Ok, so I figure I should spend a little time going through what I consider to be the essentials on what to pack when traveling.  Now, regardless of whether you are traveling with a backpack or with luggage, I would still suggest all of the below to be included.  Between the wisdom and suggestions of my mom on what to be sure to include and my own experiences, so far I have not needed to purchase anything extra to survive my travels thus far:)  So below is a running list of suggestions on what to pack for your travels:

• Shorts and T-shirts
• Nice casual outfit for evenings out (aka dressin’ to impressin’!!)
• Sweater (yes, sweater) and long pants
• Underwear and bras of course (men, you can skip the bras unless you are into some crazy kinky stuff I don’t know about and frankly don’t want to know about;))
• Shoe variety (I brought 2 sets of flip-flops and a pair of keens which have been invaluable throughout the trip!!  They serve as my hiking/general exercise “boots” and even my riding “boots”!  And they aren’t that bulky so they don’t take an excessive amount of space up in my bag.)
• Poncho (thanks mom!!)
• Bathing suits (more than one as it takes 2-3 days for anything to dry around here and slipping into a wet and cold bathing suit isn’t all that great!!)
• Compact caboodle to put in all toiletries (I found a fabric caboodle that came with many storage areas and even little travel bottles that I filled with hydrogen peroxide, shampoo, lotion and tea tree oil bug spray.  Mind you this was in my backpack and not in my carry-on so there were no airport security issues)
• Compact sleep travel kit (as mentioned before I happened to purchase mine on the flight over and it’s come in handy many times!!  Pack included blanket, air pillow, eye mask and ear plugs)
• Towel (not all hostels provide you with a towel, and even if they do, sometimes it’s just a better idea to use your own!! Also, I have a second towel that my sister gave to me a while back.  I believe it is from Japan but it is very small yet acts like one of those sham wow towels while actually still having the feel of a towel)
• BUG SPRAY!!!!!  (ok, now I really didn’t have any need for bug spray until I reached the Osa Peninsula, but in general this is a good idea!!)
• Water bottle (my mom and I found this great water bottle called vapur: it’s a eco-friendly reusable plastic water bottle that is also BPA-free and the best thing about it is that when it’s empty, it’s as flat as a few sheets of paper, but when filled it simply expands and allows up to, if memory serves right, a half a liter of water!  It also comes with a carabiner for easy clipping to your body or pack!)
• Hands-free headlight (I got one with three modes of lighting and it has come in great handy!!  Whether used for a night tour, light to get home after late-night fiestas, during blackouts that actually occur more often than not or simply in my own home when the 3 of the 4 light bulbs suddenly decide to burn out all within the same hour!)
• Plastic bags (these are really essential too!!  They are great for stuffing still wet clothing into or dirty clothes into to separate them from the rest of the dry and clean clothes while traveling from one place to the next)
• First Aid Kit (I bought one from Bass Pro Shop that is quite compact and has a lot of handy stuff including a syringe and gloves.  I’ve added to it extra bandaids, Neosporen and tea tree oil for bug bites)