Thursday, January 27, 2011

And You Thought Packing For Vacation Was Annoying...


Try packing for the next 2+ years.

It feels like Carly and I have been packing for the past month. Ever since we left Brooklyn at the start of the year, our lives have centered around suitcases and the best way to fill them. When we're not actually packing, we're talking about packing. I'm starting to dream about packing. (honestly, they are more like night terrors than dreams, but you get the point)

The Peace Corps mandates that we each carry no more the 80lbs of luggage with us when we fly to South America. That's a lot easier than it sounds when you consider a decent pair of work boots is about 10% of that. We briefly toyed with the idea bringing nothing but African dashikis to make the weight restriction, but apparently the native garb of Paraguay is oriented around something called "pants."

Thankfully, with less than 5 days until our departure, we are nearing the end of our compacting campaign. Our clothes have been weighed and sorted and it looks like were going to come in under 80lbs. All of our converters, immodium, books, immodium, flashlights, immodium, tools and immodium are finding a home somewhere in our bloated backpacks. Who knew Carly's tetris skills would ever come in so handy?