With 4 days to go I thought I'd write my ifrst blog entry...

We have finally moved everything out of my Nottingham flat and it is now covering about every surface imaginable at Glebe Farm. Yesterday I began the laborious and seemingly impossible task of fitting 15 months worth of wardeobe into a that can be carried, preferably fairly painlessly on my back. Basically, with the amount of clothing I own, this wasn't happening....nothing a quick trip to Blacks couldn't resolve. After much deliberation over the 50+ compression and stuff sacks that were on offer, I came away with a small selection ehhem...6 or 7 bags in various colours and sizes, also some plastic vacuum bags from TK Max that claim to reduce the size of your clothing by 80%!!

Well, on returning home I put these babys to the test....and in the blink of an eyelid 8 pairs of trousers were compressed to the size of a sugar bag, the fact that it was similar in in weight to a small child is beside the point! Next came the 15 shirts that became flat as a pancake in the vacuum bag and could easily be folded into my backpack.

How do you pack for that?! people keep asking me...for those of you who have asked, here is the list so far of MY travel "essentials." Whether they are to be considered essential or not is purely a matter of opinion.

1 Beghaus 65+10 litre C7 2 series Bioflex Backpack

4 bottles of 100+ Deet Mosquito repellant

2 Giant antibacterial micro fibre towels (saves so much space)

1 Luxury travel pillow (the luxury part is debatable!)

1 Pacsafe money belt

1 box travel laundry soap leaves (over 60 washes in matchbox size pack)

2 compression sacks

1 waterproof stuff sack

2 large clear vacuum bags (no pump necessary)

1 pacsafe Exo Mesh (for locking up backpack)

1 Berghaus Gortex Pak Mac

1 Waterproof trousers

1 Northface fleece

1 Technicals Base Layer

1 furry warm hoody

1 Hiking Boots

1 Silk sleeping bag liner

1 vango fusion sleeping bag

205 Malerone tablets (Anitmalarials)

1 flight socks

Earplugs

Penknife

1 First Aid kit and lots of tablets

1 Portable Hairdryer

1 GHDs (Flashpacker)

1 Wash bag with all the essentials

1 Makeup bag

2 pairs of walking socks

1 Sketch Book

1 Set Pencils

1 Watercolour set

1 Camera

1 Chlorine Droplets

1 Washing line

1 PLug

1 Adapter Plug

1 Ipod

1 Ipod spoeakers

1 Phone

1 Purse

A selection of scarves

Wooly hat

Cowboy Boots

Converse

Going out shoes

Sandals

Vivienne Westwood pirate boots?? hmm maybe not

15 T-shirts

3 trousers

Leggings

A Few T-shirt dresses

2 shorts

3 skirts

1 tracksuit bottoms

lots of vests

2 going out dresses

1 hoody

3 cardigans

There's more, but this is work in progress, it is currently stacked up on the living room coffee table. I did give the backpack a test run and there was room to spare! And I must say, the backpack is incredible, once fitted correctly it really takes all the weight off your shoulders and it is so flexible to move about and sot down in. Money well spent.

After a last minute dental hygenist appointment to get my teeth up to scratch before departure, mum and I went on a mission into Leicester to find me a cardigan...we returned with everything except the cardigan, typical.

I have spent the afternoon setting up this blog....and it should now be synced to my Facebook so you can all access it more easily