Railway Dog

This morning in Riga, Latvia, I surprisingly had a weighing scales where I was staying. So I could weigh my pack. It is down to 15kg if I’m wearing my boots and jacket and only carrying 1 litre of water and a light meal for us.

Apart from food and drink, much weight is camping gear. 1.4kg tent, sleeping bag, lightweight mat, camping stove, camping gas, cooking stuff,  solar lamp (Solar Aid), and e-cloths as towels.

My main Interrailing footwear are Wills Vegan Hiking Boots. I love them, and they are quite light weight, breathable and waterproof (no commission, just sharing). I have some Teva sandals bought in Italy, as hiking boots just don’t work out when it’s hot. I had blisters from crazy amounts of steep hiking in sweaty weather. Sandals are also handy in the water.

I’m down to one walking pole. My cousin took that home for me, along with a plethora of little things I didn’t really need. These included waterproof trousers, as I already have some semi waterproof winter trousers with me, essential for night camping in spring. In warm weather getting wet isn’t really a problem.

When I get my stuff back from my cuz back home I will photograph all the things I didn’t need.

The essentials

Clothes:

• 3 pairs of knickers* (I mainly wear the 2 comfortable ones, the thong is for when I haven’t had enough time or space for washing and drying)
• 1 black bra* (best colour as it can’t go grey 😂)
• 1 itsy bitsy bikini, good as backup underwear too
• 1 pretty linen shirt* which I wear almost every day. Dries fast, and is wearable even when damp. Both warm and cool.
• 1 pair of Forclaz zip off trousers* with 4 blissful zip pockets. Worn almost every day, have some stretch comfort, and even tho pale tan coloured, they don’t stain easily. Dry fast. I mainly have warn the legs due to biting insects and persistent cool weather.
• For the sun: UV blocking hat*, pretty scarf* (doubles as sarong, picnic mat, dog shade/blanket, facial mosquito net), prescription sunglasses on a string*, suncream*
• A fleece* and a micro padded jacket*
• A long sleeved base layer, a vest top, some cycling sleeves (good extra thermal layer)
• More necessary for cold weather travel and nighttime camping are: warm hat, snood, gloves, thermal trousers, thermal leggings, extra jumper(s)

Paperwork, electronics and extras