The Way I Pack...
...is a metaphor for how I feel about leaving a city.
Buenos Aires, Argentina: Hot Mess.
I was a total wreck mentally, emotionally, and physically. I had waited as long as I possibly could (the morning of travel day) and played the weight game all the way up until my luggage was packed away in the van, shifting small things around from my suitcase to carry on until the last minute.
My perfectly packed suitcase of rolled clothes precisely placed in packing cubes from just four weeks prior was now a mess of unused packing cubes, wadded up clothes, and toiletries I was hoping weren't going to leak. I just shoved everything in and hoped for the best.
Read: I wasn't ready to leave Buenos Aires and showed it in my pathetic attempt to get my life together just hours before leaving.
Cordoba, Argentina: Emotional Mess.
Leading up to the dreaded packing day, I was eating my weight in Bon o Bons (a delicious hazelnut filled, chocolate covered wafer). Healthy, right? I couldn't emotionally cope with the fact that I would have to say goodbye to a group of incredible humans I had met and grown attached to over the course of last five weeks.
I threw everything on my bed like the overpacker I am and immediately felt overwhelmed by the task ahead of me. Thank goodness for Netflix and Bon o Bons that fueled the emotional packing spree I was about to embark on. Thankfully, it had looked worse than it actually was, but that didn't make it any easier.
Read: I was ready to leave the city, but I couldn't fathom saying goodbye to the people.
Lima, Peru: So ready.
I was so ready to leave Lima I was packed days (yes, days, plural) in advance and it was amazing. I was thrilled to leave the foggy, noisy, touristy barrio of Miraflores. It was the most incredibly organized pack of my life, even more so than when I arrived. I spent time organizing and rolling all my clothes and carefully placing them in my packing cubes. I had even prepacked for my Machu Picchu hike (unheard of, I know) by putting all my hiking clothes and gear in one cube so I wouldn't have to unpack and repack once arriving to Cusco.
Read: Lima definitely wasn't my fave, I was ready to move on, and if I don't make it back, I won't be heartbroken.
Cusco, Peru: Exhausted.
I had lost one Havaiana on my hike, had bags of dirty and/or still damp clothes and just too much stuff to sort out for how exhausted I was after a big four day hike and very low quality sleep.
I had successfully packed my suitcase at the correct weight the first time around and was extremely proud of myself. I was all ready to get tucked into bed earlier than I had anticipated and couldn't find my phone. After half an hour of unpacking everything I had successfully packed on the first try, I found my phone packed away deep in my suitcase in one of the bags of dirty clothes.
Thankfully, everything had made it in my bags and nothing was left in Cusco, minus my one lonely Havaiana that will forever be lost in the Peruvian cloud forest.
Read: Ready to leave, but too exhausted to care.
I'm not sure how the next nine months of packing will go, but I'm sure there will be more exhausted, emotional, or early packing months to come.