Adventures in Packing

I don't like packing. It stresses me out. Actually, thinking about packing stresses me out. I never do it right. I either over-pack and become embarrassed by how much I "need" or I under-pack and don't even bring enough clothes for a 4 day trip. Oops.

With my record, I was dreading packing for the Expedition. Thankfully, quite a few of you sympathized with me. Thanks! I really appreciated you joining me in my confusion.

I am so excited to say that I'm packed!! My suitcase is somewhere on the airport grounds, and I'm waiting for my second flight of three. 

As many of you joined me in wondering what to pack, I figured I could let you know what I brought with me for my 10 months in Eastern Europe.

I brought one checked bag that weighed 50 pounds. I didn't even have to juggle things around to make this happen. It just fit all that I wanted and was right on the dot for my weight limit! Thank you, Jesus! I also brought one backpack and my guitar. (I definitely tucked some books and such into my guitar case. We can't let that extra space go to waste!)

My checked bag looked like this after I rolled up all of my clothes:

That bottom layer contains

• 1 dress
• 1 skirt
• 3 pairs of jeans
• 1 pair of black pants
• 4 cardigans
• 1 light zip-up jacket
• 1 long sleeve shirt
• 8 (I think...) t-shirts
• 3 scarves
• 2 pajama shorts
• 2 tank tops
• 1 travel towel

I then "strategically" threw all of this on top:

"All of this" includes

• (Hopefully enough) pads and tampons. It's moments in packing that I wish I wasn't a menstruating woman. Those products take up too much precious space. Men, you are blessed!
• 1 roll of duct tape
• Pocket knife
• 3 colors of nail polish (blue, teal and purple) and remover
• Nail clippers
• 2 bottles of contact solution
• 1 bottle of eye drops
• 5 boxes of contacts
• Old pair of glasses
• My current supply of hair ties and bobby pins and 5 headbands
• My sister's straightener (She's too good to me.)
• A tiny travel size hairbrush
• A small container of jewelry
• Minimal make-up (I haven't worn any for a year, but I packed it anyway in case I get ambitious.)
• Q-tips (in a ziplock baggie)
• Dryer sheets
• Gum
• Ibuprofen, tylenol, pepto bismol, immodium, benadryl, vitamins, fiber supplements, alka seltzer cold all in individual ziploc baggies to save space. And all generic brands (excluding the alka seltzer) because I love generic things!
• Cough drops
• 2 sticks of chapstick
• 1 small bottle of lotion
• 1 box of baking soda (because if you mix it with water you can make shampoo, and it saves space!)
• 1 small jar of honey (because if you mix it with water you can make conditioner, and it saves space!)
• 2 small bottles for making my shampoo and conditioner
• 1 bottle of face wash
• 2 bars of soap
• 11 Razors (as if I'll shave... but really, I will!)
• 3 toothbrushes
• 1 bottle of toothpaste
• 1 container of floss
• 1 extra toothbrush cover
• Small first aid kit with bandaids and triple antibiotic ointment (It's that tiny yellow box toward the bottom of the picture.)
• 2 garbage bags (as make-shift laundry bags... They're smaller.)
• Tiny flashlight
• Travel umbrella (It's polka-dotted!)
• Travel alarm clock
• Converter
• Two adapters
• Batteries

It's so great how throwing things into ziplock baggies can save space in packing. I recommend it. After that layer, I topped it off with this:

My underwear and swimming suit are in the green bag, and that nifty white thing is my coat! Space saver bags rock! I won't have to take that out for a month or so (if I'm tough), so it'll save me room until I start to freeze. My dad gave me the idea. He's great and very helpful with late night Walmart runs to buy all of that second layer stuff!

The only other part of my suitcase to share is that nifty pocket that I like to use for my shoes:

My socks are on the far right. My tennis shoes are in the bag. And then I have my everyday shoes, my flats, and my flip flops. I wanted to leave the flip flops behind, but I've been wearing flip flops pretty much daily for the last year and a half, and I just couldn't imagine 10 months without them. And they're small. So they made the cut. No separation anxiety here!

My backpack holds

• My pillow for the year; it's a memory foam one, so it squishes down nicely
• A small blanket (zebra-striped from my parents... no, I am not an animal print person, but my parents thought it was funny since I was in Ghana... without zebras)
• A travel space saver bag with an extra outfit
• 2 decks of playing cards
• 1 deck of pinochle cards
• My laptop
• My iPad mini
• My zune and headphones
• My toothbrush
• My wallet
• My passport
• Granola bars
• Chargers for my electronics
• Gum
• My glasses case
• My camera
• My journal
• My Bible
• Travel size liquids
• My purse
• My empty water bottle

My guitar case holds

• My guitar (duh)
• Three sets of extra strings
• My tuner
• My capo
• My movies
• Dr. Hiigel's book Partnering with the King
• A book on transition
• Happy notes from people I love 
• Pictures of people I love

And that's it. I'm wearing my boots (AKA my heaviest pair of shoes), my sweatpants (AKA my bulkiest pair of pants), my fleece jacket (AKA my bulkiest jacket), and a comfy tee. I'm going for function over fashion today, and I am loving it! And this is what the beginning of my adventure looked like:

Did I forget anything?