Packing

Packing.

So you’ve gotten an invitation to serve in the Peace Corps (congrats!) and you got that huge PDF document giving you the low down on your country and including that giant packing list (the Peru list was over two pages). So how do you pack for two years in a developing country? You don’t.

My advice would be to think about packing for the first three months of training, and even then less than that. Some people are chronic over packers, and if that’s your style and if that’s how you’re going to prepare for Peace Corps than so be it. But maybe take some advice about what to pack to lighten the load, which is especially important when you have to travel with all your stuff.

Clothing: Depending on your country, you might have very specific clothing requirements. Might be hot in all parts of the country, or there might be a specific social dress code, or for your program there might be a certain dress requirement (if you’re a teacher for example). But the important thing to remember is that everyone in your country wears the appropriate clothes, and therefore you can get it in country. So you don’t need to pack everything, just some stuff to get you started. Normally, people also where the same clothes a lot. Nobody is really going to notice or care. As long as it’s clean, it’s all good. If you have a country where you could be working in a couple different climates (like Peru, which has three distinct climates pending on where you are), don’t try to pack for all of it. Pack for the weather where your training center is and then you can buy other clothes in country. It’s probably not necessary to buy new clothes for where you’re going. Check out the thrift stores first, especially for shirts. Bring a pair or two of jeans if you want. But remember that you’re probably going to be handwashing your clothes as well, and this more or less stretch them out and cause them to fade out a little more rapidly than normal. At the same time, it’s just comfortable to put on a my Sidney Crosby shirt and a pair of basketball shorts. They’ll be looking at how weird the gringo is anyway, so nothing you wear will really be conspicuous.

Toiletries: Pretty much everything you would need to buy is available in country, and if not really evaluate if you need it. Shampoo, soap, toothpaste, razors, deodorant, etc are all available. Just take enough to get started.

Medications: As Peace Corps says, take enough for the first three months except OTC stuff. You’ll be given your medical kits during the first days of training, and it has everything you need (I think) and you get free refills. So it isn’t really worth the space or the cost to fill your suitcase with Tylenol or bug spray or sun screen, because it’s there.

Personal items: I would take a few things that can make wherever you’re living feel more like home. But as a rule, don’t bring anything that you would be devastated if it were to be broken, destroyed or robbed. I brought a bobble head, pictures, and a couple other memorabilia items that were small/compact.

Laptop: Bring it. Peace Corps is a lot of report writing and document reading. Much of our technical material is in PDF version, and a lot of official communication is done through e-mail. Sometimes you can even connect your laptop at the internet café (though it could be a security risk depending where you are as everyone will see the gringo’s computer).