Leaving for London

You know what I love about packing?   No, it's not trying to decide what you're going to need in a country you've never been to; no, it's not trying to anticipate what the weather's going to be (long sleeves or short?)  no, it's not trying to remember what goes with what in your closet; no, it it's not trying to guess if that favorite pair of pants or dress still fits :/ .   

My favorite part of packing is that I get to clean out my closet.  

Since it's my habit to try everything on before I haul it across the ocean to another continent, only to realize it's too tight or too short or I forgot that it was missing that (essential) button (yes, this is the voice of experience speaking); since I try it all on every time, and since every trip and every region of every country and is unique, I'm usually pulling from different regions of my closet.  So if it is, indeed, too tight or if it's too short if it shrunk 'cause Mr. C was helping out with the laundry and dried it on high, or if it's missing that (essential) button.........then it gets purged. As I'm packing my bag, I'm also packing a bag to donate to Goodwill or wherever.  It's two birds, just the one stone.  

This trip is exciting to me, though.  It's a first.  Because we have just two or three destinations, instead of 10 or 12 or 13, I get to take, not just one, but two entire suitcases this time!   We'll spend a week in London (stop #1); and then head straight to the cruise ship (stop #2); with one quick overnight on the way back to London (last stop #3).  

It's all about how many times you have to schlep that bag. So it's the first time I've not had to pack with "packing light" as the top priority.  I'm taking one entire bag with cocktail dresses for the cruise ship ~ what a treat!  Particularly after the last trip (Ecuador & Peru) where the bug spray for the jungle and sunscreen for the Galapagos and the sea sick pills and the malaria pills for the jungle and the altitude sickness pills for Machu Picchu took up nearly half of my one bag!

So here we go ~ can you believe it ~ this one small carry on bag contains 18 cocktail dresses (didn't know I'd collected so many over the past few years) (and good thing I've stayed the same size for so many years); complete with jewelry for each dress (same thing here ~ it seems I don't ever throw this stuff out) and 5 pairs of high heels and 3 small dinner purses.  Wow.  I should really teach a class on packing for a trip, don't you think???

Or maybe I should just write a blog...........