Packing

Sometimes it seems that all I have done for the past two months or more is pack. I started packing up my house in Korea a few weeks before I was due home. Then I came home and we spent a lot of time sorting out my mother's things and packing them away for storage. At the weekends we have been travelling backwards and forwards between my mother's house and my sister's flat- two lots of packing per weekend. Trips to Bristol and Dublin see more quality time with the inside of a bag. And next weekend it is time for the big pack.

It is not easy to see what I need with half of my stuff here and half of it in Felixstowe- arguably the important half since my (new) backpack is there. I have never had the chance to buy a backpack before- my mum bought me my first one when I went to university and as that wore out I started looking for another one. I spent so much time at the Lowe Alpine store that I swear the shop assistants thought I was stalking them. In fact, I was stalking a beautiful red backpack. It was lovely and I even took people to visit it. But a friend from work donated me her old backpack and it would have been a waste of much needed holiday money to buy a new one. So I didn't.

Then last weekend I cracked and did. The old one was OK but had a few pockets and compartments which I didn't use, kinda like having a spare room, that just seemed like deadweight to me. Plus I wanted to downsize from a 75 litre to a 65 litre since I would be carrying it so much this time. This is also in the hope that I will buy less stuff since I will have nowhere to put it all. I'll let you know how that one works out for me!

But I had some free time the other day so stocked up on some essential items.

moisturiser, deoderant, antiseptic cream, shower gel, shampoo, shower mitten things to scrub all the dead skin off once the inevitable sunburn starts to peel, sunscreen lotion to delay that moment, mossie repellant, stuff to put on mossie bites since the repellant is never that good really, hand santiser, hand cream, tampons, contact lens solution, toothpaste, headache tablets, wet wipes etc.

Should be enough to see me through the first few weeks anyway. Then it was time for a glass of South African wine and the new episode of Doctor Who.

Tomorrow I am going to Dublin with Ryanair, the flight cost around forty-five pounds. No matter what offer they have on I always end up paying the same to travel with Ryanair. But I have to be careful when I am booking a flight because it is so tempting to book other ones too- especially now they have started flying to Bratilava, I have never been there. But no time!

Dublin it is and I am very excited to be honest. I know that I used to live there and all but it has been over three years since I was last there. Plus I am meeting up with some really good friends I met in my first year in Korea. And, hopefully, we will be able to squeeze in a pint and a packet of tatos at some point too.

Slainthe!