Packing

"How much are you bringing?"

"Only what I can carry..."

Moving to another country for an entire semester is quite daunting in itself. Trying to figure out what I am going to bring with me is a whole separate stresser.

If it isn’t obvious from the title of this post, I am in the midst of packing for Thailand. Because I am going to be living somewhere else for a semester (3 months and 26 days to be exact, but who’s counting?), I have to think of everything I might need and more. Then I have to worry about things like over packing, questions of “can I just buy that there?”, and most importantly, “what if I forget something?!”

Despite the barrage of things that I could be messing up at this stage in the game, I have a good feeling about this. I am organizing myself more than I ever have in my entire life, so it’s actually a really good learning experience. I am making a list of everything I am bringing down to the specifics of each article of clothing (“blue foldy neck tank mom gave me” is actually something on my list).

If you (anonymous reader who I probably know quite well) are planning on traveling at all, researching the climate of the country you are headed to is a must. But you should also be checking into the culture. It’s going to be pretty hot and humid for the majority of my stay in Thailand, but that doesn’t mean I can be chillin’ in tanks and booty shorts. Thai culture is more conservative than what we are used to in the US, so I have been totally rethinking my wardrobe. Sure, there are places in big cities where it is acceptable to be in shorts and a tank, but I want to stick out anymore than I already will (the whitest white girl imaginable). I have to say I am pretty excited for flowy blouses and harem pants.

Thankfully I won’t have to worry about clothes for the entirety of my stay because the university I will be attending has mandatory uniforms. I have never had to wear a school uniform, but I am weirdly excited for this (one less thing I have to worry about when getting ready for class!). I am waiting untill I get to Thailand to buy the actual uniform, but from pictures and various informational brochures, I have learned that it is a white button up shirt, and a black skirt. Yeah, no pants allowed for us gals (as far as I know).

Packing makes this feel much more… official. All the mindless paperwork is finally paying off, because I am actually physically getting ready to go now. Last semester when I was planning everything out, it still felt like a fake thing I kept telling people I was doing, but I probably wouldn’t actually go. But guess what: I leave on Friday (super early, by the way). So it must actually be happening!

Wish me luck, I still have a lot to get done.

-Rebekah

#travel #thailand