Preparations

Going to Spain, I thought I was prepared. With two 50-lb suitcases, a duffle bag that was stuffed to the brim and a 30-lb NorthFace backpack, I thought that there was no way I could have forgotten anything.

My closet in Spain

Turns out, I brought too many flip-flops and not enough closed toed shoes. I ran out of DayQuil in the first month and somehow managed to lose every single one of my chapsticks before Thanksgiving. However, I was prepared with some other useful items. My portable battery for my iPhone saved the whole group when my director’s iPhone ran out of battery before we were able to call the bus driver to come take us home from Toledo. My filtered water bottle was brought with me wherever I went and the slippers I brought to wear in my homestay made me fit right in with my host parents.  When I left Spain, I actually had to leave behind almost a full duffle bag worth of stuff with a friend who was staying an extra week because all of the souvenirs that I had bought took up so much room.

            After my experience in Spain, you would think that packing for my second semester abroad would be a breeze. Although it definitely shed some light, it still isn’t something I would call easy. I’m a notorious over-packer whether I’m going abroad or to visit a friend at school for the weekend. The fact that I will over-pack will never change, but the items that I’m over-packing will. I read a lot of things online, from traveler’s blog posts to articles on Pinterest about suggestions for packing in general and suggestions for a trip to South America.

4 pills that I have to take every other day for a week

            Things in particular that I need for Chile that I didn’t need for Spain are mostly medical. They recommend a Hepatitis A vaccination shot, which I got, as well as a typhoid fever vaccine, which I am currently taking in the form of pills. 

 

Okay, I bought two.

  

  My friend Emily also informed me that there are no chocolate chips to be found anywhere in the city. (She looked!) Her and I live for Sunday morning pancakes and so this was a big issue for her last semester. To avoid that this semester, both of us purchased bags of chocolate chips at our local grocery stores to bring with us. Crisis averted. 

            I think the biggest reason that I struggle with packing is because I don’t know what to expect. I’ve always been a big traveler. When I was little, we went somewhere tropical for every April vacation that I can remember.  In February, my dad loved to take us skiing at mountains all over New England. But I had never been to Europe until last semester. While I was there, I traveled to 5 different countries all for the first time. Now, I’m off to South America, another place that I’ve never been before. I have to pack for every possible scenario, right?

             I have plans to travel to all four corners of Chile. I want to experience Viña del Mar on the coast, the Andes to the West, San Pedro de Atacama in the North and Pucon in the South. I still have 2 weeks left before I actually start stuffing suitcases so wish me luck!  Who knows, maybe I’ll have a little more self-control this time around!