Away Again

Today I find myself at the airport again. I am heading to London, where Subash is already waiting, having been there the last 2 weeks watching cricket.

We booked these tickets shortly after returning from our trip--it is good we did, because honestly I doubt we would have booked them now. It seems a bit crazy, but I'm taking it as a gift from our month-ago-travel-happy selves. One last hurrah before two years of school.

That being said, I am very excited to be going! 20 days of fancy coffee and free museums and reuniting with trip friends. 

The cheapest flight was from New York, so I made my way here earlier today. It is about four hours from my parents, and after exploring the options I decided to take a van here. Supertrans!

Me and four of my closest strangers made our way from outside Philadelphia to JFK. 

I have gotten pretty good at packing, although I probably brought as many clothes for this 20 days as I did for our whole world trip. It was kind of liberating to throw in some extra things without having to think of lugging it around for months. I also have a small carry-on full almost entirely with presents. I believe very much in the IDEA of never arriving empty handed, but am sorry to say that even despite depending on the kindness of strangers for most of our trip we hardly ever came bearing gifts to show just how much we appreciated what everyone did for us and how much we liked them. I can blame it on a lack of luggage space and funds, but whatever the reason I really regret it. Sorry, everyone! This time, seeing some of our old friends (and depending on their kindness once again) I am ready!

I will try to photograph the luggage at some point, but the breakdown is as follows:

1 x jeans 

1 x shorty shorts

1 x dress that can go either casual or fancy depending on accessories 

2 x tank tops

2 x t-shirts

2 x long sleeved shirts

1 x cardigan

1 x sweater

1 x sneakers (wearing for journey there to reduce packing space)

1 x sandals

1 x first aid kit

1 x giant medical text book and flash cards, required for my program in August 

As for my purse, I took this photo at the airport for your perusal: 

These are all the things I've learned to be most important to have on your actual person when possible instead of packed away. The breakdown here is:

Slightly trashy novel

Journal and two pens

Travel watercolor set and tiny watercolor papers (in the zippered pouch)

Eye glasses

Sunglasses

Eye cover -- I've never used one of these before but have been having some light sensitivity issues lately and thought I'd give it a try

Headphones

Phone charger and UK adapter 

Candy

Make up and deodorant 

I also have on my person a sweater and a fashion scarf, which I have learned by experience always come in handy when traveling. 

They've started boarding now so I should go. I have a D seat which I think means I'm going to end up in the middle, but we can always hope for a miracle. 

I'm off to 7 hours of terrible movie watching and sleeping, and then to the tube and at last our friends' house where Subash and fun times are waiting.

See you on the other side! 

Packing Again

I want to show you honestly what this trip is like, as we live it.

Tomorrow we fly out to India, to begin the roughly third of our trip in Southeast Asia.

Sadly, this means PACKING. I hate packing so much, way more than is actually justified.

It is always made worse by the fact that we are messy people who explode our things around onto all available surfaces.

Somehow all of these things have to make it into four small bags. Looking at it all spread everywhere makes me want to get back in bed and go to sleep.

Aaaaaaaaarghhhh!

................. Two Hours Later ...................

Voila! 

It all looks so neat once it's zipped away. 

Phew!

We're checking the orange and brown bags tomorrow, and just taking the other two aboard. The black bag is this little collapsible/stuff able tiny backpack from wal-mart for a few dollars that has been scrunched up in the bottom of my bag until now. I decided to use this for the plane instead of the sling bag since it's just a little but bigger to fit my book and journal.

Alright, team, next post from India!