the art of packing

i do not possess this art. the art i seem to possess instead is the art of re-packing, which i did three times last night.

the first time i packed, i didn't get all my stuff in. not by a long shot. this was rather discouraging because i thought i had condensed and planned well. i had already eliminated much unnecessary packaging and placed things into Ziploc bags. i also pared down my books to about 1/4 the original list, painfully taking out book by book to make more room and less weight. but since it didn't all go in, i emptied and sorted all the luggage contents onto my apartment floor.

come to find out, i am a terrible packer. among the luggage contents were a sock and a gloves without matches and a belt to a jacket i had already decided not to take. i had also packed shoes i liked, but hardly ever wore - even in the U.S. so into garbage bags these went (to store, not to discard).

three successive repacks later, i managed to shed about 25-30 pounds and about 2.5 cubic feet from my luggage. i tried to use the list/principles of OneBag, but alas - i have many excuses: work clothes, play clothes, 100+ degree clothes, -20 degree clothes, everything in between clothes, plethora of western medication, and requests from abroad.

Asiana allows 50 lbs per checked bag (maximum two). I'm still nervous...