Sunday, February 21, 2010

Preparing to leave: Wardrobe

The wardrobe takes careful consideration when you are going overseas for a set amount of years and are not given money for relocation.

You want to account for the weather, professional and personal, casual and dressy, etc.

I made the mistake of bringing a lot of shirts that were like this:


The problem was that Ukraine ran hot and cold. So when it was cold I really wished I had two layers on. When it was hot I wished I could take one layer off or roll up the sleeves. A better solution would have been to go with two button up shirts and two sweaters or a sweater and a vest.

Another problem I had was going too professional. Nearly all my clothes were professional and I had very few lounging clothes. SO STUPID! Who wants to hang out in their house in a button up shirt and slacks? That's what t-shirts are for! and pajama bottoms! When no one is coming around, comfort should be priority! Argh!

So now that I'm packing for Korea I am trying to keep these things in mind. What can be layered. Can everything go with everything? Professional AND casual. Most of what I brought to Ukraine was clothes and books. Now I will be bringing very few books, less clothing, but still quite a bit of wearables.

My place in Korea will be miniscule, but still, it's important to bring nice things that remind you of home. I will be bringing some artwork with me--small and portable, they don't take up a lot of space, they will look very nice on my walls, and they are very personal.

I will be bringing three cross stitch projects: One I've started, one I intend to start, and one with a much lower level of difficulty just in case I want to do something different. That should be enough. I may bring some knitting needles, but no yarn.

Thankfully I'm getting things like a Kindle, and I have my hard drives, so I don't have to lug dvds or music or books.

Tomorrow we do a trial run of packing for Korea, just to see what kind of room we have. Then I'll make some choices and decide what should come with me and what should stay, going back into storage.

Some things I *am* bringing that will take up some space: games and a frying pan. I am taking my cast iron skillet with me. I can handle a lot when it comes to kitchens: poor burners, no space, but having a skillet that SUCKS is not stress I want to handle. Good skillet is high on my MUST HAVEs. Really.

I finally broke down and bought a gorillapod


It is a perfect tripod, and something I've had my eye on for 2+ years.

Also bought: a small "day bag"


And a matching purse or a "city bag" as REI calls it


And a pair of athletic shoes. So today was an astounding success. I was very happy with the outcome. Cheers!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like your new bags. The city one is awesome - the color and the shape. I hope all your packing and preparations will be easy and won't take much time and effort. Katya

Q said...

I wanted to let you know that I've been lurking around your blog. I'm in the application process and loan-paying process of becoming a PCV and you've answered a lot of my questions with your posts. Just yesterday I had to buy some feminine products and I thought, "What am I going to do?? Get a Diva Cup???" lol, so I'm glad you posted that. Keep posting and I'll keep reading!!
Suzi, St. Louis