Quote from our 9 year-old neighbor upon seeing my luggage for our world tour ;).
When I showed our young neighbor the bags I would be taking for our 4 month trip, she was both shocked and horrified. She exclaimed, "That's all you're bringing? I could never fit all of my things in there for 4 months. I'd need at least 3 suitcases!"
She's right. Normally I would pack myself and my daughter a good sized suitcase and a carry on backpack plus a purse. But since we'll be doing a lot of traveling with movement in between places, I knew we'd have to pair down. We're each going to bring 1 Large backpack, 1 Daypack, and I'm adding a smaller purse to carry during the day. So 3 items total for me and David and Fay Luna will probably just have 2 pieces each. The large backpack will house clothing, shoes and toiletries. The smaller one will contain books/kindles, passports, wallets, and any school materials.
Since we're going to Costa Rica in a week, we can trial out how this works. The weather will be similar to Southeast Asia in the fall- Rainy and HOT! All of our items need to be water resistant and quick drying which makes our clothing pretty light. Plus we'll be using packing cubes to keep everything contained and compact.
If you have any packing tips for getting everything to fit in small spaces, please send them along! Also if you have traveled throughout SE Asia, Japan, Korea and/or New Zealand, let me know any things you think we'll definitely need....or not need!