As pathetic as this sounds -- I spent almost all of today packing Libby Doodle Doo's part of my suitcase.It began early, too. I woke up a little after 1 am this morning – thinking of packing (pathetic, huh). I was so obsessed with this project, I just couldn’t go back to sleep.
So I got up and started to get organize. My first step was to iron all of the baby clothes I planned to take. I have been washing the new clothes for weeks now, but I was disappointed at how they had lost their “crispness” once they came out of the dryer. So I wanted to restore some of that newness with a good steam ironing. 2 hours later I finished the last item, neatly folded everything on top of the washer and dryer and went back to bed for a couple of hours.
When I awoke again at 7, I carried my suitcase into the laundry room and started to assemble all of the other baby items I would need – 48 diapers, wipes, medicines, bibs, toys, blankets, bottles, formula, food, etc. My goal was to pack all of the baby items in the main compartment of the suitcase and jam my few items into the smaller, outer compartment. I looked at the stuff and then looked at the suitcase and started to sweat. I realized that it was going to be virtually impossible to get all of these supplies in my one carry-on size roller bag.
Yes, you heard me right. It is my intention to go to China for 14 days with 1 roller bag (the size that can fit in an overhead compartment of an airplane) and one diaper bag. That’s all I took 4 years ago and I did just fine. My plan is to check the roller bag and carry-on the diaper bag.
Why am I committed to traveling so light? As I observed some of my travel mates 4 years ago carrying a lot of bag in airports, hotels, etc I realized that bringing lots of bags (or really bulky big bags) is tough -- doing it with a baby strapped to you chest is even tougher. That experience solidified my resolve to pack as lightly as humanly possible.
So I got up and started to get organize. My first step was to iron all of the baby clothes I planned to take. I have been washing the new clothes for weeks now, but I was disappointed at how they had lost their “crispness” once they came out of the dryer. So I wanted to restore some of that newness with a good steam ironing. 2 hours later I finished the last item, neatly folded everything on top of the washer and dryer and went back to bed for a couple of hours.
When I awoke again at 7, I carried my suitcase into the laundry room and started to assemble all of the other baby items I would need – 48 diapers, wipes, medicines, bibs, toys, blankets, bottles, formula, food, etc. My goal was to pack all of the baby items in the main compartment of the suitcase and jam my few items into the smaller, outer compartment. I looked at the stuff and then looked at the suitcase and started to sweat. I realized that it was going to be virtually impossible to get all of these supplies in my one carry-on size roller bag.
Yes, you heard me right. It is my intention to go to China for 14 days with 1 roller bag (the size that can fit in an overhead compartment of an airplane) and one diaper bag. That’s all I took 4 years ago and I did just fine. My plan is to check the roller bag and carry-on the diaper bag.
Why am I committed to traveling so light? As I observed some of my travel mates 4 years ago carrying a lot of bag in airports, hotels, etc I realized that bringing lots of bags (or really bulky big bags) is tough -- doing it with a baby strapped to you chest is even tougher. That experience solidified my resolve to pack as lightly as humanly possible.
So I spent my morning trying to jam all of this stuff into a compartment that is 22” long, 12” wide and 7” deep. It was like doing a giant 3 dimensional jigsaw. I packed and unpacked and repacked and unpacked – And so on and so on.
Finally, at 10AM I needed to give up and take Zo Peep to language class. As she learned the names of the animals in the Chinese Zodiac, I doodled on a pad trying to figure out why I successfully got everything packed into this very same bag 4 years ago and I’m not even coming close this year. The answer is simple – due to the cold weather – I’m simply trying to pack many more baby clothes this time around.
So I spent the afternoon whittling and re-whittling all of these precious hand-picked outfits down to the bare necessities. I still needed to make sure that I had snuggly layers for the chilly Nanchang part of the trip and lighter weight items for our time in Guangzhou. I started the day with 12 outfits and 6 pajamas. I ended with 7 outfits and 3 pajamas. I was bummed out as I said goodbye to some of these very cute outfits. Of course, Libby Doodle Doo will still get to wear them when she gets home, but it still made me a little sad to put them away until then.
And finally at 6PM tonight – with Zo Peep sitting on the suitcase to compact items as much as possible, I zipped the compartment closed.
Chapter 1 completed. Tomorrow I tackle my compartment of the roller bag and the equally challenging packing of the diaper/carry on bag.
Finally, at 10AM I needed to give up and take Zo Peep to language class. As she learned the names of the animals in the Chinese Zodiac, I doodled on a pad trying to figure out why I successfully got everything packed into this very same bag 4 years ago and I’m not even coming close this year. The answer is simple – due to the cold weather – I’m simply trying to pack many more baby clothes this time around.
So I spent the afternoon whittling and re-whittling all of these precious hand-picked outfits down to the bare necessities. I still needed to make sure that I had snuggly layers for the chilly Nanchang part of the trip and lighter weight items for our time in Guangzhou. I started the day with 12 outfits and 6 pajamas. I ended with 7 outfits and 3 pajamas. I was bummed out as I said goodbye to some of these very cute outfits. Of course, Libby Doodle Doo will still get to wear them when she gets home, but it still made me a little sad to put them away until then.
And finally at 6PM tonight – with Zo Peep sitting on the suitcase to compact items as much as possible, I zipped the compartment closed.
Chapter 1 completed. Tomorrow I tackle my compartment of the roller bag and the equally challenging packing of the diaper/carry on bag.
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