With close to one week left until Paris, I've been busy trying to get things together. This means mainly one thing: Packing, which also means humoring my OCD tendencies. For example:
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| Yes, yes. All the things. |
This was for a two-week trip to California. And keep in mind, before I actually start laying things out to pack them, I've probably been thinking about what to bring for weeks. Needless to say, I've had a packing list for Paris for about two months now. But when I say I think (obsess) about what I'm going to park, I actually mean I'm thinking about what I can get away with not bringing.
Why? This quirk--like many other things, as you'll learn--comes from the last time I lived Paris. When, as a 20-year old young adult with still questionable life skills, I didn't think at all about packing or preparing to move all my stuff, including 10 months worth of accumulated things, back to the States. So imagine my surprise when I got to the Air France counter and told that my bags were so overweight that they were over the limit for overweight bags. In other words, there was no amount of money I could have paid for them to take my luggage. I was forced to part with 12 kgs of my belongings there and then at the counter.
I love my things. I'm not ashamed to admit it. So having to Sophie's Choice my things (French things!) was particularly traumatic, especially since so much of what I had to leave ended up being books (French books!). Hundreds of euros in books, abandoned right there on the Air France counter. My eyes still water at the thought of it.
So, I'm trimming down my things. Less is more. My Europe life will fit into one rolling luggage, one carry-on duffel, and a backpack.
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