stuff to bring during the trip

I'm another one who thinks that wheelie luggage in Mexico is impractical. Mexican streets are very rough, full of cracks and potholes, and often a sizeable 'step-down' onto road level if you're crossing the street.

Add to that the fact that most budget places/hostels that you will stay in are upstairs, sometimes several flights.

And as someone pointed out, Mexican streets are narrow, and in city centres, very crowded, so a backpack is a lot easier to manoeuvre with.

I have the best of both worlds - a case that can be used as either a wheelie or backpack.

For 12 days, I do what 2368 suggests, and just take carry-on. And plan on doing laundry mid-way through. LP lists laundramats, where you can leave your stuff, have them wash and fold, and pick it up a few hours later. A good guide to travelling light is Onebag.com.

I liked Metasequoia's suggestion about scanning important documents and sending copies to yourself as attachments. I haven't done that before, but will in the future. And Bartleby is right. Don't fret too much about what your are bringing. You can get what you need in Mexico. Indeed, once I forgot my prescription medication, called a friend at home for the name which I had forgotten, and was able to buy it at a pharmacy in Mexico City without a prescription.

As for jeans, fine for Mexico City, but in tropical areas, I agree you may find them too hot.

Enjoy your trip.

Carry your passport, credit cards airline Tx in moneybelt or neck pouch under your clothes - NOT in a pocket as suggested by one poster above....

As online email websites are hackable, I send essential pdf copies of documents, cards etc to myself in an encrypted password-protected file....it avoids putting essential identity data in the public domain.

Have a great trip....

AAA Location Book
Airline Ticket
Antacid
Basil (lettuce leaf)
Basketball
Bathroom fixtures
Batteries
Beach Chair
Binoculars
Birth Certificate
Books
Bug Repellent
Calendar
Camera, Flash, Film
Cell Phone Chargers
Cell Phone Guide
Coffee Cups
Coffee Pot, Filters, Coffee
Compass
Cook books
Cookie sheet
Cooking Timer
Cooler
Direct TV Receiver
Dish Towels
Dishes
Duct Tape
Fan Belts
Faucet
First Aid
Neosporin
Cold med
Thermometer
Aspirin
Comfrey Salve
Dental Floss
Tylenol
Flashlight
Frisbee
Glass mixing bowl
Gloves
Hats
Helmet
Horseradish
Insurance
Jumper Cables
King Size Sheets
Lead test
Leashes
Lemon pepper
Light Bulbs
Light fixtures
Liquid smoke
Little Footballs
Maps
Marine Goop
Mask & Snorkel
Measuring cups
Wooden skewers
MONEY
Mouthwash
Needles for air in Balls
New Rash Guard
Oil
Olive Oil
Olives
Passport
Peanut Butter
Phone Book
Pine Nuts
Pizza Pan
Plug
Pruning clippers
Puzzles
Reading Glasses
Rolling Bamboo
Scanner
Scissors
Sesame oil
Short Wave Manual
Short-wave
Short-wave Book
Soccer Ball
Soft Racks
Spanish Dictionary
Spices
Stamps
Stereo, Tapes
Sun block
Surfboard
Swim Fins
Tape measure
Telephone
Tools
Toothbrush
Tow Rope
Towels
Tripod
Tums
Turn Off Propane
Umbrella
Veggie Seeds
Veggie Steamer
Velcro
Video Camera
Video Tapes-VHS
Vitamins
Walkie Talkies
Wasabi
Wax
WD40
Weather thermometer
Wetsuits
Wrist Rocket
Xtra Shoes
Zip Drive
Pickles
Call Credit card co.s
Baseball Gloves
Baseballs
Pickled Ginger
Cassett Player and Receiver
Check Book

I couldn't resist responding to this after what we carried on our last
trip. I think you can see why we prefer good wheeled bags to
backpacks. I am 60 and my partner is 70. She has been using wheeled
bags for 5 years, I for 3. We both prefer wheeled bags over backpacks
now, despite the rough conditions we sometimes travel in....Mexico,
Guatemala, Fiji, Costa Rica, Belize.

---------------------------------------------------
AAA Location Book.......If I was a member I would consider this.
Airline Ticket.....We carry a copy of the ticket and a copy of the confirming email.
Antacid.....Would buy there
Basil (lettuce leaf).......you have to be kidding,,,or do you mean dried...Buy down there.
Basketball.... Not me
Bathroom fixtures....does a leatherman tool count for opening faucets without handles
Batteries......Both AAA & AA Alkaline and rechargables (& charger)
Beach Chair.......thought about it but not seriously.
Binoculars......Yes and used them
Birth Certificate......Drivers licence as a second ID (with Passport)
Books.....2 mexico Guides, Footprint CA Handbook and LP ( I bet that is 4 pounds right there)
Bug Repellent.....DEET
Calendar...........Yes, If it is December I look for giveaways down there to bring home.
Camera, Flash, Film......Polaroid and film camera
Cell Phone Chargers....Not Yet
Cell Phone Guide......Not yet
Coffee Cups......2 20 OZ Coffee Mugs with Lids, one for each of us.
Coffee Pot, Filters, Coffee......Immersion coffee heater, instant coffee, powdered milk and powered chocolate, honey.
Compass........I have been thinking of bringing my GPS.
Cook books.....I have bought down there and brought them home
Cookie sheet.... We take a small cutting Board.
Cooking Timer.......Watch, Travel alarm, timer in PDA
Cooler.........Wet hotel towel
Direct TV Receiver........Not needed, most places have sat or cable.
Dish Towels...Small towels dry faster than big ones.
Dishes.....plastic Bowl, plastic cup, knife, fork, each; 2 spoons(tea and table), sheath knife
Duct Tape.....Yes, and strapping tape
Fan Belts,,,,,No, I don't drive down there.
Faucet.....Haven't needed one yet.
First Aid......Yes, bandaids, tape, gauze, antibacterial salve
Neosporin......Yes
Cold med.......buy down there
Thermometer.......Yes but not recently
Aspirin.......Yes, and Ibuprofin
Comfrey Salve........no
Dental Floss.......Yes
Tylenol........Yes
Flashlight......2, small 2 cell AA and a Photon Micro Light (Recommended)
Frisbee..........Yes, collapsable cloth
Glass mixing bowl..........Plastic bowl for mixing fruit salad
Gloves.........Never needed
Hats........Always
Helmet.......Not needed
Horseradish.....Buy down there
Insurance......Can't afford
Jumper Cables......Don't drive
King Size Sheets......Sometimes we bring sheet blankets made into sleeping bags, or buy blankets.
Lead test..........No, You don't want to know.
Leashes...........No
Lemon pepper.......Buy down there.
Light Bulbs........Yes, a good 100 Watt light bulb.
Light fixtures.......Does a pull chain extender count, for the two outlets on the side, also a small extension cord.
Liquid smoke........buy down there... and the stuff on the street is cooked over real smoke at times.
Little Footballs.....Buy down there
Maps.......I brought 5 with me and bought two on the trip.
Marine Goop.....Not near the water....
Mask & Snorkel....Yes if we were near the water, also an underwater camera.
Measuring cups........Sometimes one of the cheap plastic cups has measuring lines on it.
Wooden skewers...I brought back two bundles of fatwood from guatemala this trip.
MONEY.......Cash and travelers checks. Looking into prepaid cash cards.
Mouthwash......Buy down there
Needles for air in Balls.....No
New Rash Guard.....not sure what that is, nor do I want to find out.
Oil.........Cooking, buy down there
Olive Oil.........buy down there.....I did learn how to process coconut for the oil.
Olives......Buy down there
Passport.....Yes, Yes, Yes
Peanut Butter...... yes, yes, yes...organic peanuts, crunchy, no sugar... hard to find down there
Phone Book.....I bring them home at times. This time I brought back an Industrial Development Handbook from Colima. I tried to mail it and another catalog home, it would have been $30 so I carried them for 6 more weeks.
Pine Nuts.......No, but I bet I could have found them in Colima
Pizza Pan.......I generally don't look for Pizza...
Plug...........If you mean power adapters, then yes. Also an extension cord and the above light fixture.
Pruning clippers......nail clippers, both sizes
Puzzles........We considered buying some made out of nails in the Saturday market in Colima but no. I did have a game in the PDA.
Reading Glasses......Yes
Rolling Bamboo.......Wooden pipe
Scanner..........There is a attachemnt for my PDA that will read barcodes but I don't have one. I have considered bringing a radio
scanner...in fact, replacing the shortwave with a full band scanner
Scissors.........Two pair (one for hair) packed in checked baggage
Sesame oil.......Buy down there if I need it.
Short-wave...........Sony 2002 with 2 pair headphones and a longwire antenna.
Short-wave Book.......I use an internet Cafe and google to find frequencies
Soccer Ball........No, easy to find down there.
Soft Racks......???????
Spanish Dictionary.....Yes, had to buy one last time as I forgot to bring one. I also bring a pocket translator.
Spices......buy down there, small quantities are easy to find.
Stamps.......Buy down there....You need that countries stamps to mail things home.
Stereo, Tapes......Sometimes
Sun block......Always if going to visit the sun.
Surfboard......Not in the last 40 years.
Swim Fins......If I carry the snorkle gear and we are going to the beach.
Tape measure......Yes, a very small one.
Telephone........Not yet....maybe Skype in a laptop next time.
Tools........Yes, I carry tools, a leatherman, small screwdrivers, 6" crescent wrench. etc.
Toothbrush.....Two, one for teeth one for other uses.
Tow Rope........If I were driving down it would be necessary.
Towels.......two Small, one for each of us
Tripod.......I always carry a monopod, rarely a tripod.
Tums......Buy down there
Turn Off Propane.........No, Use the Leatherman.
Umbrella........Yes, small collapsable, and I used it several times both for rain and shade.
Veggie Seeds.......Bring them home sometimes, also mushroom spore prints.
Veggie Steamer.......Buy down there.
Velcro.....Yes, small pieces of peel and stick, along with a small sewing kit.
Video Camera.....Video in the digital camera, used to carry a Hi-8
Video Tapes-VHS.........12 CD-Rs to burn digital photos to (easy to find down there). Used to be 12 Hi-8 tapes
Vitamins........No
Walkie Talkies......Yes, 2 Family service Radios
Wasabi.......We did take a bag of snacks that had wasabi chips in them when we flew down last time.
Wax.......Candle to stick the insense stick into.
WD40........No, but a good idea
Weather thermometer.....I have in the past, I had one as a pull on the zipper of the bag.
Wetsuits......Who wants to go into cold water, no.
Wrist Rocket.....now there is something that will get you into trouble..I used to carry a 14 inch machette in my pack. Haven't tried
it since 911. I also learned how to open cocos with a sharp stick so I don't need it as much.
Xtra Shoes.....Reef shoes and Teva Sandals
Zip Drive.......I did carry a PDA (Visor) and a Keyboard this time but wasn't happy with it. Am considering carrying a small iMac next time since free wireless is starting to pop up.
Pickles......Buy down there if you can find them
Call Credit card co.s.......Book with all the numbers, yes.
Baseball Gloves.......No but a good idea if you want to play with the locals.
Baseballs......No but a good idea if you want to play with the locals.
Pickled Ginger.....buy down there, preserved ginger is a common sweet.
Cassett Player and Receiver.....I take a casette recorder and sometimes a good microphone. Tapes are easy to find.
Check Book.......No, I don't have one.

I also pick up promotional papers, flyers, any maps, some newspapers
and bring that home. Flying back I was informed by Alaska that my
wheeled bag was 64 pounds and they only allowed 50 pounds in one bag
without surcharges. I pulled 15 pounds of Paper and CDs out and took
it as carry on.

I take far to much!!!

In short, Film and Batteries are better and/or
cheaper here as long as you buy brand names (Kodak, Duracell).

We also make a list of what we took, what we used, what we wished we
had and what we wished we had not brought. This gets really refined
after several trips.

Paxton

<blockquote>Quote
<hr>Horseradish.....Buy down there<hr></blockquote>
We can't find that here, either in Morelia nor Pátzcuaro, Paxton. Where do yo get it?

Half the stuff,twice the money.

I might have spoke too soon as I don't really shop for horseradish. I thought I had seen it either at Walmart or Soriana in Colima.

There is a nice little specialty shop that sells importado ( a lot from the US including condiments ) west of the Jardin Libertad (main square) a couple of blocks towards Ah Que Nanshe. This is also in Colima. I haven't looked for horseradish but I would look here.

This is a classic thing that would go on our travel list if we needed it and couldn't find it. I bring my favorite powdered mik because I can't find a comparable product down there.

Rolling Bamboo is for sushi. Jeez. Stamps are for letters I may want to send home with somebody to mail for me. I don't really do that anymore with email and everything. I don't think I have ever seen pitted black olives in Mexico. At least where I go. Need them for pizza. Basil was seeds for planting while there. My list has been formed over many years and things get added all the time (not so much any more) but I don't think I have ever taken anything off of it (faucet, Bathroom fixtures). I do know that if I see it on the list and I don't need it I don't bring it. Paxton, as I'm sure you know, it takes a long time to get a list of everything you need/want. My list acually has a bunch of other stuff on it that people would not understand. Like "Make sure all doctor appointments or other appointments have been canceled before leaving".

From #28:
<blockquote>Quote
<hr>Also think that e-tickets are much easier to change, if need be, than paper tickets.<hr></blockquote>
I have this to say:

e-tickets are fine (and I use them almost all of the time now) as long as there are no trip interruptions and you continue to fly with the carrier that issued the tickets. Twice now, trips I've taken have been interrupted when I've traveled on e-tickets and there was the need to change airlines - and the etickets were not accepted by airlines other than the issuer. Paper tickets are treated like currency and freely exchanged and accepted amongst the airlines, from what I've experienced - etickets are not.

And, regarding the references to scanning documents: I've been doing that for several years now and recommending it to others. I scan into .pdf files my passport, various credit card and identification documents, etc. and send them to myself in an email. We can easily access the internet in so many places these days in the event something is damaged/lost/stolen along the way.

Ine general comment about some of the suggestions of what to take along: There's a point when taking so much with you becomes ridiculous, and I think we've seen some examples of that in this discussion.