I have a friend who when she goes away, has her suitcase packed a good two weeks ahead of time. That has always seemed a little too much fore-planning for me, but at the same time I admire her certainty. She knows exactly what she needs and what she is wearing and in it goes. There are two reasons why I can’t do this: I can never make up my mind what to take and I don’t own enough bras and panties to stash away a week’s worth in a suitcase. That’s probably TMI, but there it is.
But the main problem is that I dither about what I am going to wear. What I should pack. Which shoes. And then there is all the promo stuff that needs to have its spot in the suitcase. Bookmarks or notecards or both. How many people are going to be at the event. Do I have to bring a “giveaway”? Okay, I just sort of dither. I make lists, thinking that will help ease the indecision. Then I change my mind. I am sure there is some subconscious sort of denial about leaving home or some other nonsense that my Jungian psychologist grandmother would have gleefully offered to explore.
Some trips are easier to pack for than others—a reader’s luncheon. Easy. One nice outfit, travel clothes, jammies, etc. But when it is something like RomCon this week, with multiple events then I really just throw up my hands and want to give up. Then I consider Anna Campbell who is coming all the way from Australia and who is going to RomCon and the RWA National conference, and plus a bunch of stops in between. Shudder.
Then again I could just wear my jammies, and be that writer. You know, I think I might be comfortable with that. Sure would save on the extra suitcase fees.
I know what you mean. My quandry will come as it does every time I transfer postings. When I leave Australia it’ll be winter. But I’ll be going to Seattle, where it’ll be “sort of” summer and a vacation wardrobe, to Washington DC where it will be “very” summer, but a working wardrobe. Then to Africa which could be hot or cold depending on which end of the continent I end up in –so I’ll need a either a winter working wardrobe or a summer working wardrobe. Plus, all this will probably be three months worth of clothing. If I’m lucky I’ll only have to wait a week or two for my personal effects to show up, or it could be a couple months.