I used to love packing. 

I remember when I was younger, I would be so excited the week before a family vacation because that meant I could organize my belongings and start packing. I would feel more excited with each item packed, envisioning myself using it in the near future, some place far away. I loved to plan, to think ahead of what I would do on the plane, in the car, at the hotel, trying to anticipate what I would need.

Since then, the roses lenses have been lifted and my weird obsession for packing has long disintegrated. In recent summers, I have felt like I spent more time packing and unpacking than actually traveling. Last summer, I had half a week between coming home from finals week and leaving for Taiwan to pack, unpack, and pack again (only to continue packing and unpacking all summer). This year, I have a little more time, a whopping 13 days to unpack and pack! I feel obligated to say that half of the things I brought home from my dorm are still sitting on my bedroom floor, while my suitcase for France is half full and open…also on my bedroom floor. I leave in less than four days.

I can’t give reliable advice on what to pack, but here is what I am making sure to pack for now. We can revisit once I come back, when I’ll (hopefully) have more insightful recommendations! For now, I’m just going to keep my fingers crossed that the internet is reliable in terms of weather…

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Not really sure what to expect, so I packed a little bit of everything when it came to clothes..

The rest was easier: toiletries, towel, medicine, umbrella, electronics, CHARGERS, outlet converter, pocket dictionary, class supplies and of course, a very LA gift for the host family!

If I could only bring one item, it would probably be my camera. Good thing I’m not limited to one item, so I’m bringing along my Nikon 1 compact DSLR for high quality digital photos, my new Fujifilm Instax Mini (with several packs of film) for daily snapshots, and my iPhone for instant sharing. I’m still toying with different ideas on how best to document and preserve the memories from this trip (aside from this blog), but armed with my camera(s) and a blank notebook, I’m sure I’ll come up with something…maybe on the 11 hour flight.

 

Whenever I pack for Taiwan, I have a pretty good idea of what I should bring and what I should just buy there. It makes me anxious that I don’t have the same intuition this time around, but I guess that’s a part of the adventure!

PS: I’ll gladly take any suggestions on what I might need to bring!