Since Tantek just posted his suggestions on packing for SXSW I thought I’d chime in a bit on this. What I’m bringing is a little different than most because I’m in Austin for 5 days and then driving back to Los Angeles taking the long cut and expect to be on the road for another 5 days so I needed to pack/plan for 10 days rather than the 4-5 most people are prepping for.

My biggest goal was to bring only my small suitcase and a backpack. Once I laid everything out I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to pull that off but in fact it worked out just perfectly. Since I wasn’t sure of my laundry options I actually packed for 10 days which I don’t do if I can avoid it and usually would aim for 5 days with doing laundry mid trip. I’m not going to make a list of what I brought other than to note that the weather there and the drive back made it pretty hard to guess which layers to bring. In the end I settled on 2 sweaters (one zip up one pull over), 1 wind breaker, 1 light jacket and one thicker vest. I may decide at the last second to grab a hoodie as I’m walking out the door. To save packing space I’m wearing the items that take up the most room. Color choice was no problem obviously since it’s pretty much black or nothing.

On the electronics front I’m brining less than usual. I’m going to a nerd conference and staying with more nerds, if I need something I don’t have chances are someone else will have what I need and I can borrow it. Phone, laptop, camera, ipod. Power cords for all.

That’s pretty much it. I’m out tomorrow, back on the 17th – but will certainly be posting in the meantime. If you are going to be in Austin, please find me and say Hi.