I’m a girl. I have needs. Mainly things like, I need my black high waisted skirt, I need
four pairs of boots, I need a dress for fancier occasions — you get the picture. I was that
girl who overpacked for college and I am that girl who packed way too much for study
abroad. I am that girl who made my parents pay $60 for an extra suitcase and I am that
girl who will probably have to pay close to 200 US dollars on my plane ride back
because I bought too much. Although I am very happy with everything I packed, I realize
now that I could have minimized my ‘needs’ to make room for other things. How can you avoid being
that girl? Follow these few simple steps and hopefully your packing for study abroad will
be less stressful.
First and foremost—find out your airline’s restrictions for luggage. Although I only had
to pay $60 for an extra suitcase, other airlines can and will charge you more. Find out the
dimensions that your suitcase and carry on must be and make sure you follow that. Along
with dimensions comes a weight restriction. If your suitcase weighs too much you will
also be charged extra money. Your best bet is to go to a store like Bed, Bath and Beyond
and buy a luggage scale to see how much your suitcase weighs.
Second, how will I fit it all? Of course there are clever ways to make sure that you can fit
everything into a suitcase. For example, I used air-compressed bags in order to fit more
into my suitcase. The downside? There’s no vacuum in London that I can use to suck the
air out of the bags for my travels back home. Result? I’ll probably have to buy an extra
suitcase. Think of these things before you leave home and make sure that wherever you
are staying has all the accommodations that you will need.
Third, pack for crazy weather. Now, you may not be going to London but every study abroad destination, however exotic, has weather-related mood swings. Pack things like jeans, leggings
and tank tops. Then pack cardigans and sweaters. You can wear cardigans and sweaters
over your tank tops, keeping you covered on warmer and cooler
days. You will obviously need to pack a pair of boots but then pack something like
sperries or flats—these shoes will essentially match with everything so you can wear
them on warmer days. Bonus? Sperries are totally comfortable and make any outfit look
fashionable. As for heavier clothes such as coats, I was able to find a rain jacket that had
a zip jacket inside. Basically, you can zip a fleece into the raincoat, making it warmer
or, you can zip the fleece out and wear it as a normal coat. This also saves room in your
suitcase.
Fourth and most important—remember that whenever you are going, you are more than
likely going to want to buy clothing! I’ve been in London for about three weeks and all I
want to do is go shopping! I know that throughout the semester I am going to be tempted
to buy more and more clothing, therefore it’s best to remember that you will be coming
back to the States with twice as much as brought to your abroad location.
Overall, I think it’s best to remember that you can live without your Ugg boots in every
color. It’s only for a semester and in the mean time you can save money that you would
have spent on your suitcases for special items at your abroad location!