The days leading up to a trip are days filled with a mixture of emotions. On one hand, they are filled with excitement, joy, and realization that you are about to spend an entire month in London; and on the other hand, they are filled with nerves and anxiety. For me the week leading up to my trip I was extremely anxious about making friends and packing. Oh packing … for a type-A person, like myself, this was a very stressful time. My mom had gone on a trip the week before and all our suitcases were stuck in Canada. The suitcases were filled with lovely packing cubes that I wanted for my trip. To help ease my anxiety about not having anything to pack my clothes in, I began to lay out every outfit I could want to wear. I also started with eight pairs of shoes. Yes, I said eight! I did get it down to five though! The most stressful part of packing was making sure that my checked bag did not go over the weight limit and that I could lift my carry-on bag above my head to be able to store it.
I am a class A planner. I like to know what to expect and know all the tips and tricks with packing. So, as one does, I did days of research finding the most important items to pack and how to pack them. Some of the things that I found were the most valuable when packing was the following:
- Packing cubes!!!
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- I absolutely love these cubes (I bought two sets). They make packing so much easier. For example, you can fit so much more in your bags than you originally could without them. They fit like a puzzle piece in the suitcase to maximize every inch, which makes my OCD heart happy and satisfied.
- Wire hangers
- I found that while rolling your clothes minimizes wrinkling it is also nice to have some hangers to hang your more delicate clothes. This is especially important if you are not staying in a hotel that comes with hangers.
- The “wire” part is the most important piece of information in this bullet point. Firstly, they are lighter and take up less space than plastic hangers and secondly, while you are packing to come back home you can simply throw away the hangers and have extra space to bring home more souvenirs.
- Plastic accordion folder
- This item was extremely helpful to keep my paperwork organized. I brought copies of all my itineraries for the trips I was going on as well as printed copies of my passport, driver’s license, COVID vaccine card, and travel insurance card.
- Plug-adapter
- This is probably one of the most highly recommended items from people who have been abroad. When going abroad our normal plugs do not work, so you need an adapter to charge your electronics.
While it did take me almost an entire week and multiple rounds of clothing elimination, I finally got all my clothes, shoes, and toiletries packed away. And all my bags were under the weight limit. This is my first time in the UK, so I am looking forward to getting to learn all the new ways of transportation and developing my character along the way.
