When we first began to dream about going to Belize, packing for the trip was not on my mind at all. But the further I got into planning, the more clear it became that we would not be able to take large suitcases. I’ve gone on weeklong vacations where I couldn’t even fit everything into my huge rolling suitcase, so I knew an extra suitcase was not the answer anyway. My philosophy has always been, “take everything possible that you think you may want to wear and that is how the trip will be comfortable.” That philosophy seemed to have worked for many years for me, but even then there was always something I could think of that I didn’t bring that I may have liked to wear during the trip. Basically, I think it’s a case of – the more you have, the more it breeds discontent because you want even more. But since we would be- at times- carrying our luggage on uneven terrain for uncertain distances and flying on small planes out to the ouffshore Islands (and would not be allowed over 35 pounds), I knew my philosophy was in jeopardy.

So I did a fair amount of research by reading travel blogs and watching YouTube videos about the art of packing (and it IS an art). I then proceeded to buy all four of us travel backpacks (of course the most highly rated ones after my hours of research). I then made list of things that we absolutely needed, things that we only wanted, and things that were not really necessary. The results has been packing about four or five outfits in the small packing cubes along with travel sized everything ( including detergent)and trying to be comfortable with the idea that if we run out of a necessity there, we can probably buy it. Of course the main idea is to worry more about where we are and experiencing what’s around you than what we’re going to wear. When we took a trip to the Florida Keys in November for one week, we packed in our backpacks as kind of a trial run. Amazingly, we did have things we didn’t really need, and we had stuffed those backpacks probably fuller than they were made for. That was a good learning experience, I really didn’t need as much as I may have believed my whole life! And inside that small backpack also includes my scuba diving goggles and snorkel and skin suit! So I will admit I am feeling pretty proud of myself for learning to streamline, my goal is to let that attitude carry over into other aspects of my life. To simplify and streamline really brings more contentment and not less-at least I’ve found that so far.
We leave day after tomorrow, and I can hardly wait! I do of course have some nerves about going to a country that I mostly only know about from what I’ve read and staying there for almost a month. But doing new, adventurous things is how I plan to live the rest of my life! Although it has been hard to pack shorts and swimsuits when it’s 40° outside here, we trust we’re doing the right thing. In any case- we are doing this thing!