{"id":3516,"date":"2012-01-09T17:08:14","date_gmt":"2012-01-10T01:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chesnok.com\/daily\/?p=3516"},"modified":"2012-03-26T02:18:14","modified_gmt":"2012-03-26T10:18:14","slug":"packing-list-for-lca-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chesnok.com\/daily\/2012\/01\/09\/packing-list-for-lca-2012\/","title":{"rendered":"Packing list for LCA 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I leave in two days for <a href=\"http:\/\/linux.conf.au\/\">Linux Conf AU<\/a>, in Ballarat, Australia! This is my second LCA, and I&#8217;ve given talks internationally at least 10 times. For the past six months, I&#8217;ve used a short checklist to help make sure I don&#8217;t miss the important things (ticket, passport, underwear!). <\/p>\n<p>Today, I took a little more time to prepare and share what I&#8217;m taking with me.<br \/>\n<!--more--><br \/>\nThis is based on <a href=\"http:\/\/tantek.com\/2011\/061\/b1\/sxsw-packing-check-list\">Tantek&#8217;s SXSW Packing List<\/a>. I share this list under <a href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/3.0\/\">Creative Commons 3.0<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Caveats: <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I generally do not wear jeans or slacks to conferences, and when I do, my pants do not have pockets. They&#8217;re bulky, uncomfortable on long flights and, frankly, don&#8217;t look as good as a skirt. So, I&#8217;ve adjusted some of the stuff in the list for that wardrobe choice.<\/li>\n<li>I generally do not wear t-shirts to conferences I speak at.<\/li>\n<li>I am going without a smartphone at the moment. My last one was stolen in a Vancouver, BC coffee shop in early December 2011. I&#8217;ve taken it as an opportunity to simplify, and so far, I feel better.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Night before<\/h2>\n<p>Lay out your outfit for the next day.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Underclothes (bra, underwear), socks and a tank-top slip.<\/strong> &#8211; I found these Dynamic nylon\/spandex slips that go under sweaters and dresses. Super versatile, cheap ($16?) and look great. Having trouble finding them online, but <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sloanpdx.com\/\">Sloan<\/a> sells them in Portland.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Dress<\/strong> &#8211; Something simple that will be comfortable on the plane, like this <a href=\"http:\/\/www.urbanoutfitters.com\/urban\/catalog\/productdetail.jsp?id=22695720\">Urban Outfitters knit drape dress<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Leggings<\/strong> &#8211; black, probably bring two pair and again, these look great under a dress or sweater and can be taken off when you transition from 30F to 30C weather. I found the best value fleece leggings at <a href=\"http:\/\/g.co\/maps\/eunj9\">Ipnosi<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Boots<\/strong> &#8211; black, zippered are my favorites. I&#8217;m going to another conference immediately after LCA back in the US, so I need something other than sandals for the trip.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Hooded jacket<\/strong> &#8211; I&#8217;m taking a green hooded duck canvas jacket with zippered pockets. Great with a dress, and nice, low-germ substitute <a href=\"http:\/\/online.wsj.com\/article\/SB10001424052970204058404577108420985863872.html\">for a germ-rich airline blanket<\/a> during the 10+ hour flight.\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Backpack<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>A backpack<\/strong> &#8211; I have a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ebags.com\/product\/the-north-face\/surge\/152265?productid=10143698\">NorthFace Surge<\/a> (have had three of these). They will often dip below $100 in certain colors. The laptop area is a little big for the Air, but overall, this is a solid, spacious pack. I&#8217;ve put 10 days worth of stuff for a conference and holiday in Japan with this pack. Has a nice bonus pocket in the bottom and useful double zipper on the front for stuffing random documents and quick access to a Kindle, a few inner pockets for separating tools, pills and etc..<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Here&#8217;s all the stuff that goes into my backpack!<\/p>\n<h3>Essentials<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Passport and Visa (if necessary)<\/strong> &#8211; And you might need a Visa where you&#8217;re going, so check before you leave! A <a href=\"http:\/\/www.eta.immi.gov.au\/\">visa for a 3-month trip to Australia<\/a> is usually fast and easy.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Wallet<\/strong> &#8211; I bring ID, I try not to bring keys with me since my neighbors have keys and my husband picks me up and drops me off at the airport.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ear plugs<\/strong> &#8211; Essential for dorm accommodations and getting stuck in airports.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Small, unlined notebook<\/strong> &#8211; I doodle, and leave notes for people. Nice if there are perforated pages in the back so that the binding of the book doesn&#8217;t fall apart after ripping out pages.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pens and a pencil<\/strong> &#8211; Pencil is more durable in the rain (hail, Portland!)<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/tantek.com\/asin\/B00012NDH4\">Burts Beeswax Lip Balm<\/a><\/strong> &#8211; Planes and hotels are so dry!<\/li>\n<li><strong>Small bottle of lotion<\/strong> &#8211; Washing hands and filtered air ends up leaving my face and hands chapped.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Small Camera<\/strong> &#8211; I have a Canon Elph. Bring an extra SD card in case your existing one goes corrupt!<\/li>\n<li><strong>e-reader<\/strong> &#8211; I have a Kindle, but any e-reading device will do. I&#8217;m bringing <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/0312611730\/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=tendthegard-20&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325&#038;creativeASIN=0312611730\">Liespotting: Proven Techniques to Detect Deception<\/a> as my research project for the flights.\n<li><strong>Book<\/strong> &#8211; I&#8217;m also bringing a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/0060530944\/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=tendthegard-20&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325&#038;creativeASIN=0060530944\">The Graveyard Book<\/a> for taxi-ing and lift-off. A thick newspaper might also work here.<\/li>\n<li><strong>US-based Phone<\/strong> &#8211; I currently have an LG-VX5600 with no data plan on Verizon. I pay $10\/mo on a family plan that has something like 300 texts and supports at least 300 minutes per person.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Laptop<\/strong> &#8211; I&#8217;ve got a 13&#8243; Air. Loving it so far.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Music storage device<\/strong> &#8211; maybe an iPod\/iTouch.<\/li>\n<li><strong>A paper envelope<\/strong> &#8211; for storing receipts and stray bits of paper with notes.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ziplog bags<\/strong> &#8211; for liquids getting through the airport, packing away nicknacks, temporary storage for food, an easy water cup and dealing with anything that might explode in transit.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Handmade bags and enclosures for tech gadgets<\/strong> &#8211; I made two pouches to hold cables, devices and power converters. I hate having lots of stray items rolling around in bags. This helps me not lose things and maintain a little more order. Having a sewing machine makes this easy &#8211; I made two items last night for the trip! \ud83d\ude42<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Secondary contents<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Ocular backup<\/strong> &#8211; I talked my eye doctor into giving me a set of disposable contacts for last-minute scuba dives or impromptu 2-6am clubbing where glasses would just be silly. I also always bring a spare pair of glasses and my prescription.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Unruled pad of paper<\/strong> &#8211; For taking notes in sessions and bigger sketching<\/li>\n<li><strong>Energy bars<\/strong> &#8211; two or three for the plane. I prefer Clif bars and Lara bars. <a href=\"http:\/\/tantek.com\/asin\/B000FAD8G8\">Builder bars<\/a> (20g of protein!) are good if you&#8217;re going to have a series of breakfasts that are all carbs.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Peppermint gum<\/strong> &#8211; coffee, carbs == bad breath<\/li>\n<li><strong>Hat<\/strong> &#8211; Good for runs in hot, sunny weather, or instant camouflage in crowded rooms.<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B0067UPRQ4\/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=tendthegard-20&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325&#038;creativeASIN=B0067UPRQ4\">Anker Astro2 8400mAh External Battery<\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=tendthegard-20&#038;l=as2&#038;o=1&#038;a=B0067UPRQ4\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\" style=\"border:none !important; margin:0px !important;\" \/><\/strong> &#8211; Includes a <strong>flashlight<\/strong>. Great for charging any of your devices and making friends.<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.johnsphones.com\/\">John&#8217;s Phone<\/a><\/strong> &#8211; a simple phone that can be used most anywhere. Doesn&#8217;t support texting, which may be an issue. \ud83d\ude42 It&#8217;s a quad-band phone that supports 2G \/ GSM 850-900-1800-1900 Mhz. The only things it *doesn&#8217;t* support are pure 3G and CDMA networks. My plan is to get a Telstra SIM at the airport when I arrive. Suggestions welcome.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ethernet cable<\/strong> &#8211; the dorm rooms at LCA in ballarat don&#8217;t have wireless.<\/li>\n<li><strong>earbud headphones<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Small laptop\/shoulder bag<\/strong> &#8211; A tiny bag to just carry your laptop. Much more convenient in the evenings and brunches.<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/amzn.to\/xeRXs3\">Universal power adapter<\/a><\/strong> &#8211; I&#8217;ve used this particular model in five countries. I can&#8217;t say that it&#8217;s my favorite &#8211; if I had thought about it earlier, I would have gotten <a href=\"http:\/\/amzn.to\/zKpQtD\">an AU power converter plug<\/a> a couple weeks ago!<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sandals<\/strong> &#8211; something to change into after landing in warm weather!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Carry-on bag<\/h2>\n<p>I use an <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ebags.com\/product\/ebags\/mother-lode-etech-mini-21-wheeled-duffel\/68256?productid=837488\">eBags Motherlode eTech Mini<\/a>. I&#8217;ve had three of them, and the worst part is eventually the zipper dies. They have a lifetime warranty policy, but I travel enough that I&#8217;ve just bought a new bag rather than wait for a repair. But I&#8217;ll be testing that next month when I&#8217;m home for a while. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n<h3>For the carry-on<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Empty <strong>Water bottle + carabiner<\/strong> &#8211; so important when you&#8217;re in dry, air conditioned climate for weeks.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Energy bars<\/strong> &#8211; I take about 2 per day of the trip<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/tantek.com\/asin\/B000BGK968\">Stain remover<\/a><\/strong> &#8211; Great suggestion from Tantek, and essential when you&#8217;re on the road perpetually.\n<li><strong>Woolight liquid detergent<\/strong> &#8211; great for hand-washables and dry-clean-only dresses. And way cheaper than $200 to get five days of clothes cleaned in a hotel laundry.<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/tantek.com\/asin\/B0013OFRUK\">Sunblock<\/a> and swimsuit<\/strong> &#8211; Always bring a suit regardless of the weather. Nice bottom layer in a pinch.<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/tantek.com\/asin\/B003ILA8UA\">Fleece pants<\/a><\/strong> &#8211; excellent for sleeping and laundry day while travelling.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pumas<\/strong> &#8211; pair of walking\/running shoes for any occasion.\n<li><strong>6 pairs underwear, socks<\/strong> &#8211; and however many bras are appropriate<\/li>\n<li><strong>Workout gear<\/strong> &#8211; depends on your body type, but I bring 2 sport-bras, short fast-drying yoga pants and a fast-drying technical top. Much easier to clean than cotton. In unfamiliar or cross-country terrain, I bring a separate pair of running shoes and a plastic bag to protect everything else from the dirt.<\/li>\n<li><strong>2 dresses, 2 skirts, 1 pair pants, 4 tops, 1 sweater<\/strong> &#8211; enough outfits for three talks, a keynote and an evening out!<\/li>\n<li><strong>Lip gloss, lipstick and eyeshadow<\/strong> &#8211; I stick with a Shiseido slightly-sparkly lip gloss, MAC red lipstick for evenings and a black\/white combo eye shadow. I use the black for eye liner and the white for accents.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bathroom kit<\/strong> &#8211; includes: toothbrush, toothpaste, brush, shaver, nail clippers, face moisturizer, deodorant, hair product, vitamin C, advil and a multi-vitamin.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Tech pre-work<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Set up a perma-logged in IRC session for yourself. I use <a href=\"http:\/\/irssi.org\">irssi<\/a> in a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ibm.com\/developerworks\/aix\/library\/au-gnu_screen\/\">screen<\/a> session on a cloud-hosted virtual machine.<\/li>\n<li>Set up <a href=\"http:\/\/bitlbee.org\">bitlbee<\/a> to login to your IM in the same session. This is awesome for people who don&#8217;t use IRC leaving you notes while you&#8217;re offline.<\/li>\n<li>Check out the wiki for any events shaping up and add those to your calendar or TripIt plans.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Print your boarding pass<\/h2>\n<p>24 hours before your flight, be sure to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Log on to your airline&#8217;s website<\/li>\n<li>check-in online<\/li>\n<li>print your boarding pass<\/li>\n<li>put it in your backpack<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Night before<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Collect devices and chargers: phone, Kindle, laptop, usb power supply. Maybe also tablet. Pack spare batteries in checked luggage.<\/li>\n<li>Confirm in wallet: enough US cash for two meals, credit card, debit card, identification. If you have status on an airline, bring the card for cutting in line.<\/li>\n<li>Confirm how you&#8217;re getting to the airport, and the time you need to be there.<\/li>\n<li>Confirm how you&#8217;re getting from the destination airport to your hotel or first stop.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Morning of<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Shower and put on clothes laid out the night before<\/li>\n<li>Put: laptop, kindle, phone, notebook, keys, any reading material, wallet and IDs in carry on. Include:\n<ul>\n<li>power cable(s) and supply(s),<\/li>\n<li>video adapter(s) connected to your external monitors<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<li>Arrive at airport 90 minutes early<\/li>\n<li>Join the #lca.conf.au IRC channel<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Have a great flight!<\/p>\n<h2>Landing<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Pick up a SIM for your phone<\/strong> &#8211; for Melbourne, that&#8217;s at the nearest Telstra store, and there&#8217;s one in the airport.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Take public transit into town<\/strong> &#8211; There&#8217;s almost always a bus or train that will take you into the downtown of a major city. Melbourne has a skybus that leaves every 10 minutes from the terminal right into downtown!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And your adventure begins! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I leave in two days for Linux Conf AU, in Ballarat, Australia! This is my second LCA, and I&#8217;ve given talks internationally at least 10 times. For the past six months, I&#8217;ve used a short checklist to help make sure &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chesnok.com\/daily\/2012\/01\/09\/packing-list-for-lca-2012\/\">Continue reading &rarr;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[514,513,515,512],"class_list":["post-3516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conference","tag-lca","tag-lca2012","tag-packing-list","tag-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chesnok.com\/daily\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chesnok.com\/daily\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chesnok.com\/daily\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chesnok.com\/daily\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chesnok.com\/daily\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3516"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.chesnok.com\/daily\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3898,"href":"https:\/\/www.chesnok.com\/daily\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3516\/revisions\/3898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chesnok.com\/daily\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chesnok.com\/daily\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chesnok.com\/daily\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}