Day 1- Packing Finally

Of course like always I put off packing till the very last minutes. My last trip, to San Juan Puerto Rico, I forgot to pack and woke up at 2 am and packed as quickly as possible before going back to sleep for my early flight. Although this is a bit different because I would be leaving for 5 months instead of 1 week. When you are putting everything you will own in a pack that will fit on your back it's a very strange feeling. It seems to be Pulling out about double the amount of items you will actually be able to carry, realizing that it was way too much, panicking because you 'need' all of it then doing a order of importance and narrowing it down to the absolute necessities. For me it was twice the dress because I had to pack for 2 completely different climates, as I would be in Europe in cold winter then South East Asia in the humid heat. Add on top of that the fact that I would be bouncing around in Europe and using a budget airline that had strict carry on guidelines. That means everything I needed had to fit in a 36 L, 20 lb pound pack. (Although now that I'm here I know that it is slightly more relaxed that previously known to me. Hindsight:20/20) so here I was, 1 day after finally moving out of my house in SLC (also put off till the last minute) finally packing. I ended up with something like this:

2 pants

2 leggings

2 shorts

3 shirts 

3 tank tops

1 pair of sandals

1 pair of sneakers 

8 socks 

10 underwear

3 swimming suits

Two small containers of toiletries(only 2 because I keep my liquids in a separate bag for airport ease) 

1 light blanket 

And small miscellaneous odds and ends

Looking at it all laid out was so strange knowing that I had about 5 garbage bags and a box and a massive suit case full of clothes stored away that I normally have to use. Going from so much to so little actually felt very relieving. One less decision I would have to make. All done up my bag was about 50x25x8 and 18 lbs. I looked at it and thought there is my life for the next half year.