or: This Time I’m Packing Properly

 

 

It’s my last post from HK for a little while as I’m flying out again tomorrow night.

It means I have to complete within the next few hours one of the tasks I like least about travel – packing.

This time will be different.

Before I started my Gap Year from Asia / Long Service Leave from Asia, I didn’t allow myself enough time to pack properly. For me, packing properly is about carefully considering each item and questioning if it’s really necessary. I need time and space to do this well.

Time is necessary because packing in a rush is when unneeded things are added for “just in case” purposes. It also allows me to buy anything that I think I may need that I don’t already own. This tends to usually be toiletry type items since I have quite a few other travel-related bits and pieces.

Space is necessary because separating out what I want to take compared to what I want to leave behind seems to require me making two massive piles and sometimes a third, to be considered pile before the item makes its way into a definite category. This is more the case when I am not staying at my own place and need to put items in storage as is the case now and before I started my year-long trip.

The whole process sounds organised yet appears incredibly disorganized until it is complete.

It is helped by the use of packing cubes (arguably one of the best inventions in the history of the world) and ziplock bags though I’ve now found silicone cook bags and will be using those instead as they are a more environmentally-friendly option and will last a lot longer. I can use them to cook in too. If only I knew how to cook using silcone cook bags…

Having learnt from past mistakes, I’ve been thinking about what to pack during the past two weeks. I’ve been putting items aside and buying some dive-related ones since I’m planning on doing the PADI Divemaster qualification as part of this trip.

What I haven’t been doing is any actual packing.

As part of my suitcase is still packed, I’m approaching the repack a bit differently. I’m selecting all the things I want to take first and as I unpack, those that aren’t on that list are going to be put aside to go back into that suitcase or another box to be stored. I’m hoping this makes the packing process a bit quicker and neater as well as preventing me from taking things that I don’t really need. That said, for sure there will be a few of these items that do make their way in.

One of the upsides in packing like this is when I reach my destinations and then leave their again, the repack at that point is very quick too because there is less stuff. I like this especially since I usually don’t like leaving where I happen to be, it is more the next destination or the promise of a return that spurs me on to getting the packing completed in the first place. That and I don’t like rushing to the airport or missing planes.

With one full sleep to go until I board, I really should get a wriggle on…

 

* Thanks to Willie Nelson for the title to this post.