The Packing Experience From Hell

I've come across a number of people in my day who've expressed their deep and utter hatred for the packing process.  "Ugh, I have to PACK!" they say, as if they're facing the impending doom of pain and frustration.  I've never been in this camp.  Generally packing takes me somewhere around 20 minutes, and I've got it down to a process that's both neat and organized so I finish with a suitcase that's tidy and easy to manage for the duration of my trip.

Today, however, I experienced packer's hell.

Consider for a minute the details of my trip...

The Mission	A three-month round-the-world trip
The Destinations	Detroit, Zurich, Geneva, Budapest, Istanbul, Antalya, Cappadoccia, Ankara, Rangoon, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Krabi, Detroit
The Activity Set	Snowboarding in the French and Swiss Alps Salsa dancing and restaurant hopping in Istanbul Spelunking in the caves of Cappadoccia Professional networking in Rangoon Gem sourcing in Bangkok Rock Climbing in Chiang Mai and Krabi
The Expected Climates	Sub-freezing snow-encrusted mountains Temperate Mediterranean coastline Moist, underground caves in wintry mountain ranges Hot, humid rainforest Sunny, summer beach
The Clutch	It's all gotta fit in one "airline check-able" bag that weighs less than 18 kgs, and I've gotta be able to carry it when I travel otherwise.

Oh joy!

I made piles.  Lots and lots of piles:

• What do I need to snowboard?  Snowboard, boarding boots, snow pants, ski jacket, fleece, under-layer, hat, gloves, scarf, goggles... Now, what can I eliminate?  err... I guess I'll rent the board and boots.
• What do I need to climb?  Rope, harness, climbing shoes, draws, climbing pants, approach shoes, sunblock, hat, tank... Now, what can I eliminate?  Maybe I can make my climbing pants also be my non-climbing pants.  Oooh... that'll be a fashion statement.
• How about exploring Istanbul?  Salsa dance shoes, sexy mama dress... Never mind.  My vanity isn't worth the weight. 
• What about professional networking in Rangoon?  Nice, airy, shoulder-covering clothes that don't wrinkle after being in a bag for a month and a half.  Yeah... those exist.

How is it that none of these activities have gear that cross-pollinates?!  Oh wait!  I need my camera for all of it.

I ended up with a bag.  But it's big.  Too big.  It weighs the full 18 kg-limit, and although I can walk with it on my back, it hurts after two minutes.  This isn't going to work.

The Plan: Get myself to Zurich, and through the snowboarding portion of my world extravaganza.  Then pause, repack, and ship half my crap home.

Making the Impossible Happen

What do you do when you're presented with a problem?  In my case, I think outside the box.

These days I'm hanging out at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, finishing up my last year as a dual MBA/MS student.  My life is awesome.  I control my schedule, choose my activities, and answer to no one but myself.  The downside?  I'm living on borrowed money that's capped according to the "U of M cost of student living."  Let's just say it's paltry, and leave it at that.

This year I was presented with a particular problem: I wanted to spend the year-end holidays with my sister in Switzerland, and in February I'd been invited to a once-in-a-lifetime networking opportunity with some of the most inspiring people in the world... in Myanmar.  Too bad the combined cost of the flights alone was already looking to be over $5000. Poop.

But then I got to thinking.  If I was going to go on this Myanmar trip, it basically meant I was going to miss 1/3 of my term classes anyway.  Maybe it made more sense to skip the term altogether, stay in Europe a bit after the holidays, and then fly from there directly to Myanmar instead of coming home in between.  Some course finagling, a bit of credit massaging, and a lot of travel agency negotiation later I had a Round-the-World flight plan that spanned from the holidays to the beginning of the 2nd Winter term in March.  Total cost?  Less than half the original estimate!!  Booyah!

And so it is with eager anticipation that I look forward to the next three months.  I've wrangled Maya - the same girl from my Nicaragua posts years ago - to accompany me on most of my journey.  We'll be climbing some of the rock faces in Turkey and Thailand and exploring several cities in between.  I have every intention to return to Michigan tanned, toned, and ready to tackle the job hunt I've been pretending I don't have to do.  Go adventure!