Oh my the struggle is REAL!

I take pride on being able to go for weeks with a small carry-on backpack. I did Eastern Europe in winter with a carry on (that included my Hunter boots and Sorel snow boots!) I did Africa for 5 weeks, even South America for 8 weeks with a carry-on that had all my bare necessities  but this time it's A YEAR!!! How does one pack for that?!?!

I've watched and read bloggers and their packing strategies and it is just not working!!
Truth be told... I'm not a size 2 that a pair of short packs to the size of my wrist! So obviously I need triple their packing space! My shoes are humongous (being a size 9 ½ does not make it easy!) and the whole fact that it is a full year is kind of scaring me!

So, I gave up on the idea of a carry-on and decided to buy a good bag to check-in. I spent crazy amounts of hours doing research and finally found the Osprey Sojourn, a rolling backpack that I can convert as I wish.
In my experience traveling a lot with a backpack I usually found myself wishing for wheels that I could just drag instead of having to carry all the weight on my back.

After much struggle of packing and re packing, and asking friends for feedback (which has not been helpful since they believe I am taking "too little")  I was able to pack enough and feel good about it. I finally packed my bag with a total of 16.41Kg (without toiletries)





My final packing list:
Pants
2 Athleta trekkie capri
1 North face Aphrodite capri
1 Lucy cropped pants
2 North face Aphrodite pants
1 Levi's black jeans
1 Athleta 2-in-1 yoga pants
1 Athleta skort

Shirts
5 t-shirts (quick dry/ hiking type)
7 light weight dressier shirts

3 dresses

1 pair of pijamas (shirt doubles as yoga shirt)

1 North Face rainjacket
1 North face light weight Insulated jacket
1 North face hoodie
1 Vest
1 Black Quarter Zip Tech Shirt

1 swimsuit
1 rashguard
1 pair of shorts
1 white sarong

1 long thermal
2 thermal shirts
1 Baby Alpaca hat
1 Buff
1 pair of black gloves
1 Sunhat

9 ExOfficio underwear
3 Evolution Bras (from Kickstarter!)
3 pairs of Darn Tough socks
2 pairs of SmartWool ankle socks

2 Quick-Dry towels
1 Sleeping bag
1 Cocoon (sleeping sheet)
1

Shoes
Toms- Avalon
Salomon hiking shoes
Keen- Rose Sandal
Flip Flops
Black Sandals
Tieks Flats