Packing it up

So how and what do you pack for ten weeks living in a foreign country?

Of course I'll need the normal stuff, like clothes, makeup, and shoes. But its not all that simple! Its the rainy season in Mexico, so I need to be prepared for rain storms. That means boots are necessary, along with work shoes, sandals, and running shoes. I need casual clothes, dress clothes, going out clothes, and gym clothes. I also need some snacks. I'm not sure I'll be able to find Lara Bars and I'm not taking my chances on the lack of peanut butter.

I'm also taking probiotics, enzymes, and vitamins in hopes I don't get sick from any of the water or street food I'll likely be consuming.

I'm lucky Mexico uses the same electric outlets as we do, meaning I won't need to buy a new hair dryer or straightener, but it also means I have to fit that stuff in too! With every bag costing $25 each way, I'm determined to fit it all into one suitcase.

To fit the most as possible, I employ the lay flat and roll up method of packing. I group shirts/pants/tank tops of similar size together, lay them flat on top of each other, fold over, and roll up! This allows you to condense the clothes much more than normal folding. It also fits better into the ridges of suitcases. When we were leaving for our honeymoon, Aaron put all of his clothes in our suitcase and it was almost full. After I took them out and used the rolling method, there was more than half of the space left for my stuff!

The rain boots are a problem because they are pretty large. I am experimenting with stuffing my boots full of stuff. Right now they are holding all of my underwear, a pair of tights, my bathing suit (two bottoms), two pajama shirts, 8 pairs of socks, and 4 sports bras. Impressive!

Almost everything is fitting so far, and hopefully I'm not over the weight limit. My flight takes off at 6 a.m. tomorrow, so my next post will be from Mexico City.