Packing Tips

Although I am no expert on packing, hindsight is 20/20, and there are definitely some things I did well, and things I did not do well when it came to packing. My process was fairly easy, so if you want a less stressful way to pack, then feel free to follow my tips!

The first thing I did was to fold and lay out everything I had that I thought I could possibly want to take. Bear in mind, being from a climate that is not all that warm, this wasn’t as much compared with someone who has a real winter every year. From there I took out things I thought wouldn’t be that useful, or were redundant. After this, I talked to my best friend, who goes to the University of Chicago about what she thought I would want for the cold. Granted, it isn’t nearly as cold in Aberdeen as it is there, but she gave great advice. When buying things, I tried to get very neutral colors, and also tried to get things I would use again either at home, or in Texas. This sounds challenging, but Texas actually does get cold! If you are going to study abroad in a cold place like Scotland, here are a few things I recommend:

• Hats or knit headbands -- The cold sucks heat from your head quickly!
• 2 or 3 scarves
• 4 or 5 sweaters in neutral colors
• Jeans
• Warm socks -- Wool blend, and some hiking socks too. Walking is big here.
• Gloves
• Rain boots
• Rain jacket
• Comfortable shoes for walking -- I got a pair of short boots that are great!

Another aspect of packing I think I did well, was the actual packing. I stuffed socks, underwear and gloves inside my boots to save space. Something I always do when packing is roll up things like t-shirts and pants, which makes them smaller than folding them. I also tried to put a couple of heavier things like boots in my carry on because my airline did not weigh it. Also in my carry on were things I would not want to misplace and enough clothes to get me by for a few days in case the worst happened and my bag was misplaced. This actually happened to my carry on, but that is a story for another blog post.

Some things I recommend bringing that aren’t clothes, but will be nice to have are:

• A portable charger for your phone for those long days out
• More than one outlet converter -- I recommend the Flight001 4-in-1 Adaptor for Europe.
• Pictures to hang on your walls in your blank room
• Ear plugs and a sleep mask for the plane and for loud flat mates
• Any toiletries you use regularly that you think you will not be able to find there -- I brought a bunch of the face wash I use because I’m particular.
• A gift for your homestay family, if you will have one -- I got a calendar of views of San Francisco.
• A pair of shower flip flops -- You never know what you’ll run into.
• Credit/Debit cards with a chip -- It’s really hard to find places that will be able to swipe your card. Also don’t forget to call your bank and put a travel notice on your card.
• A photocopy of your passport and other important things -- Make sure to leave a copy with your family at home, too.
• Your driver’s license -- You don’t want to be taking your passport out to show ID at a bar or pub.
• Have around the equivalent of $100-200 in the local currency -- You can exchange at the airport if you want to.

Of course this is not an exhaustive list, but a couple of those things I had to scramble to find, so if someone else knows more in advance, then that’s great! Lastly, I would say that the most helpful thing I did was I started and essentially finished packing two days before I left. This wasn’t my original plan, but my mom and dad wanted to spend the day before I left together, so that’s how it worked out. But honestly that was a godsend. I felt a lot less stressed out the day before I left, and was able to look back over everything and get all of my papers and things in order. If packing for any large trip like this, I will use this method again. I got to relax and spend time with my family and watch some Netflix before I left, instead of manically stuffing things in my suitcase. Hopefully this was helpful!