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My life does not fit in a trunk and a knapsack AKA packing can bite my ass

wembley can change in 28 days

01:55 / 27.05.02

So. This does not usually happen to me, but I'm having trouble packing. I can't seem to fit everything into a 68L pack and a trunk of slightly smaller dimensions. The problem is, I'm going to Helsinki and I need to have warm clothes (actually, there's a whole other case of winter clothes that my mom will bring with her when she comes in September), but I'll be summering in Germany and need summer clothes. I'm too cheap to send things to myself, because in most cases, it costs more to send things (like books) than it does to buy them all over again. I'm taking my cds, less than a dozen books (aaaaaagh ... and many of these are guidebooks and "Mastering Finnish" and the like), and my shoes - my shoes are not going to fit! Considering that I'm actually shipping myself off for at least a year, I don't think it's excessive to have five or six pairs of pants. I don't think it's excessive to bring my cds (no jewel cases). And of course I've got a nice fleece vest which is perfect for spring and fall, but then there's my leather jacket, a bit better for wet weather, or my full-out rain shell, which isn't warm without something underneath. Fuck.

What can I live without for a year? What's something I can really do without that I haven't thought of yet? (My t-shirts are all packed in my guitar case; I have done some economising of space.) Hellllllllp.

04:36 / 27.05.02

Oh god, sympathies. Having moved my 'whole life' back and forth from NZ several times I know exactly how you feel, and can practically time the point during packing when I get hysterical and have to go and lie down. I think of going out and buying a bigger suitcase. I think of cancelling the flight. I lie and stare at the ceiling and can't actually do anything for a while.
But then eventually I calm down and cull some of the shoes, some of the CDs, and plan to wear as much as possible on the plane!
Good luck

06:12 / 27.05.02

this bloke i knew years ago walked most strangely out of his house on his way to moving abroad - wearing three pairs of trousers, several shirts and a couple of jackets.

bear in mind, while helsinki is pretty expensive, germany is not. you can get just about anything you want from second hand shops.

06:16 / 27.05.02

Wait till you feel calm and then go back to it. I'd bet at least one of those 5 or six pairs of trousers is a pair you don't like that much and are taking 'just in case'? And the same with your shoes. And that jumper you don't like so much but thought you might need? If you don't really like them you won't wear them, honest.

You can usually cull quite radically when it comes to it. Though it's not fun, I know.

08:51 / 27.05.02

Set fire to your house, you'll find the decision about what's most important comes a lot more naturally then.

wembley can change in 28 days

12:26 / 27.05.02

fridgemagnet, that is genius.

02:36 / 28.05.02

heck, i just have to move 2.5 miles away, go to a funky formal wednesday night with friends i'd not seen in 6 years, pack like a bastard, move saturday with not all packing-friends confirmed, settle in somewhat sunday as i've got overnight guests coming on way from A to B monday night, see them, kick them out the next AM, pack again, as thursday i am driving to Florida with 3 others in my SMALL car for the 1 year anniversary of my younger brothers death, and then get back monday the 10th, sometime, go to a 8 hour seminar for work the next day with the guy i have a crush on, whom i not only work with, but supervise, and who told me yesterday that he in fact (despite Kali's insistance that he does) does not have a crush on me back...sigh.
if only Helsinki were an option