What’s Actually in My Bag for 3 Weeks in Kenya

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I’ve been collecting gear for this trip for months. Most of it earned its spot the hard way — past trips taught me what actually holds up and what just looks good in a store. Here’s what’s coming to Kenya with me, and why.

The bags: I switched from Samsonite to Patagonia

For years my go-to was a Samsonite hard-shell — reliable for checked luggage. But it couldn’t handle a trip where I’m moving between camps, boarding small planes, and living out of one bag for three weeks. This trip, I switched to a Patagonia duffel and backpack combo. My best friend liked mine enough to buy the same set before we left.

The difference is real. Soft-sided means it compresses into tight overhead spaces and small-plane luggage limits. It handles dust and rough handling far better than a hard shell – and it doesn’t scream “tourist” the way rolling luggage does on a dirt road. For safari and coastal travel specifically, this was the right call — enough that it convinced someone else to switch too.

Power: a solar charger, because outlets are not guaranteed

Charging opportunities on safari are unpredictable at best, so I picked up a solar-charged battery pack from Keutek. Between long game drives and stretches without reliable power, having something that tops itself up from sunlight instead of an outlet felt like the smarter bet for this specific trip.

The water safety kit I put together myself

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I wasn’t willing to leave to water safety to chance. So I built my own small kit rather than hoping bottled water would always be available. In it: a LifeStraw for water purification in a pinch, water purification tablets as a backup, activated charcoal, and Pepto Bismol for good measure. None of this is exotic gear — it’s just the stuff that’s easy to forget until you actually need it, and impossible to find quickly once you do.

What actually ended up loose in the bottom of the bag

Everything that almost didn’t make the cut: LifeStraw, Pepto Bismol, Aquatabs, activated charcoal, hand gloves. Plus my usual CorneaCare Rescue and Rest masks – those come on every trip no matter the destination. Also in there: a collapsible Hilton water cup. It’s followed me home from one too many hotel stays and just lives in this bag now. This is less “curated gear guide” and more “everything that seemed important enough not to check”.

The small stuff that actually gets used

Not everything needs to be an investment piece. For the lighter, cheaper items — hand fans, protective covers, that kind of thing — I’ve been picking things up from Temu. They won’t last a decade. For items that just need to survive one trip’s worth of heat and humidity. They will do the job, no need to spend real money.

What I’m learning from switching gear before a big trip

The biggest shift for me this time wasn’t really about products. It was about admitting that “what worked before” doesn’t automatically work for this specific trip. Samsonite served me well for years. But safari and coastal Kenya asked for something different. I’m glad I switched before leaving instead of finding out the hard way in the field.

I’ll report back after the trip on what earned its spot permanently and what I’d leave behind next time.