Here’s what I minimally packed for a two week trip to Malaysia.

Back in the summer of 2023, I made a spontaneous decision to go to Malaysia. My cousin had moved to Petaling Jaya several years prior for her husband’s job, and they were planning to move back to their home country soon.

I saw my opportunity to go to Malaysia was dwindling, so during a winter break of graduate school, I booked a ticket on Etihad from Washington D.C. to go and see them for seventeen days. It was an incredible trip, that’s for sure, but the 40 hour journey home was one of the hardest things I’ve done in a while.

I’ve only been to Asia once before, when I studied abroad in South Korea on a full government scholarship when I was 17/18 (my birthday was on that trip!). I knew the shopping was going to be just as good in Malaysia, so I packed very strategically to make sure I could maximize the amount of goodies I could bring home.

Overall, I arrived in Malaysia with half of a large checked luggage, and a backpack that I brought onto the plane with me carrying the absolute necessities. I ended up leaving Malaysia with a full suitcase, as I did a lot of damage at the many malls located around the country and at the grocery stores (the spices here are amazing, and so are the snacks).

Let’s get into how I packed for this trip!

My main suitcase only had the core necessities.

Now, something to note was that I was here for almost three weeks, and I was staying at my cousin’s apartment. This means I had access to a washing machine, and I was able to wash my clothes two times before going back home. However, I try to pack my clothing so that I am able to mix and match everything, which means I have to pack less overall. This is why I buy a lot of clothes in the same color scheme!

Make sure to pack for a very warm climate, and with some conservative options for the ladies.

When we were in Malaysia January 2024, every day was about 90 degrees Fahrenheit, or about 32 degrees Celsius. It would rain a little bit in the afternoons, and sometimes that rain would come down in a heavy downpour.

That said, I packed five tops that could be mixed and matched. They were mainly t-shirts and sleeveless tops that were black, but I made sure to have something with some longer sleeves as an option. Shoulders are taboo in certain kinds of temples and mosques, and while places like Putrajaya Mosque will offer you a cover-up, others will charge you (see my story below).

I brought two pairs of shorts and three lighter pants, which were made of cotton and linen. The pants are what I ended up wearing the most, but you’re definitely going to want to have some pants if you’re a woman heading into the temples like Batu Caves. My sister and I accidentally wore shorts to Batu Caves, and had to pay 15 ringgits for a coverup because you can’t show your knees.

Two items I brought were rompers made of cotton and linen. These are kind of what I wore the most, as the hot weather made it so that I kept yearning for something loose. I also had a food baby by the end because of how good the food was.

My checked suitcase also contained a pair of sneakers, and I brought only those and my Birkenstock Eva sandals. I wore the sneakers when we went to Batu Caves and more hiking-esque locations, but, honestly, I mainly work the Birkenstocks.

Besides that, I brought all of my undergarments and made sure they weren’t all sports bras that could potentially show something that shouldn’t be shown. Kuala Lumpur isn’t that conservative, but I wanted to be respectful at all times. I brought a tote bag with me, but ended up buying the UNIQLO crescent bag at a mall because I wanted something that went across the body.

Kuala Lumpur has quite a few options in terms of skincare and self care.

I ended up bringing all of my personal items like shampoo, toothpaste, and body wash with me, but, if we’re going to be honest, I would’ve been totally fine buying them in Malaysia. I packed everything except the toothpaste into my checked luggage, into a sealed plastic bag inside my luggage cube, but there are so many stunning options to buy stuff at in KL.

There are Western brands found throughout the drugstores like Watson’s, but if you’re looking for Korean skincare, all the malls we went to seemed to have brands like Innisfree and Laneige found throughout them. I personally didn’t end up buying much skincare when there, but my sister did!

Just in case though, I would recommend bringing deodorant in case you can’t find the high-strength ones.

That’s it for my checked bag!

But it is important to know that I stuffed it full coming back home. Like I said, I had a blast at the grocery stores and at some of the clothing stores found throughout Malaysia.

I also bought quite a few books, which added some weight, as I discovered that the local bookstore at our mall had books for the equivalent of four American dollars.

My carry on bag had all of my valuables.

I have a medium sized backpack that, if I wanted to, I could use to one bag weekend trips with. For this trip thought, I only put the valuable high ticket items that I was bringing with me.

That means I stuffed my camera at the very bottom of the bag, then put snacks into the main compartment with it. I also had brought my Gameboy (I did not use it once, so I kind of regretted bringing this), and my Kindle in this section of the bag as well. I ended up sliding my wallet into this section, too.

My AirPods and passport went in the anti-theft pocket, and I put an empty refillable water bottle into the side compartment. I never used that water bottle, though, as I didn’t like the water in Malaysia. My cousin had a filter on her faucet so the water was drinkable, but I preferred to buy bottled water wherever we went.

Though there’s something to note; they don’t give you water at restaurants. You have to pay for it or bring a water bottle, which is what a lot of people do. Meanwhile, the other sections included my laptop, a book, and a tiny face spray because I knew I was going to be crusty after all of these flights.

I wore my Birkenstocks on the plane with compression socks, and I felt like I was reeking by the time I landed in Malaysia. Going there it was 25 hours of flights, and I was glad I packed a toothbrush and deodorant onto my carry-on because I really would have reeked then. Pack a small toiletry bag of travel size goodies if you’re venturing for as long as I did.

The only things that got added onto my physical load were the small lotions I swiped from the Etihad toiletry bag they give you in economy. I thought they smelled really nice, so I ended up happily taking them home with me because I knew they were going to get thrown out.