Saturday 6 June 2015

Mastering the skill of filling a small tube of tooth paste.

Despite spending innumerable summers in Italy and this being my second summer teaching with ACLE, it is always a new adventure. The interminable task of packing feels like a journey in itself. Laying in bed a week and a bit before your flight, 3am, trying to make a list on the ceiling of what you’ll need is just the start of the trauma you will go through. Partly because your mind ends up wandering and fantasising about the numerous, exhilarating and terrifying experiences you will encounter. No matter whether you’re an experienced traveller, who can stuff the necessary items into a 30l backpack or a hoarder that brings an extra ‘just-in-case’ of everything in their 80l snail house, you will always experience the hellish stages of packing. 

Last summer I was the definition of ‘over-packer’, taking 14 pairs of pants and 7 bras, along with enough medicines and toiletries to accommodate half of Europe. As I was walking up the Avenue Jean Médecin in Nice, on my first night abroad, the pain in my shoulders and calves was screaming that perhaps 80l was a tad excessive, even for 3 months. In fact, after the presents from the first few host families, that included books, t-shirts and a miniature glass elephant, (among other things) I resulted in sending a parcel home with just some of the many t-shirts, jeans, cardigans and dresses. Even then I had far too much stuff. 

This time I feel I’ve been a little more restrained with ‘stuff’. It feels good when you can say “I won’t really need that, will I.” Let’s hope I don’t regret that statement. To start; it’s all about mix and matching. A phrase often found in Woolworths sweet aisle but something that comes in extremely handy during packing. Don’t pack specific outfits. (That’s a mistake I have previously learnt from!) Decide how many outfits you’ll need and then find some bottoms and tops that will all work together and subsequently accumulate the right number of outfits. For teaching we are provided with some beautifully vibrant red t-shirts and it’s wise to wear shorts, racing round with children in the Italian heat. In this case it’s useful, and spacial aware, to pack tops that will match your work shorts! Then you can chuck in (when I say ‘chuck in’ I mean heavily contemplate for days) a few nice dresses or skirts that will suit any occasion. Don’t panic about wearing the same thing again and again. This is one of the perks of living from a bag.

Now is not the time to celebrate. You’ve packed your clothes - great. And you think, “Wow, in fact, I’ve been great. I’ve got LOADS of room.” Sorry, but now you can start to assemble the other crap which will take up any free space you thought you had - even that useless pocket on the side of your bag. You would never think that chargers, hair brushes, and other miscellaneous junk would really take up that much room, and create that much weight! And unfortunately this is the stuff you can’t really go without; unless of course you go really hippy and become ‘at one’ with nature resulting in no connections with soap, mum or that tiger selfie post while you’re away. However you can restrain this junk! The art of filling smaller tubes of toothpaste, or shampoo, is a real skill of a weathered traveller. You need to make sure the air is out so as to create room for the new paste and then gently squeeze the tube to refill it. Along with this handy hint, you probably don’t need that hefty lucky charm that your auntie gave you for ‘safe travels’ or that pack of rock for host families (it’s a very strange English sweet anyway!) Don’t take things that you don’t normally use, because, and this is genius, you won’t use them. 

Remember. At this point, the excitement of packing has got too much and you can’t stop thinking about it, anywhere you go and whatever you do: “oh, yes, I'll need that” - adds to the endless list. You need to prioritise the important things like your passport, travel tickets and cash, before it all gets too much and you’re ringing your mother at Gatwick South Terminal with 40 minutes to spare.

I hate to speak so soon, but I think I’m sorted. Two smaller bags, still with space and all important documents printed and packed. So I’m ready for a summer living off espresso and sunshine, teaching English and perfecting my Italian. My British summer in Italy. 

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