Packing for Procrastinators

Confession:  I did not prepare at all for studying abroad.

It was my own fault, the combination of bad habits and an entire month off before I took off on the biggest trip of my life gave me the perfect excuse to engage my procrastination skills.  I spent the month before my departure working at a local bookstore and during my downtime I’d make lists of things I needed to do or buy before I left, then would promptly ignore them when I got home. By the time my last week at home arrived, my job had ended and I had no more excuses to ignore what I knew I needed to do. Unfortunately, by the time I finally got up the motivation to shop and prepare, I’d lost all my lists. So, I spent the last week half-heartedly gathering my things in various piles. This was a pretty decent strategy. I separated my clothes into things I was taking with me and clothes I would be taking back to school with me when I came back. This really helped me figure out what I was missing and needed.

Now, my main concern with the upcoming semester and packing was cost efficiency, this meant space efficiency. This whole semester abroad will be lived on a fairly tight budget thus skimping whenever possible is necessary. I determined that I needed to get everything in one suitcase to avoid the additional luggage charge and planned my wardrobe accordingly. I opted for dresses and skirts instead of bringing jeans and shorts. Honestly, I’m not the kind of girl to wear dresses, never have been, but when I started thinking about this trip last summer I realized all the advantages of changing my wardrobe habits. To all the girls going abroad out there: believe me, it was a good decision. Not only did I have the ability to bring more skirts and dresses and thus have more options for outfits, but made packing for multiple seasons so much easier. Layering leggings, tights, and sweaters with dresses or skirts transition very easily from winter to spring to summer clothing, and honestly, I blend in better. People in Europe dress much more formally than people in the states. Jeans, t-shirts, and tennis shoes are a pretty easy way to be spotted as a foreigner.

So, I ran out and grabbed a couple pairs of leggings to guard against the month of lingering French winter I’d be experiencing and set to packing clothes. I brought along two pairs of jeans, all the dresses and skirts I owned (not a lot) and quite a few tops. I was very good and decided I didn’t need 11 different colors of cardigans, 10 would do just fine. I packed 3 pairs of shoes, one of which I wore on my feet, deciding I would buy an extra spring/summer pair when I got there, and I forced myself to only bring 5 t-shirts, most of which would be for any kind of exercise I would be doing.  I threw in quite a few camisoles and all of my undergarments to prevent the necessity of doing laundry too frequently. The fewest amount of clothes providing for the greatest amount of outfits and honestly, I think I still brought too many clothes.

I bought huge bottles of any kind of toiletry I needed knowing they’d take up room on the trip over but would provide free space on the way home. Now that I’m here I realize how smart that choice was. Shampoo and similar items are pricier in Europe than they are in the States and I think I’d have a difficult time finding something comparable to what I use at home. I should have packed these in some kind of plastic bag. By the time I got to my room in France and began unpacking I realized that my conditioner had exploded all over my suitcase. It may have actually been a good thing as my clothes were ok, and I salvaged most of the conditioner, the only consequence was the fact that my shoes smelled (and still do smell) absolutely fruity.

The next step was getting everything else I’d bought that wasn’t clothing to fit in my suitcase. A suggestion from my friend who’d just recently come back from a trip to England really saved my life. For some reason I hadn’t heard of the space saver bags everyone’s talking about. They’re just large plastic Ziploc bags that you remove the air from with a vacuum. I bought a box of 3 large bags from Target for around $13 and I could not believe how well they worked! I fit a roll of dresses, the two towels I brought (one to use one to wash) and my roll of tank tops into one bag. You can see how much of a difference they made in my photos. I used my packing buddy as a scale, even though she was terrified of them after I took the air out. All together the bags fit perfectly into my suitcase, leaving just enough room to throw in my shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotion and shoes. I also brought along a few small mementos for my walls and, in retrospect, I wish I would have brought more. I recommend bringing a poster or wall hanging of some sort. They’re light and will do wonders for curing homesickness or “oh my gosh what have I gotten myself into?!” freak outs (believe me, I had one).

I threw all of my electronics into my carry on along with a couple changes of clothes, travel toiletries, and the two books I brought. It was heavy, but worth it to save the space in my suitcase.

When everything was said and done it probably took me about 3 hours to pack. I made it an all night affair, dragging it out with phone calls to friends and a last minute decision to make cookies for my brother at 4AM. My partner stayed up with me all night and after a one hour nap, we were both just exhausted on the way to the airport.