I don’t know if I will ever be the kind of person who doesn’t pack at the last minute. What’s worse, I am the kind of person who also starts packing well in advance. When you are packing for international moves, this combination isn’t ideal. The problem is, I always seem to find the way to enter a time-space continuum where I can magically fill up whatever time exists between Starting to Pack and Needing to leave. When I was moving internationally the first time, to Japan, I stayed up all night and was actively cramming things into my suitcase 10 minutes before the taxi came to take me to the airport.
And so, despite packing and organizing bit by bit for about a week in advance, we found ourselves scrambling on the last day to get everything in order and out the door so we didn’t miss our train from Denver to Chicago. To be fair, this is because everything we own has to go on our backs or in our hands, and it was hard to know exactly what that amount looked like until we started packing. I had also put off a large and necessary scanning job until, oh, you know, the night before/morning of the move, and I spent a good 8 hours scanning and shredding when I should have been folding and packing. So it goes.
I know that most people, when moving overseas, do something like pack a suitcase or two and then mail a box or two or seven or a small shipping container. When I moved to Japan, I had a big suitcase and a small carry on, and then I shipped a huge box of winter clothes surface mail, so they arrived right when the weather started to turn. We decided not to go that route for two reasons- money and money. As it turns out, it costs several hundred dollars to ship a slim 10 pounds from America to Albania. That’s the first money issue- shipping is just obscene.
The other money issue is that our entire apartment was furnished for a little over $200 thanks to local thrift stores, and we aren’t knick-knack people, and most of our clothes were old and kind of full of holes- well loved hoodies with elbow vents, or well worn jeans patched all over.
Basically, it would be cheaper to just give everything back to Goodwill, toss the hole filled clothes and old shoes, and start over in Albania.
your narrator, ever practical, ever secondhand
Here is a blurry picture of my closet so you can get an idea of what I am working with now that I have gotten rid of most of my things.
That’s all seasons, all occasions, from snow pants and winter jackets to workout clothes and jeans, work slacks to cocktail dresses. That’s also all the shoes/bras/underwear/swimsuits/socks/you get the picture. I thought this looked pretty lean. Once I started packing my backpack, I quickly realized there was nothing lean about it. I would have to get rid of about 50% more.
In the end, with the exception of a little trunk, a small filing box, and two small boxes of keepsakes (all living at our parents’ houses for now) we gave away everything except clothes/electronics/camping supplies. We love to hike and camp, and our gear was expensive, so we didn’t want to have to replace it. Bonus, if we need to sleep outside at any point during this somewhat still fuzzy on the details trip, we’ll be all right.
This is me with everything I own:
We each carry a hiking backpack, pull a rolling suitcase, and carry an odd bag/extra small backpack. I think my pack weighs about 50 pounds, which is about average for carrying a pack, so it’s not too bad.
Recommendations
I can’t recommend Osprey backpacks enough. The last year in Colorado I broke in my 65L version on several camping trips. It is amazing how comfortable it is to carry everything you own on your back like a turtle and travel overland to Albania like an ant. Yes, we are both turtles and ants here. Just go with it.
If you have a top opening backpack, it can be a nightmare keeping everything organised. Packing cubes are a lifesaver here. Having compartments in your home-on-your-back makes living out of a backpack so much more enjoyable. Sea to Summit are hands down the best I have ever used.
From everything I’ve read, Albania has plenty of stores to get everything you might need or want, sartorially speaking, so we’ll just fill in the blanks of clothes/shoes when we get there. For now, everything we actually need we have, and a lot of people can’t say the same, so we’re not complaining.
Originally published August 3rd, 2012 on Blogger.
