My girly suitcase problems

When you go on EVS for one year and you have to pack your life in one or two suitcase, you realize it is almost impossible. There are so many things you would like to take. Books, pictures, (maybe stuffed animals), your shoe collection, and of course your wardrobe. At home you don’t have to make decisions like which skirt to choose, the red or the grey one, so you’ll have the matching blouse with it. You just open your drawer or wardrobe and pick whatever you feel like. But when you have to leave most of your stuff behind, you need to think more carefully about the things you will do, and take the clothes that are fitting.

I hate packing my suitcase. I don’t exactly know why. I usually leave it for the last minute and than I just throw everything in it. Of course, like this I can’t fit even half of what I originally planned to bring with me. But I have a trick: my grandmother. There’s no other person on Earth who can fold and organize like her. So every time when I’m going away for a long time, I ask for her help. It is truly magical how she always manages to fit everything which is essential or dear to my heart. Of course for this to happen, I have to pre-sort half of the amount of clothes that I originally wanted to bring. The shoes are always big problems. You need a comfortable one, a sporty one, an elegant one, a waterproof one, etc. So at the end you end up with at least five shoes and they are taking a lot of place in your suitcase, especially the boots. But my granny has a solution even for this. She puts socks in it. Brilliant idea, which I would have never came up with on my own.

The suitcase is a tricky thing. Even when you think it is totally full, you can still find a hole here and there to stuff even more things into it. At the end you probably have to sit on the top to be able to close it with the zip. But imagine that moment of happiness and satisfaction when you manage to do it. Maybe you will be a bit worried or shocked when you try to lift it for the first time. But don’t panic! Normally you don’t have to carry it much or you will be able to find somebody to help you with that. Fortunately because of my travels I have kind of a formal training of lifting suitcases, so it is not a problem for me.

But packing is not just about clothes. I haven’t mentioned yet the cosmetics and beauty products, which are also necessary for women to survive. Shampoo, shower gel, body lotion, hand cream, face cream, cleansing tonic, face scrub, foundation, mascara, makeup remover, etc. The list is never ending. But let’s face it, it is absolutely impossible to fit in the entire content of your bathroom to the suitcase. I guess this is why they invented the mini products, which are perfect for short trips. It is convenient and practical, not to mention how much space it saves you, because you can put all of them into a small beauty case. There are some extremists who even bring their hair straightener and hair dryer with them all the time. That is not my cup of tea, because I just couldn’t spend 15-30 minutes in front of the mirror every morning to prepare my hair.

I have to admit (with a bit of irony of course), it’s hard to be a girl, especially when you have to pack your suitcase. But hopefully in the future we will have more of these genius inventions, like the mini beauty products to make our lives easier.