How to Efficiently Pack for a Year of Travel (and still keep your nail polish)

The weeks and months leading up to my trip I spent many nights searching and Pinteresting different packing lists and ideas on how to pack for a year in a Third-World Country. Not to discredit those who have put out different lists and ideas, but I didn't quite find what I needed. There were some great ideas and some lists that covered different things that I hadn't thought of yet, but all in all I was still left a little confused and left wondering what I was really going to need.

[caption id="attachment_419" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Do I really use all of this in a year?![/caption]

Granted, every country is different and everyone has different things that they "can't live without" for a year. I am just going to confess and let you know that I spent about 7 pounds on nail polish and polish remover. I know that 7 pounds may not seem like a lot, but when you are only dealing with 190 pounds, every pound is a hot commodity. Regardless, my fingers and toes are going to look fabulous! (Which can really make a difference when the rest of you is pretty run down by the elements.)

So, here are some tips that may help you out when you are about to relocate for a year and don't have a lot of space to deal with and need to make the most of with what you do have.

The first thing that I would suggest doing is write out everything that you think that you will need. I made an Excel document and wrote the item and then the quantity out next to it. For me, it was easiest to categorize everything so that it would be easy to find when looking over again. Also, it helped me to think through different items while thinking through it in categories.

This process took about a month to finish. I made sure that I started it out far enough in advance that I would have time to edit the list and think about more things, and also when shopping for the items it gave me time to wait for different things to go on sale or find coupons to save me some money.

This is what I came up with:  Long Term Packing List

Let me explain some of the things on the list.

Storage bins: These are just the cloth ones that can lay flat when you fold them down. I found them at the Dollar Tree and they are going to give me a way to organize my clothes and other toiletries when I get to the place that I am going to be living. It is a cheap and lightweight way to ensure some organization in your new home.

Scented candles: This is a total preference thing. But where I am going (Uganda) they do not have true seasons. Personally, I look forward to Fall more so than Christmas or my birthday. So, since I am not going to be able to experience the changing leaves or the apple cider this year, I am going to have to substitute it with some wonderfully scented candles that will make me feel like I am carving pumpkins and about to take a hay ride.

Soap: Normally I choose to use body wash instead of bar soap, but bar soap weighs way less than body wash and is much less expensive as well. So if you think that you can part with your silk-in-a-bottle you will really benefit in the long run.

One thing that I used that is not on the list is compressible ZipLock bags. While don't save you on weight at all, they do save you some space. I chose to go with the ones that can be rolled to let the air out so that I am not dependent on a vacuum cleaner, but depending on where you are moving you may be able to get the ones that can have the air suctioned out of them. Because let me tell you, rolling those things flat is no small feat. It took me and my dad to get them all down and we had to go get a massage afterwards to work out the kinks that had make themselves at home in the very middle of our backs. But the good thing is that I can go wherever the wind blows and not be tied down to a vacuum. That's liberating.

When packing your clothes into the compressible bags, roll them first. Roll them tight and roll them neatly. They are going to get a little wrinkled being in the airtight bags for about a day of travel, so don't add to the mess with a poor roll job....if you know what I mean.

[caption id="attachment_420" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Roll them. Roll them good.[/caption]

You want to make sure when you are packing things that you take them out of their packaging and throw that stuff away. That is just wasted space and weight. ZipLock bags will quickly become your best friend and can be reused when you get to your destination. I would also recommend putting anything that can leak into a bag of some sort because if that thing gets all over your stuff that is just one thing that you are going to have to deal with when you get off your plane and are tired from traveling.

When you start packing into your bags, separate your things evenly into your bags. Don't put all of your pants in one back and all of your underwear in another. Because what will happen is the bag with your underwear will get lost and you will have to go commando for a few days until you can find it. Or worse, the bag with your pants will be MIA and then you will just be embarrassed...or extremely immodest. So, save yourself a lot of trouble (and funny looks) and split it all up so that you can be sure that you will have a little bit of everything.

[caption id="attachment_421" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Split 'er up boys.[/caption]

Usually, you are allowed a carry on and then a "personal bag". Most often these things are never weighed, they are just concerned with them fitting into the overhead compartment. What a good friend of mine told me was that I should pack a smaller rolling suitcase as my carry on and then take a backpack as my personal item. In order to pull this off you will just need to have confidence and a smile, but it will buy you anywhere from 20-40 more free pounds in your luggage which is gold when you are traveling for a year. Just assure the person checking your bags that your backpack is your purse or your personal item. Don't be rude, that never helped anyone, but don't be a push over either. This could really work in your favor if they take one of your carry on bags and put it under the plane for your flight or even better, they check it through to your final destination and then you don't have to worry about it for the rest of your trip. Just be sure that bag doesn't have anything important in it that you will need for your trip.

I fly out to Uganda in the morning. I am so thankful that I am getting this opportunity and that I am packed and don't have to worry about it anymore! I hope that this post has been helpful for you, please comment if you have any questions.

What are some travel and packing tips that you have picked up on over the years?

Don't forget to subscribe to Journeys of a Mzungu and look for more tips and tricks to make globetrotting easier for everyone!

Bless Her Heart (and other reactions)

The countdown keeps getting shorter and shorter. I am definitely in the single digits now (6 days) and the closer that it gets the more I can't believe that I am actually going to be gone for a year, living in Uganda, and working with SOS Ministries. I have come to realize that whether or not I can wrap my mind around it, that doesn't slow down the time before I get on an airplane and fly 8,000 miles away from home.

The reactions that I have gotten from people as I have prepared to leave have been all across the board. It's really funny to think about. My friends are usually not very surprised that this is happening. Most of them just respond with "It's about time" or "I was wondering when you would do something like this". The nurse that stabbed needles into my body to make sure that I didn't contract some life threatening disease while I am away called me "brave". That's right, apparently I'm brave. Oh, and a courageous independent woman. That made me laugh a little.

The lady off Craigslist that I bought some luggage from said that she would never do something so dangerous. While, the woman at the bank told me that God would be over my shoulder the whole time telling people not to touch me. Yea, you read that right. It was awkward. Definitely one of those instances where you just smile a little and agree with whatever the person is saying.

Really the only positive reaction that I have received from a stranger is the one that I got from my oral surgeon before he ripped all four of my wisdom teeth out of my head a couple weeks ago. He said that it was really awesome and I should go on a gorilla trek while I was there. But really I think he was just trying to talk about something other than the fact that I had just passed out from the IV that he put in my arm and he was going to have to stick me again for the 3rd time. It was awful, really awful.

-- In case you haven't picked up on it yet, I have this intense fear of needles. As soon as I think I have gotten over it God humbles me again and the doctor pulls out the smelling salts to bring me back to reality. It usually makes for an embarrassing story that basically just ends with people laughing at me and shaking their head because I will admit, it's sad. --

Basically, over the past few months as I have prepared to leave I have had people generously give me money and supplies to support me in my move, I have had people warn me that bad things are going to happen if I go, and I have had people just kind of proverbially, pat me on the head and think to themselves "bless her heart". The point is, I don't really feel like a brave, courageous, independent woman. I am not really scared of whatever is going to happen. And I am not moving to Uganda to have some sort of adventure that I can blog or Instagram about; although I'm sure plenty of things will happen that will make for a good story!

Really, what I feel is complete thankfulness and excitement for the opportunity to go and learn about missions and ministry in another culture, and I am ready to do whatever God is going to have me do whether or not it is glamorous or anything to write home about. I have wanted to do something like this since I became a believer, but quite honestly I never really believed I would get the chance.

I know that this next year is going to change me as a person one way or another; I really don't see how it couldn't. But what I don't know is how. Another thing that people usually ask, with good intention, when talking about my move to Uganda, is "what are you going to do when you get back?" Well, the beauty of it all is that I really don't have any idea. And while that would usually really stress me out and send me into some sort of controlling conniption, it has become the source of so much freedom and comfort. I can find peace in Deuteronomy 31:8 which says, "It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” Do not fear or be dismayed. Not only is is a command to have faith, it is a comfort to know that we will never be forsaken by God and that should cause us to never worry or doubt.

God is already in Uganda, he always has been. God is in America, he always has been. The Holy Spirit is in me, since the day he redeemed me and made me his. I can rest in that knowing that my future is secure in Christ and that includes this next year in Uganda and the years that the Lord gives me beyond that.

I am deeply thankful for everyone's prayers and support. This time of preparation has been such a blessing and I hope you will continue to remember me in your prayers as I am away. I hope to update this blog every couple weeks or so. You can subscribe by entering your email on the sidebar and the updates will just be sent to you. Easy enough! Please keep in contact with the email address attached to the blog under the "Contact Me" tab, and I can't wait to hear from you and see everything that is going on in your life over this next year!

50 Days!!

There are only 50 days left until I am on Ugandan dirt again! I am so excited and anxious at the same time. This planning process has been so fun and so loooong! I think I can start to sympathize with pregnant parents now that are waiting for their baby to get here. Some months seem to fly by while others seem to creep along like they are never going to end. Regardless, part of me can't believe that I am less than 2 months away from leaving. I have so much anticipation in my heart. I have been reading back on my journal that I kept the last time that I was there and it is so crazy to see how much the Lord used to teach me so many things about himself and ways that I needed to grow in my walk with him. I am beyond excited to go back and serve with SOS Ministries again and see how the Lord uses their ministry to sanctify me and make me a better minister of the Gospel.

Please continue to pray for me as I prepare to leave. There are quite a few things that have yet to be done and I have a very busy schedule up until then. Pray that I will use my time wisely and make the most of these last weeks with me friends, family, and church. It is so hard to stay focused on things here in the States when my heart is most definitely already in Uganda. So, please pray that I will be all here at all times while I count down the days until I fly out on September 11th.

If the video is being weird just click on the YouTube button and watch it on their website. I am going to try to get it fixed, but I guess that's what I get for not being a techy....

This is the week!

The Fundraiser Dinner and Silent Auction is only 2 days away! I seriously can't believe it has gotten here so quickly. It is going to be such a great time with some great Silent Auction items like a gift card to Derby City Chop Shop for you manly men to go get your hair cut or your beard shaved with a straight razor, dance lessons for you and a partner at Bravo Dance Studio, gift cards to Greater's, Taco Punk, Cake Flour, and Homerun Burgers, and a Derby oil painting painted by Melissa Munger just for this event!

The bands are ready to go. Casey Morgan Boss, Richard Apsley, Jarrod Heath Manning, David Froman, Jordan Michael, Jacob Anderson, Warren Higuchi, Sarah Beth Tomberlin, and all the other band members are so extremely talented and not something that you are going to want to miss.

So many of you have already bought your tickets, but if you haven't please register now so that we can get a head count and make sure that you have a place to sit. Seats are filling up very very quickly!

The Lord has been so gracious up to this point to show me that no matter how much I plan and prepare it is only he that will provide. I am so glad that I am getting to have this opportunity to serve him and I want it to start now, before I even put my feet on Ugandan soil. I hope that you will be able to join me Thursday night as I will be able to share about how faithful God has been in my life!

See you Thursday!!

The Perks of Being in Community

Tonight I was able to go around and start talking to some of the community groups at my church about my trip and the fundraiser dinner that I have coming up. It was so much fun and so so encouraging! I love getting to spend time with people from Crossing and just laughing and eating great food and hearing about what is going on in their life. The night started out with great bar-b-que at the Day group, followed by learning that some celebrity crushes of guys in the Bayless group included Anne Hathaway and Shania Twain, walking in on a hyped up game of Catch Phrase in the Loseto/Grorud group and then ending the night with guitar lessons from the Larson group. It's never a dull moment.

I was so encouragement and prayers that came from those groups tonight was just really uplifting and reminded me about the importance of community in the body of believers. If I was just trying to do this all on my own and not accepting the help of the the people that the Lord has put around me then I would be missing out on such a huge joy of being a believer. I am so so thankful that God has put me at Crossing Church in this season of my life. It is a blessing and I always feel challenged by my fellow brothers and sisters to be more like Christ and to love people more than I love my self.

So thank you again to everyone that I was able to talk to tonight and I hope that I will see you on April 11th at the Fundraiser Dinner.

And for those of you who were asking: here is the link to the event on Facebook so you can share it with your friends!

http://www.facebook.com/events/338356199598231/

It will be here before you know it.

This is what people keep telling me when we talk about my upcoming trip to Uganda. Part of me believes them and then the other part of me just can't stop thinking of how far away it seems until i will be getting off the plane in Entebbe, Uganda and seeing those sweet faces that I have missed so much over this past year and a half.

The Lord was so kind to allow me to meet the Hurleys about three years ago and then go to Uganda in 2011 and serve with them in their ministry there called S.O.S. Ministries. It was an experience that stretched me and grew me to understand kingdom work in a way that I had not come to understand it before that point in my life. I could have not been more excited when the plans were finalized for me to go back to Uganda after I graduate Boyce College this May and spend nine months with the Hurleys from September to next May. My heart is anticipating the things that God is going to do in my life and I pray he will use me to do in others'.

I have never been much of a blogger and I was a little reluctant to start this one in the first place, but I can't think of a better way to share with everyone the process leading up to this time in Africa and also keep in touch as much as I can while I'm over there. Unless Uganda has completely changed since I was last there - which I'm pretty confident isn't possible - then I know I will have some truly amazing, hilarious, and heart-stirring stories to share with you all, my dear friends.

I hope you will begin to pray with me now as I prepare and check back in for updates on the progress of this white girl's journey to the African bush.