If I Can Google It, I'm Not Packing It!

(I have a serious addiction to Google -- but honestly, who doesn't?)

- toothbrush - check
- NZ money - check
- OFF! (for those potentially pesky Cook Islands mosquitos) - check
- a very diverse collection of anti's (anti-inflammatory, anti-histamine, etc.) - check
- teaching clothes - check
- teaching materials (loads of Canadian content) - check
- laptop, camera, iPod, USB -- and everything else that screams "I can't live without megabytes - check
- LOTS of clean underwear - check
- reading material - check
- good-luck jade penguin - check

and for everthing else, there's MasterCard...right?

OK, so the realities of packing are quite frightening! Loading up one suitcase and a 60L backpack for 7 months abroad is proving to be challenging task. Plus, packing with all the airline restrictions and security precautions has me filling Ziploc bags like they're going out of style!

My parent's basement has become my packing headquarters -- with everything spread out for evaluation, contemplation, and subjection to the ultimate question: "do I really need this?" Sadly, my childhood POG collection is not going to be crossing the Pacific.

I've spent the last few days surrounded by all my junk. Really, how does a person accumulate so much stuff? I've got shelves upon shelves of books, music, and photo albums that have entertained and enlightened me -- and they are perhaps my most valued possessions. I'm very aware that once I return from my travels I will look at all these things through different eyes -- especially since I'll be fresh from a living-out-of-a-backpack experience.

My travels and purposes abroad vary -- girl time and sight-seeing in LA, rest and relaxation in the Cook Islands, teaching and travel in NZ, and low-budget student travel in SE Asia. Thus, my wardrobe has to suit different demands. I know this is hard to believe -- especially for those who know me so well -- but at the moment, I've only got 3 pairs of shoes in my bag. Okay, four...but still...VERY limited footwear options leaves me in a somewhat anxious state. Deep breath.


Over the past few days I've received lots of emails and read through the comments you've submitted, and I have to say, I'm touched. Keep the emails and blog comments coming -- they bring a smile to my borderline obsessive-compulsive email checking habits.

I marvel in the abilities of the Internet -- in fact, the very existence of this blog amazes me. It's so easy! I remember signing up for my first email account, in 1997, and at that time I was actively trying to recruit my friends to sign up too (so we could email each other about the latest episode of Beverly Hills 90210? Nothing too pressing in those days...). Now, 10 years later, my 88-year-old grandma is reading my blog and sending me "funnies" over email, or saying "hi" on MSN. I am hoping that my other grandparents will get a computer soon so they too can follow along with my Songs of the Open Road.

I find myself wondering how people communicated before Cyberspace? At times, when I was in the library (electronically) researching for a paper, I would stop to think about the former complexities of library science. Card catalogues? Psshaw! My sincere kudos to all the pre-internet graduate students who must have spent days in the library trying to find the right material for their dissertations.

On the same token, it is almost terrifying to think about how much we rely on megabytes. I imagine someday my children and grandchildren will wonder how my generation lived without teleporters. Beam me up, Scotty!


I'm so glad that you're all reading along, and I hope to keep my postings interesting so I don't lose you. I'm actually really enjoying the time to write and share this experience with all of you.

Back to the suitcases...

L.