The Word of the Weekend is "Packing"

I have a busy week at work, with several customer meetings and a large deal session all slated for my short upcoming week. I also have small group Tuesday night, and I won’t miss that since I’ll be missing the following 6 weeks. Work has been extremely busy as I prepare to leave, with a lot of work extending well into the evening. which means that I need to get started packing this weekend if I’m going to get it done AND get some reasonable sleep before I get on the plane.

I am generally a pretty good packer. In previous jobs, when I traveled a lot, I got very good at packing well, packing light, and packing quickly. Once, I flew from LA to NY, dropped off a business bag, took a one-week vacation to three countries in Europe, came back to NY, picked up my business bag, and attended business meetings all week before flying back to LA. That said, I haven’t yet packed for a nearly 6-week trip in two different climates. And I freely admit that I have complicated the packing situation by adding a vacation at the end of my CSC assignment. But since I will already be in Africa, I am thrilled to have the opportunity to go down and stay with Bill and Laura (what a blessing they are, and I don’t know whether Patrick or Matthew offered his bed to me, but I am grateful for it!) for a few days before heading off on a one-woman safari.

So, the word of the weekend is PACKING. I need to think about packing, write down what I need to bring, start collecting those items, and eventually pack them into a suitcase. When you’re done reading this, feel free to comment if you think I’m missing something? Thanks!

Based on my flights (LAX-AMS-ACC, ACC-JNB, JNB-AMS-LAX), I can check a maximum of 2 bags (each less than 50lbs and the total less than 66 lbs) with maximum 62 linear inches per bag. I can also carry on 1 bag that weighs less than 16 lbs and is <45 linear inches (which will have to be my computer bag). My goal is to bring one large (and manageable) suitcase that weighs less than 50lbs, plus my laptop bag. I’ll measure the suitcase I have in mind later today.

Weather in Ghana will likely be in the 80s and 90s and humid during the day, in the 70s in the evening. It looks like there will be thunderstorms some days while we are there, and there won’t be air conditioning where we work. For work clothes, I need to have at least one business suit, and mostly business casual clothes. For weekends, I will want casual clothes and a swim suit (we’ll be a short walk to a beach). Since I haven’t exercised in a month, I also want to take some workout clothes so I can try to bike or walk or something healthy. For my time in South Africa, I’ll also need some long pants, a few long sleeved shirts, a flashlight, and a jacket for the evenings. And of course I’ll need shoes, a hat for when I’m out in the sun, undergarments, PJs, and the like. The good news is that given the weather, I don’t need to pack heavy or bulky items like sweaters and socks.

In addition to general toiletries, I need to bring my own towel, bug spray, anti-malarial meds, and sunscreen. I plan to buy toothpaste, lotion, shampoo, conditioner, and hair products there. (I bet I’ll have better luck finding good products for my hair in Takoradi than I do in Orange County!) I have been told that I can also buy a sweat rag there, since we’ll be sweating all the time. For travel, I need my eye mask, alarm clock, power adapters, Ziploc bags, a journal (even though I’ll have this blog), a Bible, my (new!) camera and charger, a small purse (thanks, Marti!), a few games (including a deck of cards), reading material for the plane rides, the South Africa travel guides Jenise graciously loaned me (someone else on the team is bringing Erica’s travel guide from her trip with IBM last year), my iPod and charger, a small day bag or backpack, sunglasses, some detergent, my passport, and some cash. For work, I need to bring some files, the papers I need to finish reading, a flash drive (preloaded with some data), and my new T61 and charger.

I also need to bring gifts (IBM executive gifts, and personal gifts), as well as small tokens of America (need to think about what that can be that is easy to pack, so I welcome any ideas you have). I’ve been told that our Ghanaian colleagues will be very interested in where I live and work, so I am going to take some pictures and download them onto my computer so I can share them.

I must say, having written all that down, it makes me feel much more confidant that I can pack that into a single suitcase that weighs under 50lbs, primarily because I have a plan to manage approximately half of the gifts. So after church today, my plan is to start setting items in the corner of my bedroom that will serve as my staging area. Please wish me luck!