The Worst Thing About Going Away

It's a week until I head down to London, and a week and one day until I fly to Milan. This can only mean one thing: it's time to start packing. 

I'll let you in on something. I loathe packing. I simply hate it. Who wants to plan outfits in advance? Decide how many tshirts, or pairs of underwear, or - I don't know - hair bobbles that I'm going to need for the next month?!

Since it normally takes me a very long time to complete said awful process, I've decided to start a little earlier than usual, so I can get organised in advance. (This is also largely due to the fact that I'm going to visit my boyfriend Thursday through Sunday this week and if I leave all my packing until Sunday afternoon I will probably leave the UK with an empty suitcase) So, this afternoon I've given it a go - I have attempted to pack a suitcase to take to Milan for a month. 

You can imagine, it's not gone well. 

Armed with a mug of peppermint tea and having chosen the culprit in question, the next (not so obvious) step was where to put it (as in I like to put off this process as long as possible). I chose my absent sister's bed (sorry Mimi). 

I thought it was also going quite well until I realised that I was at the stage where I needed to place items into said suitcase. 

It was at this point that I was first distracted. I caught a glance of myself in the mirror and noticed that my eyebrows (I have the dark, thick, nearly-curly-haired sort) needed attention desperately. So that drew me away from packing for a good five minutes. 

Next I pondered over shoes. How many of those do I need, exactly? Surely my purple vans, a pair of pumps, my trainers, perhaps some flip flops...however at least half of those, I realised, I may need at my boyfriend's this week, so where was the point in putting them in the suitcase if I was going to take them out again quite soon?

It was then that an idea struck me - a LIST. That was what I needed, or else I risked forgetting something important. Excellent, I could make such a list whilst sitting outside in the sunshine. Tomorrow. 

In the end, all I have packed today is the few 'British goodies' that I'm taking for my family. I went with the necessities, of course: Hobnobs, Yorkshire Gold tea, Fruit Pastilles etc. Feeling quite pleased with myself, I left it at that and went to make another cup of tea.

I mean, I do still have a week...