Packing

Packing for any trip is a pain in the butt.  Packing up a backpack to live out of for five months is a bigger pain.   What size bag to I need?  Will it be big enough? Will it be too heavy?  How many shoes?  How many socks?  Do I really need a hairdryer?  And the list goes on.

It's amazing to realize what you can and can't live with out... or THINK you can and can't live with out.  Twelve hours until my flight and the bag is almost packed.  I'm definitely bringing more than three outfits, but I really did decide to leave the blowdryer at home.  We will see how that goes.

The first stop is London.  Tomorrow's forecast is Strong Storms & Wind, with talks of tornadoes.  Let's just hope we get there...  

Why?

The idea of backpacking for a long period of time has always been an alluring one to me.  Honestly, I'm not really sure why it took me so long to do something like this.  Well, actually I do, and it's because I'm probably the most indecisive person you'll ever meet, but we don't need to talk about that.

Those of you who know me well know that last winter I wanted to move to St. Thomas, USVI for the winter.  My friends Mary & Tim had made the kinda-crazy-but-amazing decision to do it, and I thought it was the best idea.  I mean, who wouldn't rather be working on a beach than freezing in Chicago?  I went to visit them right after they moved and loved it.  When I got back to Chicago, I unsuccessfully tried to sublet my apartment, and when that didn't work out, I pretty much chickened out on the whole thing.  I regret it.

This year I decided that I wasn't going to let an apartment lease stop me from doing something different.  When my lease was up in April, I moved in with a friend who's lease ended when the baseball season did.  Perfect. I had nothing holding me here.  I was either moving to an island, or traveling...