Packing for a Month in the Tropics

Heat and humidity do something useful to a packing list: they shrink it. Everything you wear is light, everything dries in an afternoon, and every house we list in the tropics has laundry. A month needs barely more than a week.

The realistic core is five to seven light outfits in linen or cotton, two swimsuits so one is always dry, a cover-up that works over a swimsuit for lunch, one long-sleeved shirt and light trousers for mosquitoes at dusk and for temples, and sandals plus one pair of shoes you can walk in. That is the whole thing. Resort dress codes in Asia are relaxed; the exception is a handful of hotel restaurants and any temple visit, where covered shoulders and knees are required and sarongs are usually lent at the gate.

Worth bringing from home rather than buying there: reef-safe sun cream in a real size, a strong insect repellent, any prescription medication with its packaging, a reusable water bottle, and one universal adaptor per person. Indonesia and Thailand use different plugs from each other and from the Maldives.

Worth leaving behind: a hairdryer, beach towels, heavy shoes, formal wear, and most of the third and fourth pairs of anything. A long stay in one house is the one trip where you will genuinely re-wear things, and nobody is keeping count.