Packing, packing, packing.

I believe that being well-organized and well packed for your adoption trip is essential…you want to be well prepared to make things as easy on yourself as possible when you arrive and have your hands full with your new child, and yet you don’t want to over pack or carry the proverbial “kitchen sink” along for the ride.

Here is the packing list I have used for our two recent adoptions from Ethiopia. It is easily modified for the age of child and your personal likes and dislikes. Depending on your destination, you may not need some of these things, and you may need additional things. See my last posts on “Tips for Your Adoption Trip” for help in building a great packing list.

Hope this is helpful!

For clothing traveling parents-

-t-shirts
-long, light weight pants
-long-sleeved light weight shirts
-one warm jacket (fleece is great…light weight but warm)
-one nicer outfit
-undergarments
-socks
-pajamas/sleep clothes
-bathing suit
-flip flops for shower/pool areas
-hat
-good walking shoes (something waterproof is a good idea, especially if traveling in the rainy season. My Crocs were perfect…not only were they great in wet weather, easy to clean when dirty and comfy for walking, they were easy to kick on and off on the flights and worked with or without socks).

Notes on clothing- Light weight clothes that can dry quickly are your best bet when traveling. T-shirts like “Cool Max” dry faster than 100% cotton ones, and help keep you cool too. Since you may end up hand washing your clothes, you want to avoid heavy jeans and things that won’t hang dry in a reasonable period of time, and are also heavier and bulkier to pack. I am a jean-junkie though, and brought one pair both times.

I don’t have shorts on my packing list because in Ethiopia shorts are not culturally acceptable as a general rule, and we were also advised against wearing shorts in Vietnam. I think most cultures have a lot more conservative dress standards than we do in the US. Many people do wear shorts anyway and don’t have any problems, but I like to err on the side of being overly respectful. We did bring a pair of shorts or two each to sleep in and wear down to the pool, but we never wore them “out”. Capris are fine for ladies, and I did bring a pair of khaki ones that worked well.

As far as the number of shirts/pants to bring, a lot depends on how long you are staying and how often you are willing to do laundry (or have it done). If you are adopting a baby, I suggest you bring a few more shirts than you may think you need…many parents find that all of the changes can make their little babies very “spit up” prone, and that can lead to lots of dirty shirts for mom and dad.

Last time I brought three t-shirts, two long-sleeved shirts and three pairs of pants plus some t’s and shorts to sleep in, and that worked well.


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