The packing list the program sends is accurate and incomplete, which is the worst combination because you trust it.
Things I brought and have not touched
Three pairs of nice shoes. A travel iron. Enough medication for a year, which sat in customs for an afternoon while I explained it.
Things I wish I had brought
A proper rain jacket, not the packable kind. A power bank, because fieldwork days are long and the phone is the camera, the map, and the notebook. Far more printed copies of documents than feels reasonable in 2026.
Everything you forgot can be bought here. Budget a week of looking for it, though.
The real advice: pack for the version of yourself who is tired and in a hurry, not the one making a list on a calm afternoon in Gambier.
