What to bring? What to bring?

Shortly after I decided that I would this trip I realized that I had absolutely no idea what to bring. Other than the essentials of socks and underwear, I was lost. Should I bring a sleeping bag? Duct tape? First aid kit? Five shirts? Or maybe eight shirts? I had no idea.

So I did what any self-respecting person my age would do when faced with a question to which he or she does not know the answer; I googled it. 

As is sometimes the case with the internet, everyone had a different answer. The first site that I looked at said definitely bring a digital SLR because the picture quality is totally worth the extra weight. The very next site said leave the SLR at home because it is too bulky and you don't want to carry it. The same thing happened about whether to take a netbook. And jeans. And first aid supplies. But there was one mantra that everyone seemed to agree on; take as little as you can. 

With that in mind, I assembled my supplies and ended up with what you see below.

 Netbook [with charger], small camera [with charger], underwater case for camera [for scuba diving], power adapter, hand sanitizer, kleenex, bug wipes, passport, Mandarin phrase book, zip drive, rain coat, towel, quick-drying socks [3], passport wallet

 Decided to get one pair of shoes and one pair of sandals. Shoes are North Face and are supposed to be water proof, which will be nice since I will be there at the end of the rainy season. I am skeptical on how waterproof they actually are, but they might surprise me. Sandals are chacos.

Got two pairs of convertible pants, two short sleeve shirts, and one long sleeve shirt. All are quick drying so they can be washed in the sink and then dried overnight. 

I decided to get a 50L Osprey bag. Its more than I need for what I am taking but I am sure that I will acquire things on the trip. Also picked up a smaller bag from REI to use as a daypack. It has no internal frame so the entire thing will fit in the Osprey when I am moving between places.

The entire collection together can be seen below. Noted exceptions are my SLR [used to take these pictures] and underwear [I'm still not sure how much to bring]

When its all packed away [minus what I plan to wear to the airport] the weight total is 20.8 lb. Not terrible for three month's worth of gear. The packed bag looks like this:

Looks like I am set to go! All that's left to do now is wait...