The Packing Plight

There seems to be two kinds of people in the world – those who pack a week or more in advance, and those who pack at the last minute.

I belong to the latter category, much to the concern of my friends in the former category. But I ask you … How would I know what I am going to want to wear a week or more ahead of time?  What if I'm not in the mood to wear what I have so carefully packed a week ago?  What if I want to wear something now, that I have already packed so neatly in my suitcase? That kind of planning doesn't leave room for changes, options, accommodating new information. Well, not without unpacking and then re-packing. It seems logical to me to do it just once – and be done with it. Besides that, the closer the deadline, the more focused I get, the better I pack.

My friend Rhonda Schlatter is the "pack way ahead" type. She called me one night to wish me bon voyage, and I told her I was just beginning to pack. She was horrified, thought I was kidding. So I occasionally shoot her a text the night before I leave, or the morning of the day I'm leaving, and let her know I'm just starting to pack. I figure it's good for her to know that there is an option to the "packing plight." I imagine her rolling her eyes … and I get a grin out of the deal.

I will admit that traveling to New Zealand does take a bit more thought … one suitcase, 50 pound limit, for a week or more … involving training clothes, public talk clothes, meeting clothes, travel clothes, exercise clothes, and of course all the paraphernalia involved with making sure all electronic devices have the proper hook-ups.

I rarely forget anything, being a packing expert, and if I do forget something, I always figure I can get creative and figure something out.  Makes the journey a tad bit more interesting (or frustrating – depending on my clarity of mind).