I almost always bring two pairs of boots. I don’t know about you, but my feet sweat and I like to let my footwear dry out before I wear them again. In my opinion, it cuts down on your chance of blisters. Thoroughly dry boots are always more comfortable as well. While I am on footwear, the heck with the cotton socks; wool is the only way to go. Bring two lightweight and two heavyweight pair and you are covered for 95% of all situations. The last footwear thing I want to mention is a pair of bedroom shoes. This might sound frivolous, but they are awfully comfortable on a long flight and are worth their weight in gold for keeping my feet off the cold floor when nature calls in the middle of the night. The only thing I need to say about raingear is it must breathe. Gore Tex, or one of its clones, is worth every penny you spend on it. Instead of two sweaters, I prefer one sweater and one vest. This gives me a little more flexibility in my layering variations. Toiletries are different for everyone and you know what you need much better than I do. The only thing I will say here is to travel with a small personal first aid kit (it is the Boy Scout coming out in me). It does not need to hold a lot, but the items in mine are very important to me. My kit includes: a few Band-Aids, antiseptic wipes, blister pads (I like the Band-Aid brand), the end of a roll of athletic tape (it sticks better than any medical tape ever invented and it breathes), a small hypodermic needle (the flat sharp edge is the best splinter /thorn remover ever), a few aspirin, and, last but not least, a few Imodium tablets. My kit is lightweight and easy to carry in a backpack or thigh pocket. It will handle almost anything I run across until I can get back to my outfitters’ larger more complete kit.
