Normally, when I write a What I’m Packing… post, it includes a list of items that will be in my suitcase for an upcoming trip. But with two days left before my departure for London, the answer to any question about what I’m packing is still, “I don’t exactly know.”
Not very on brand for me, but here we are. I prepared my usual packing list a week ago, after spending a week obsessively checking the ever-changing November weather forecast. And, also as usual, I laid everything out neatly in my office so I could capture photos for this post. But I’m travelling solo, which I don’t often do for periods of more than a few days. So after I took the pictures, when I was starting to actually put things in my suitcase, I started doing what any other person would likely have done when they started planning – asking myself practical questions like how I would carry my DSLR in certain bags, how I would balance it with other things I needed, and what might happen if it rained.
All that to say that my packing list continues to evolve as I put things into – and take them back out of – my suitcase. Score one for indecision.
Last year when I went to London, my visit was only three days long. I packed enough clothes to get through that period, and little else. The weather was supposed to be reasonably good (as, to be fair, it is this year.) But it wouldn’t have matter either way. I took only a carry-on suitcase. That limited my options considerably. And, at least on the way to London, I stayed within that limit. This year, I’m visiting for twice as long. Which means taking a suitcase, because while maybe some people can pack for a nearly a week in a carry-on, but I am not one of them. Suddenly spoiled for space and options, I’ve let myself get overwhelmed by them. I can pack anything! …which means part of me wants to pack everything.
So I have no packing list to share ahead of this trip, just some photos of what I thought I’d pack before I’d given packing much serious thought. (Beyond what I wanted to wear in London, I mean. That’s been on my mind all along.) Exactly what pieces will wind up in my suitcase remains a mystery even to me. But I still have almost forty-eight hours to figure it out. So… no pressure.
