Bag Lady: Packing light for Thailand

The process of packing always seems to be emotionally unsatisfying to me. There is a constant battle between bringing along and leaving behind "valuable necessities" that have been so tightly glued to me. How do you go about packing your life into an allotted space that will provide comfort for 4-5 months? That, is what I am going to find out.

I did a bit of research about what to bring on extended trips and came to the conclusion that no matter how light you anticipate your luggage to be, it never turns out that way. I suppose to alleviate that thought and pain, I bought a few items of clothing (cheap!) along with some disposable goods that I hope during this trip will eventually be thrown out.

I've often found it difficult to identify myself with a physical space in which I called "home" for the past few years as I have constantly been moving around city to city and even country to city when I studied abroad in Australia. Growing up with friends and family have fittingly replaced this space. Sometimes the smell of people make me feel the essence/idea of being 'at home' or even being hugged by someone you love just makes you feel that exact comfort. But for this entry, material goods will serve as my "home".

In my bag:

• Jansport Utility backpack
• DSLR Camera bag
• Weekender bag for short trips
• Small backpack

• Bottoms: 2 pairs of jeans, 1 pair of slacks (for when we teach at schools and/or interviews), 2 pairs of shorts, 1 high-waisted pencil skirt, 1 pair of leggings for yoga!, 1 pair of jogging pants
  
• Tops: 5 tank tops, 3 white under shirts, 1 tube top, 5 tee shirts = all of which are very light and easy to dry
• 1 light black H & M scarf
• 1 Bathing suit
• 1 Halloway hat
• 1 Daily Breads T-shirt Bryan gave me
  
• Crown Royale pouch has 7 days worth of under wear/ 3 bras & 3 pairs of socks... no alcohol contained in here (I wish, jk).

• Tek towel- a super absorbant multi-use towel
• Sleep sack- a thin sleeping bag that Lara made for me

• Adidas Sambas (with additional sole inserts for comfort)
• Perforated Brown flats
• Sandals (I may change these once I find my comfy ones)
  

• The typical toiletries
• Make-up goods, small Pochacco tin to hold my jewelry
• Large pouch of baby wipes... these will come in handy
• Tide pen... tehe
• Medication
• Just a bunch of girly goods
  

• Acer Net book (video diaries will come soon!)
• Nikon D40 + Opteka Aspherical Fish-eye + Nikon DX 18-55mm
  
• Cannon Powershot SD750
• 2 gig USB
• Various memory cards
• 30 gig Ipod video + earphones
• Outlet converter
  
• 160 gig External

• 3 pens: 1 ballpoint, 1 paint pen (cause I'm gonna tag.. jk), 1 permanent marker
• Glue stick
• Multi-utensils + case
• 2 books: The Art of Happiness, Dalai Lama & Miss Universe, Ruby Verdiano-Ching (a collection of poems)
• Red leather bound journal, small homemade notebook
• 1 Small box of incense (sakura scent) for meditation
• 1 card holder
• 1 passport holder + CC's
• $1000 worth of Traveler's Checks
• 1 Bear brick Hello Kitty... iono, just cause. =)

I haven't weighed everything just yet, but I'm shooting for less than 30 lbs. These items are subject to more editing as I'm still continuing to find things I "might need"


AH!! IT'S SOO SOOOOOOON!!