THE ‘PACKING FOR MAZAMET'

May 4, 2015

Let’s just say, I thought I had everything under control. I had been thinking about what I would take to France for what seemed like months. I had every outfit planned, every toiletry in place, and every possible thing in mind. I wanted to pack light, while still having exactly what I needed to I could be comfortable and not a pain trying to scavenge for what I was missing while in the small village. I was all pack two days before my departure so that I could relax and enjoy my family for the last day I had in America. That night, my dad suggested we weigh my bags, (a check bag 50lbs, a carry on 25lbs, and a personal item.) My check bag ended up weighing nearly 80lbs by the time we got it on the scale.

I was less than thrilled at this point. I thought I had done it right! I thought I was packing light! Obviously not- so we had just a few hours to fix the problem. My mother and my sister and I got to work. We laid out everything and started to eliminate. While I hated this process, I can easily say that we had really good time together doing this. And I couldn’t have done this without them. Packers tip: do what you can, but always phone a friend. I did what I could, but I needed them to push me the rest of the way.

This is how I made all of my outfits work out with everything.

By the time we were done, my check bag weighed 50lbs, my carry on weighed 35-40lbs (whoops) and my personal item was much heavier than I would have liked, but I decided it was enough.