or put small amounts into small containers. I switched out a shirt for a similar shirt that is 8 oz lighter. I switched a battery pack for a smaller battery pack. I jettisoned the wet wipes for a small bottle of hand sanitizer.

I’m whittling away at it.

“To pack right, it’s more Tech Bros than Out of Africa. If this is a high end trip, I think ”the richest lady in the yoga class” ”

Lol, Spanish!

More editing. Duffle down to 23 lbs. I took the good advice @1929Spanish-GW gave me. I jettisoned 2 cotton tee shirts and one linen blouse, among other things. No replacements. The flat iron is still on the cusp.

I would not travel without my hot air brush styler unless I was fleeing for my life. If your hair can survive no styling tools my hat— literally— is off to you Bbstx!

I would not travel without my hot air brush styler unless I was fleeing for my life.

😂😂😂

I suspect there will be occasions on this trip when I wash my hair and let it air dry. But I would like to have the flat iron to look nice from time to time. It doesn’t take up much space but it does weigh 9 oz.

I'm with kswl. I cannot travel without my Dyson AirStraight. At least I'm now down to one tool instead of both a blow dryer and straightener. The AirStraight does both at the same time.

I simply cannot air dry my hair and be seen in public. Honestly, I can't even do it and be seen by only me. It's that bad.

Same, jsk, my hair is non-air-dryable. I just brought a small travel blow dryer on safari and a round brush so I managed not to scare anyone.

@bbstx is your straightener dual voltage and do you have the correct plug/voltage adapter?

Yep, Spanish…got all of that! Nothing I have needs a voltage converter, just plug adapters.