A) me being slightly excited that I now actually have a blog and:
B) me having started packing my bag but realising it's actually quite a challenging task (how do I know what clothes I'll want to be wearing in January?!) and therefore blogging seems the more appealing choice of activity.
The packing process started really rather well. Enthusiasm levels were at an all time high, the empty pack looked happy at the prospect of being filled and my clothes were positively jumping at the chance to be rolled and neatly stashed away. I think I hit my first real hurdle when faced with the question of which hat to pack. Being as Europe is known to be a rather chilly place during winter I thought it only sensible to pack a hat, but this is actually a harder decision to make than it at first seems. My head, it seems, is larger than most, a fact that I manage to hide from the general public during day to day living, but once a hat is placed upon my head the size of my cranium is highlighted for all to see. Therefore my choice of hats is reduced to include those that are slimming to my face. Then there's the issue of warmth, the hat I take with my needs to be not only streamline, but also serve the purpose of keeping my brain from freezing AND ALSO from getting wet in the rain.... do you see know why it was such a tricky part of the packing process? After a good 20 minutes of trying hat after hat I managed to get a shortlist of 2, one purple fluffy number which is quite jolly, and another faux fur Russian style circa world war 1- is is not exactly streamline nor fashionable but won a great number of points in the warmth category...... a decision for another day me thinks.
The second big decision of my packing process was how many layers exactly will I need to wear at any one time? I have done a bit of forward planning and anticipate that on our trek we will never be more than 3 days away from a dwelling where we will have at least basic clothe washing facilities. Therefore it is necessary to have enough clean clothes for 3 days at a time. Bottoms are easy: Jeans work well in any setting, and if it's super cold I can wear thermals under them....it's the tops that cause the quandry. I have 2 thermal tops plus several layering tops, but how many of these need including? I know some clothes can be worn several days in a row, ie those that aren't getting dirty, but others will most certainly need a wash per wear......... so how many layers do I pack to ensure
A) I stay warm in the European winter and:
B) I don't fester in dirty clothes
???!
Such questions left me tired, sleepy and confused, so I did the only sensible option left available to me and built a bed in my sister's old bedroom. This kept me occupied for a good 30 minutes and by this time I was much to worn out to do any more packing - denial of a problem sometimes is the best answer!
Salut!
Lauren
P.S. I am thinking the best way to determine number of layers is just to anticipate that Europe will be this cold:
Hi there Lauren!
ReplyDeleteFrom personal experience (23 years in the north part of Sweden, 3 years in Stockholm, 1 year in London and 7 years in Australia :o) I would suggest maybe doing an extra shift or so before you go and then buying a nice warm jacket when you get over to the uk. Reason beeing is (no offence to the Australian clothes industry) that it is for good reasons not geared up for the European winters so you can pack lots and lots of layers or you can buy a good jacket and only need a maximum of two layers under it (a t-shirt and a long sleeved jumper).
The idea with jeans is a good one! I like it!