What you should bring with you from anywhere world wide.
1) If you’re thinking about bringing your laptop, BRING IT, if you don’t you’re going to wish you had
2) A compact sleeping bag, something that if it’s in a stuff-sack it’s about 5″x10″
3) A compact sleeping mat, see details above
4) Backpacking back pack for outreach
5) Lots of warm clothes and boots for winter in Herrnhut, plus you don’t know that where you go for your outreach really will be summer warm
6) Books, anything you really enjoy just reading for fun you should bring, both for lecture phase and outreach
7) Digital camera, even if you’re in the PDTS you’re going to want to capture just the fun times too
8) Extra memory cards for your camera
9) Bible & journal, pictures of family and friends from home
10) Pens, tape, glue, crayons, markers, sketch book, scissors, super glue – it just depends how creative you are as a person, but these are a few things I wish I had thought to bring with me
11) House shoes, it’s very much a German thing to help keep the Castle clean
12) A backpack for standard travel
13) Travel sized pillow
14) Two pairs of flip-flops, tennis shoes, dress shoes, casual shoes
15) Rechargeable batteries and charger
16) Luxury cosmetics: make-up, nail polish, perfume, jewelry, curling iron/straighter, nail polish remover and cotton balls, these are the luxuries you’re going to wish you had brought with you
17) Necessary cosmetics: shampoo, conditioner, soap, razor, loofa (bring this on outreach too), tooth brush and paste, hair brush, floss, and nail clippers (you can get these are things at the local shops in Herrnhut)
18) Wash clothe and towels (I would recommend bringing two of both)
19) Stool softener and Imodium, believe me you are going to want to have these with you
20) Baby swipes or something similar, these will save you during outreach (this is also something you are able to obtain in Herrnhut)
21) A set of sheets
22) Personal pillow, I’m so glad I brought this with me, just a little comfort from home (you’ll want to bring two pillow cases with you too)
23) Comfy sweats and the clothes you like, these are just those kind of personal items that can lift your day
24) Sports bras, regular bras, underwear
25) I would suggest just going ahead and bringing those longer skirts for outreach, you may not end up needing them, but someone will
26) Winter coat, gloves, scarves and hats, just be ready to have a snowball fight
27) Nalgene/water bottle
28) Comfort foods, Germany doesn’t have all the same options as the good old USofA, so if you really have a food you enjoy bring it along with you, although the chocolate is best in Germany
29) A voltage converter and plug adapter for multiple countries
What you need/want for the Fine Art Photography DTS.
1) A sturdy camera bag w/ laptop sleeve
2) An external hard drive if you already have one
3) Normal lens 35-55mm
4) Wide-angle lens 8-28mm
5) A sturdy tripod
6) Telephoto lens (don’t just get a telephoto to get a telephoto, get a lens you want and enjoy using)
7) An analog camera
8) A digital camera is optional, but if you have a DSLR I would strongly suggest to bring it along
9) If you already have printing paper and/or film strongly thing about investing in a x-ray safe bag and bring it with you
10) Any fun unique camera, such as a lomo type or polaroid camera
11) Filters
These are things that you don’t need to take with you.
1) American blow dryer, it’s a lot easier to borrow or get a cheap one. The American ones don’t really work well over there.
2) If you’re doing the PDTS you want to avoid zoom lenses
I’m sure there are other things that I have forgotten, but at least I hope this helps you as you start your quest toward to DTS with YWAM in Herrnhut, Germany.
CrispSeptember 