Toilet Paper. The End.
Kidding. Well, not really. (If you have no clue what I'm talking about, go back and read my first post here.)
We've put together our Top 5 things we think we'll regret not having in India. It will be super interesting to look back at this list at the end of our trip and compare....what we know now versus what we'll know then. These are in no particular order by the way.
1. Toilet Paper.
Yes, it's true. We're packing toilet paper. We've packed 9 rolls so far. Once I get to the end of our packing, I may add more depending on how much room we have left. Otherwise, we're hoping Sam's Club (members mark all the way!) or Amazon shipping works in Goa.
Now for the back story (no pun intended) on the toilet paper in India. It's just not common. They use bidets; or sometimes called jet sprayers (seriously). The name itself is intimidating...JET sprayer. Like, WOAH.
(Btw, Gif removed against my better judgement. So funny. And yet terrifying.)
Indian culture reasons that you don't clean a dirty dish with a piece of dry paper; you wash it with water. Therefore, you shouldn't clean your bum with dry paper either.... to be honest, it makes good sense.
Can't wait to know if TP will still be on our Top 5 list at the end of our trip, huh?
(spoiler: I think it will be).
2. Mosquito Net
Are you itching yet? Yeah, me too. We've packed 1 large mosquito net to hang over our bed. And let me just tell you it's not the cute halo one that I dreamed of having when I was a little girl. We've also packed a few bottles of Deet and some essential oils. We have no idea what the mosquitos will be like. But it's true that they carry some scary diseases - dengue fever, malaria, zika, japanese encephalitis, etc. All enough to convince me that my new "scent" will be copious amounts of Deet.
3. Life Straw & Water Bottle
No, I'm not selling life straws or promoting their brand. Nor am I sponsored by them. But if they wanted to give me 2 of them for free, I wouldn't say no. (are you listening Life Straw?) But really, have you heard of them? Look them up! They're amazing.
We've been told by our Indian friends here at home not to take any chances with the water. In fact, in some places it's not safe to buy bottled water in the market because it may have been refilled. Yikes.
We have taken some vaccinations for some of the harmful things found in the water, but we just don't want to take any unnecessary chances. Hence, the life straw.
Side note: It's been highly recommended to boil all of our water first. No doubt, that whole process will make the cut for its very own blog post.
4. Toiletries & Sunscreen
It's 95 degrees, bright sunshine, and Goa is known for its beaches (suddenly it doesn't sound so bad, huh?) Based on what I've read, the sunscreen you buy in India is often tainted and offers very little protection.
So we're bringing it from home. The good news is that sunscreen is MUCH cheaper to buy in the wintertime here than the summertime.
Toiletries too - we're taking what makes us comfortable at home: our toothpaste, our deoderant, our soap, moisturizer, etc.
5. Our Pillows
Yep, we're vacuum-packing those guys and taking them with us.
What's your go-to essential(s) that you take whenever you travel? I'd love to know! It may very well be something that I've completely forgotten about and need to put on my list. So please share!
Oh and btw - 16 days and counting ya'll! It's getting real!!