Oh. My. Goodness.
That is all I can say. Besides “I hate packing.” Which I do
after this weekend. Now let me explain. I anticipated packing only two bags:
one check-in and one carry-on (and my backpack, but I’m not counting that).
That’s still a go. But I thought I would only pack about seventy-five pounds
combined. Ha. Ha. Ha. I wish. See, I went shopping last weekend and bought a
lot of sweaters, a pair of shoes, and some T-shirts. I thought they would only
weigh about ten pounds…. Oh. My. Goodness. Was I wrong! I have absolutely no
idea how much these clothing items weigh, but my two bags combined weigh some ninety
pounds. What can I say? I’m going abroad for eight months, and I’m a girl, so obviously my plan to keep my large carry-on
under fifty pounds went south.
Basically, I started out with all of my clothes folded in
piles on my bed according to their type: jackets and cardigans, sweaters,
T-shirts, workout clothes, etc. My mom and I loaded my shoes into the suitcase
first, and then started inserting my piles of clothes. With my workout clothes,
T-shirts, one of my two piles of sweaters, socks and undergarments, and
possibly one semi-large pile of long-sleeved shirts left to pack, we weighed
the suitcase. Fifty-two pounds. We had already put about twenty-five pounds of
my heavier clothing items in vacuum bags and put them into my carry-on, and
were having some difficulty zipping it closed.
Mom suggested I just pack the rest of my clothes into a different bag and pay the $100. My big bag could hold probably about twenty extra pounds (it’s deceptively large, so I was thinking, Man, I could fit so much stuff in here!!! False. Well, it’s true, but it can hold about 75 pounds. See? Deceptive.), so I figured that I might as well fit the rest of my clothes into one bag and not have to carry three huge bags around the Geneva airport and Lausanne streets (When I went with my sister to Oxford two years ago, we traveled with her roommate, who brought about three huge pieces of luggage and at least two or three bags. Guess who had to help her carry her bags through Paris, London, and Oxford? This chica. Not doing that again.). So we rearranged my clothes, and called it a day. But I still had some of the smaller things to pack, like medicine, a small touch-up sewing kit, etc. As of the last time I checked the weight after packing the entirety of my closet for the year, my large bag is a whopping sixty-eight pounds, and my carry-on bag is thirty-two. One hundred pounds. Much more than I expected. On the bright side, at least my friends don’t think I’m crazy.
(Zipping a bag closed - it took all my weight to get the air out...Too much stuff? Nope!)
Mom suggested I just pack the rest of my clothes into a different bag and pay the $100. My big bag could hold probably about twenty extra pounds (it’s deceptively large, so I was thinking, Man, I could fit so much stuff in here!!! False. Well, it’s true, but it can hold about 75 pounds. See? Deceptive.), so I figured that I might as well fit the rest of my clothes into one bag and not have to carry three huge bags around the Geneva airport and Lausanne streets (When I went with my sister to Oxford two years ago, we traveled with her roommate, who brought about three huge pieces of luggage and at least two or three bags. Guess who had to help her carry her bags through Paris, London, and Oxford? This chica. Not doing that again.). So we rearranged my clothes, and called it a day. But I still had some of the smaller things to pack, like medicine, a small touch-up sewing kit, etc. As of the last time I checked the weight after packing the entirety of my closet for the year, my large bag is a whopping sixty-eight pounds, and my carry-on bag is thirty-two. One hundred pounds. Much more than I expected. On the bright side, at least my friends don’t think I’m crazy.
(The final product!)
The only problem? I still have to pack my backpack. And my
room is such a pigsty that I have to clean it, too. Oh dear. I mean, at least
it will be nice and clean once I get home…in eight months…gulp. I might need to
get started on that before all of my energy runs out!
But before I sign off, this will probably be my last blog
post before I depart the country on Tuesday morning, so I might as well talk
about my feelings and update you on the status of my visa. Isn’t that what a
blog is for, too? It’s anticlimactic, but I really don’t feel like anything
monumental is about to happen. It’s kind of a
the-world-will-end-before-I-ever-leave-for-Switzerland feeling. Kind of like
when I never thought I would ever graduate from high school. But I did. So I
guess I’ll probably leave the country. I just know that it won’t hit me until
we’re halfway there, the first night we’re there after the directors have kept
us awake all day and my energy is low and my emotions are out of whack (have I
mentioned we get in at 7:55 in the morning, and the directors keep us busy all
day so we can adjust to the new time zone? Kill me now! Or just hope and pray
that I can fall asleep on the plane!), or until November or something. It takes
me a while to realize some things. But then again, I might realize it when I’m
saying goodbye to my mom in the airport (Dad, you know I won’t be emotional
when I leave tomorrow morning – someone gets to get some yummy Starbucks to
keep her awake on the twelve-hour drive to LA! Just kidding, I might join in on
your weepiness.). Who knows?
Oh, right! Update on my visa! I got it! Finally! Woo hoo!
Friday morning it came in the mail. But I was intensely frazzled after a
stressful morning (we won’t go into the dirty details), so I wasn’t too
excited, admittedly. Just kind of relieved. But now I’m so happy I’ll be able
to travel with my friends and catch up with them after a long four-month
summer.
Well, it’s time to take care of last-minute stuff. For the last time from New Mexico,
Hasta luego!
Leigh
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