On Packing for Trips

I've had the privilege of extensive traveling - I've been to seven countries outside my own, and I've been to many places in my home country. I'll be out of town this weekend, so I'm going to be writing on THINGS I HAVE LEARNED ABOUT PACKING.
Firstly, I think I've set an unreasonable standard for myself. When I went abroad (the Turkey and Greece trip) in January 2014, I was impressed with how well I had packed. I decided to embark on a two-week trip with my duffel bag weighing 9.25 pounds. Don't believe me? Here's the proof in kilos:

if you can't read the little red number, it says "4.2". Kilograms.

So, with a 4.2-kilogram bag to be used over the course of two weeks, I have set myself a new Light-Traveling Standard to be reached every time I leave home.

How is this attainable? READ ON!

1. You don't need a new pair of underwear for every single day.

One thing I learned on that two-week trip is the value of camping underwear and small amounts of laundry detergent. Camping underwear is designed to dry quickly and be very lightweight - if you get caught in a rainstorm, the underwear can dry overnight. If you're NOT backpacking, you can still get clean underwear. Just buy some reusable, travel-size bottles (usually found near the hairbrushes and hair ties, and sometimes in the "travel for $1" section), pour in some laundry detergent, and use a few drops in a sink full of water. Alternatively...

2. Doctor Bronner's solves everything.

Doctor Bronner's is an all-in-one cleaner - it's concentrated enough to clean pretty much everything. Three drops on a washcloth is good for a face wash. One small squirt in a sink is good for small-time laundry detergent. It's available in most drug stores near the body wash, and can substitute for your body wash, shampoo (if you're daring), laundry detergent, and probably a lot more. I didn't bring it abroad last year, but I wish I had.

3. Look up what you'll be doing.

I am one of the least-planning people to ever not plan things. It does help, though, to know generally what you'll be doing and what the dress code might be. You don't need to bring a pair of heels when you'll spend most of your time at archaeological sites - unless there's some kind of archaeological gala at the end of your trip. If there are several events that would merit dressing slightly better than normal, then bring a single nice outfit (ONE dress or ONE button-down and FLATS), and dress it up in different ways. If you feel comfortable with little to no makeup, then limit what you bring - sometimes, just a bit of eyeliner will work wonders. If you feel like you CAN'T be presentable without your full face of makeup on (which is totally fine), then try and only bring the materials for a simple day-to-day look, and maybe one standout item if you need to look really snazzy really quickly.

4. You probably only need one pair jeans.

Seriously. I know it sounds gross, but if you're not going to need a fancy outfit, then you don't need to bring more than one pair of trousers. Be careful about what you do in your jeans, and it won't be too big a deal. Just bring a few different lightweight shirts, and it'll be fine.

5. You don't need to bring your whole bathroom in three-ounce containers.

I am guilty of this. You don't need many hair products aside from water and a comb and something to clean it with. You don't need lotion, unless your hands get super chapped without it. If you do, buy some scented lotion and ditch the perfume. If you bring full-sized toothpaste, see if you can share with your roommate (I know it sounds weird, but it saves a lot of space). Travel size contact solution can last for three weeks (yes, really), so you don't need a huge container of it.

6. Be versatile in your wardrobe.

When you're only wearing one pair of jeans, this is kind of a given. Bring items that are lightweight and/ or can layer, and be thematic. Blazers are super versatile and can make any outfit look good, so if you need a jacket you can use that. If you bring two short-sleeve shirts and two long-sleeve shirts, you have eight days' worth of shirts. (4 shirts worn individually, and 4 combinations of shirts). If you need more variety than that, bring a few different jewelry pieces and a lightweight scarf. DO NOT BRING EXTRA SHOES WITHOUT NECESSITY.

7. Be versatile in your leisure items.

If you are going somewhere specifically to sit with a good book or a craft project, then you can go to your couch, or maybe a cabin in the middle of nowhere. If you AREN'T leaving to write the Next Great Epic, then you don't need much entertainment - read, puzzle, and sleep on the plane. Headphones are always useful, just remember the charger.

PACKING!!!

Well, as I approach my two-year blogoversary here, I must make a bit of a confession: I haven't spent time to think about my two-year blogoversary here. I've been thinking about packing. I leave for school on Wednesday, and most of today has been dedicated to two things: laundry and packing. The latter is a bit easier now that the former is done, but it wasn't very difficult in the first place. Aside from sorting out what yarn and books to take back to school, most of today has been waiting for my laundry to finish in order to fold it and figure out what to take. (to be fair, I haven't done much of that, either. I still need to take down most of the hanging laundry, which still hasn't dried yet.)

To be honest, packing for stuff is not exactly my strong suit - specifically, packing for college. If it's something like a J-term trip, I've got it handled. Even though this is my third year of college, there's always something I feel like I should have taken or some other thing that I should have left. Of course, by the time I actually get the chance to make the dropoff of the unnecessary goods, I've forgotten which ones I actually want to leave at home.

There's always that risk, though. There's a lot of guesswork - for example, there's the eternal question of "how many pens do I really need?" (I must constantly remind myself that the answer is probably "the amount you already have in your pencil case, Wild Card.") Then there's the frustrating moments after I buy a brand-new notebook or bag of menstrual products, only to realize, far too late, that I definitely had plenty of that product with definitely enough material left to last at least half the semester. (Knowing me, though, I can always find a use for notebooks and menstrual products.)

This is also my first year without baggage of a different kind. I returned from summer school and my boyfriend promptly broke up with me. This is my first term in three years - we'd been dating since I was in high school - where I don't have to coordinate my class schedule with his in order to plan Skype sessions with him. I hope I'll be able to effectively use the extra 30 minutes every week that would have been occupied by talking to him. (In retrospect, if we got to the point where we could Skype for barely 30 minutes once a week, then it might have been the loudest signal that the breakup was going to happen.)

In all, though, it's hard in any situation to pack up one's life, even - maybe especially - for college. Since I'm going to school in-state, it's easy to get into a mentality where it's safe and easy to go home and get more stuff or drop off some stuff. After all, it's a three minute walk and a two hour train ride, and there's guaranteed to be clean underpants at the end of it. At the end of the day, you have to make sure that you've packed in your laundry detergent to clean your own underwear.

Returned and anniversary!

Well, I'm home, if only for two nights.  Today has been mostly dedicated to unpacking and repacking and trying to figure out what I do and don't need to bring to school.  (For some reason, this information can easily slip out of one's head in a year's time).
You know what's NOT something that easily slips out of one's head?  ANNIVERSARIES!   Yes, this blog has officially, as of today, been around for a year.  It's interesting to look back and forward - to what has come along, what hasn't, and to what prospects I have for the future - and to see all the differences.  This summer was definitely different from last year - if only because I didn't really have a job this summer.  Yes, I wrote a lot and knitted a lot and reopened my Etsy page and all those things, but I didn't have a technical "job."  That being said, I was able to travel farther and wider than I was able to last year, which is really nice.  The time in the middle - yes, school - taught me a lot about a lot of different academic topics, how to sprint through an essay and still pass it, and how to deal with people as an introvert (pro tip: STUDYING ON YOUR OWN HELPS YOUR GRADES AND YOUR INTROVERSION).

In business news, the coolness of Turkey is mind-blowing, and everyone is extremely nice.  We learned a ton about history, religion, and culture, and I learned a bit about the issues that sparked the Taksim protests.  (in its simplest form, it involves people getting fed up with government favoritism and then people getting mad at the police violently ambushing protesters in their sleep).  Anyway, as what happened in Peru, I kept a journal; I will be typing those up, as I did for Peru.  The difference is that this time you will be getting occasional BONUS ENTRIES!!  Since Byzantium was founded in 667 BC, and therefore the city (or the concept of it, at least; there have been several citywide fires) has been around for 2500 years, there is a LOT of history - and a lot more recorded history than the Inka had, since the Inka didn't have a writing system and Istanbul/ Constantinople/ Byzantium was under the influence of Greeks and the Romans before the Ottomans.
In short, there's a lot more recorded history - a lot of which I didn't get to in the journal.  Since I'm moving back into school early (aka tomorrow), I will have almost a week in which I can do absolutely nothing except type and research old mosques to every extent I feel like.

With that, I must return to packing.

Tomorrow...

I'm going off on another adventure!  Huzzah!
I should be going to bed soon, because I have to wake up early, but I'm excited.  (I'm not excited to wake up.  I'm excited to go to Peru.)
This is partly because I'm going to be going to the Amazon as well as ancient Incan cities (I found this out today.  My mother only specified 'the rainforest,' which could be any sort of lowland in South America).  I'M SO EXCITED GAH.

That is all for now.  I'm sorry I can't be more coherent.

Day 20: I'm behind! :(

It is the 20th day of NaNoWriMo, and my word count is wretched. I hit 30,000 words last night, which was supposed to happen on Sunday.

On the upside, I will be leaving for Thanksgiving break tonight, which I'm thankful for.  Though I have break work - a project, a reading, and general studying - I'll be glad for the chance to get some actual sleep and some time to write.

If the concept of a 'break' will let me - haircuts, doctor appointments, seeing friends, and the like.  Sometimes I wonder why it's called a 'break' when really all you do is do all the stuff you should have done at some other point, but now actually have the time to do it.  Maybe I just won't do anything fun at all, and study the whole time.  I could live with that, but I don't think my mom could.  She would... it wouldn't be pretty.

Anyway, I'm off to lunch now, but afterwards I WILL work on my word count.

And pack.

In all, I'm glad Thanksgiving break is on its way.

The Final Countdown!

Well, shifting gears slightly, I'm going to talk about college packing today.
In a word, it's stressful.  It could have been worse, I admit; indeed, I could have pulled something like one of my best friends and not packed until the day I left.  (why she did this is still a mystery to me, and I'm not sure I want to ask her about it.  Apparently, her dorm room now has an abundance of shoes).
Anyhow, in all seriousness, I'm glad it's mostly over with.  I've done the massive run to Target to get pretty much everything except a microwave (because of school regulations, my roommate and I decided it wouldn't be worth it to get one), a TV (which my roommate has been assigned to have custody of, one way or another, since I don't mind either way), and a printer (which Mother and I could never decide on, so we're just waiting to see how well the library handles stuff before deciding).
Still, though, I have a few things to get, and most of them are clothing-related.  Before I get all girly and dive into that, give me one second to do something else of an important nature.
a;weif w;oef aowenfow GOING TO COLLEGE ao;efijweo;aifjeow ;ijowaifjoiejwoiejfe CAN'T BELIEVE IT ao;ijwo;eifwa;oefjowaeifjowifjoweiajfow;ijfoiwj FEEL REALLY OLD.

Right, well, now that's over with, let us proceed.
So, what's in my trunk?
Cliff bars, Toblerone, flip flops, and personal hygiene stuff is what it comes down to. In the suitcase is all my clothing (except the stuff that has to get hung up, which Mother insists can't survive a two-hour car ride.  I'm not complaining; there's barely enough room for the jeans I still need to get to fit formal wear and hang-up t-shirts in my suitcase).
So far, I have no advice to any incoming freshmen as to what you should or should not get.  Just make sure you keep your head and think like a backpacker when you're packing.
In case you don't know how to think like a backpacker when packing, here's how:
1. take only what you need to survive.
2. If it can be shared, do.
3. when packing your trunk and/ or suitcase, rolling is your friend.
4. Don't take too much of anything in terms of clothing, except socks and underpants (okay, fellow backpackers would hate me for saying that.  Usually, if it's more than you need, don't bring it).
5. If you think you can survive without it, you probably can.
6. If you can't, your parents can bring it during parent's weekend.

Yeah.

But still.  THE FINAL COUNTDOWN.
Today was my last day at work - and the last day at the dojang I've attended for ten years.  In case I forgot to tell you (I'm pretty sure I did, but I'll tell you again), I'm a second degree black belt in tae kwon do and I worked at my dojang's camp for the summer.  They're letting me off tomorrow because of final packing and such, and then Wednesday I leave.


Anyhow, to tie it all into writing, CATALYSTS ARE YOUR FRIEND!  If someone is moving, that's a great way to invent relationships as you go, because so is your character, so it's all good.
Also, music is your friend too, especially instrumentals.  Hans Zimmer is really good, for example (he composed the instrumentals for Madagascar 3, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Dark Knight, and the Lion King, to name a few).  But anything that stirs your imagination, go for it. :)