packing, packing, and, yes, more packing

David and I fly to London this Saturday, and will be there for 4 weeks. We kicked off our packing process yesterday: we got out the suitcases, and David did the laundry while I piled clothes on the bed. Then, overwhelmed as to the next step, we went to the gym.

The packing process never gets any easier, it continues to seem. It's difficult to know, for instance, what the weather in London will be for the next 4 weeks. Apparently it has been beautiful and warm recently, but this isn't to say it won't suddenly become dreary and abysmally wet -- it is London, after all. This means selection of clothing is like guesswork. We say, "take layers" or clothing that can be "layered" -- which sounds great, but, let's face it, there's only so much "layering" that can be done when a person tends to have "outfits."

There are certain elements to the process we have learned to do along the way such as:
- Make lists (obvious, but one can get too cocky and not do so when traveling so often... this has lead to grave regret)
- Get hair cuts (because haircuts abroad can lead to trauma)
- If staying in an apartment with a kitchen (i.e. longer than 2 weeks/not staying in a hotel), pack our own knife, Microplane, peeler (this is an essential for David), and Tupperware (very useful to bring snacks to long days at auditions)
- Get out our European electronics kit (if going to UK/EU) -- hairdryer, plugs, electronic toothbrush, etc. I feel like they are our special gadgets for when we live like secret agents abroad... like 007...
- Take a bathing suit -- you never know, a magical long weekend may suddenly appear for a mini-break (this is usually wishful thinking)

The most difficult part of packing is gearing up to pack ourselves together to leave. After having been back in New York for a good chunk of time, it's hard to leave home again. We still haven't seen our New York friends enough, we haven't seen all the shows we'd wanted to see. Having said this, we are also looking forward to going to London for 4 weeks, which means we will get to see friends in London. It's nice that we pass through London frequently enough, we have the privilege and comfort of knowing that we will see our friends there in the not too distant future.

In some ways, I suppose we have gotten better at packing...we have developed our unique method, as it were. What we can't seem to do is pack lightly. I don't expect we ever will, really. I think we are inclined to always try to take as much of our "home" stuff with us as possible, so that we can plunk down at our next destination and make it as homey as possible.