A note on packing

After lugging around all of my stuff (and Kristine’s duffel bag) all day today, it makes me stop to get critical about each thing I have packed. I thought I had done well with a small backpack and small duffel bag, but it doesn’t take long for both to get heavy. When I was planning for this trip before I even knew Kristine was coming, we read about a woman who traveled to Europe for several weeks and the only clothes she brought were a pair of black pants and a black shirt, which she washed in her sink every night. At the time, it inspired me to pack a lot less than I was planning to but I realize that I could have done better still. If I ever make a similar trek in the future, I would bring 1 polo shirt, one button down, 2 pairs of shorts, one pair of pants (for the “no shorts” churches) and my little ziplock of toiletries. In addition, I really wouldn’t need more than 2 pairs of boxers because I could simply wash a pair in the sink every night and let them dry during the day while I wear the other pair (a night to dry just isn’t enough for the waistband to dry out). I would also wash my outfit from the day in the sink every night. I have been washing my boxers this way every couple of days and it doesn’t take long. Its much better than trying to go to a Laundromat between 8am and 10pm, which is prime time for all the other activities I want to fit into my day. Where I’m at now, I simply have too many clothes to hand wash in this manner.

It’s really silly to bring t-shirts on a trip through Europe. It’s much more fun to buy shirts from the places you go along the way. I would have done so more often but I simply have not had the room in my luggage. I probably would have brought the same luggage, since all of that would be a tight fit in my backpack plus it’s nice to have a lighter backpack to bring around throughout the day. This would leave my duffel less than half full and would make it so that I wasn’t fighting to zip it up every day we hit the road. Plus it would be light as a feather while allowing for more room to buy a few touristy things on the journey.