Packing four months of necessary clothes, shoes, medicine, toiletries, and miscellaneous items into ONE (that’s right I said one) 28inch suitcase is probably the most challenging part of studying abroad. I think I forgot to mention I need to pack for three different seasons…. summer (September), fall (October & Beginning of November) and winter (End of November & December). This is not an easy task. In fact it’s almost like an art – you have to figure out how to mesh all of your belongings so that they fit in a manner that allows the delicate zipper to close all.the.way.around. Oh and it needs to be under 50lbs… So here I am with my life for the next three dissimilar seasons in four busy months packed into one red 28inch suitcase under 50lbs. Easy to do right? Nope. That’s where my superhero mother comes into play. She gave me the inspiration to use vacuum sealed bags that we later purchased at Bed, Bath & Beyond. When I picked up the box, I could not help but notice the red square in the top right corner screaming “As Seen on TV!” I thought to myself, “oh great this might be a total waste of money”. Low and behold, these bags were a LIFE SAVER. As a result, I was able to bring everything I planned on bringing before finding out the hard way that it would not fit due to lack of room. If you are traveling to a place that requires excessive clothes, jackets or even a pillow/blanket (which I did not pack for the record), I suggest using these bags because they do work like magic and can make traveling much easier regardless of if you have a lot of clothes or your clothes are puffy (like my coats).
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| Before (Left) & After (Right) |
