Never too soon to start packing....

Some people I know can actually pack their suitcase on the fly. Unfortunately, I'm not one of those people. I need my checklist. In fact, I think I'm a wee bit checklist obsessed. I leave in a month and so I have to start thinking about what to bring with me. Yes, I do think about such things this far in advance of my departure :-)

As with all my other travelogues, I have a posting that serves as the checklist of things I need to bring with me.

We're pretty much travelling everywhere by train and from every source I've read on the subject of travel in Japan, there is no separate luggage space on trains.....just the overhead shelf above each row of seats and the floor space between your seat and the one in front of you.  Luckily, I am a very light packer but even so, I am going to scale back.  Not to mention that the lighter the bag, the easier it will be to carry when I'm at the train station where there are few escalators or elevators.

Weather wise, it will still be cool, 60's in the day and 50's at night, as it is early spring so a jacket and a cotton sweater are in order for nightime.

We'll also be going to the theatre a couple of nights and a kaiseki dinner one night something nice is also in order. 

• Passport, airline tickets and travel documents all with photocopies
• $US and yen
• Credit and debit cards
• Windbreaker/rain jacket
• Fleece jacket, cotton (light) sweater
• 3 short and 2 long sleeve tee shirts
• 2 long sleeve shirts
• 1 pair of hiking pants
• 1 pair of long pants
• 3 pair of capris
•  1 nice outfit for theatre/dinner
• Underwear
• 3 pairs of short socks
• Sunhat & sunglasses
• 1 pair walking shoes, 1 pair sports sandals, 1 pair rubber slippers, 1 pair dress shoes
• Small face towel for wiping hands after visiting public toilets (apparently, no public toilets don't provide you with anything to dry your hands with)
• Toiletries
• First aid kit including Cipro, Zithromax, Advair, Immodium AD, Tums, Tylenol flu & cold medicine, Tylenol, band aids, Neosporin, lip balm, sunblock.
• Small roll of toilet paper and feminine napkins/tampons
• Binoculars and  flashlight
• Nikon dSLR camera & my Kodak video camera, spare batteries, chargers and outlet adapters, SD card, USB SD reader
• Water bottle.  The tap water in Japan is safe to drink so I'm bringing a water bottle along.
• Pen and notebook
• MP3 player
•  Drain plug, laundry detergent, and plastic hangers for drying clothes
• 1 collapsible tote

....and last but not least.....my  netbook so I can record the events of each day on this blog!

This is a shorter packing list than for previous trips but I have a feeling I will be paring it down even more as I pack.  Have to keep it really, really, really light for this trip!