Monday, January 21, 2013

The Art of Packing

The final weeding

My grandfather always said that when traveling to take less clothes and more money.  I've always tried to emulate that as much as I can when I travel.  The problem is that I still have a tendency to over pack.  I'm much better than some people but I still have a long way to go.  I have found a technique that works for me when it comes to packing that gets me closer to my grandfather's wisdom.

When I pack I first pack everything that I might think that I would need, provided it fits in my suitcase.  I pretty much cram my suitcase completely full.  The next step is that I leave it for a few hours and come back to it to look again.  Generally on this second look I lose a few items that I was unsure about to begin with.  But after this round I still feel as if I have to much stuff so I leave it again.  This might happen a few times with things being taken out and then being re-added then taken out again. 

Finally the night before I leave or just before I am leaving I take (almost) everything out of my suitcase again and do a final check.  This final check allows me to make sure that I have what I want and to take out those few things that are unnecessary.  After this process I inevitably still have more than I need but I feel better about myself because I have reduced along the way.  Maybe someday I will be able to just pack without needed to do the weeding but I need more practice.  I guess that means more travel. Oh well...

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