I’ve always sucked at packing. I’m that one annoying person who always overpacks and needs her friends to help her with her bags. Used to being able to travel with a 50 lb bag for a week’s worth of time, I was very shocked- terrified in fact- to find out that all we could travel with to Jishou was a 40lb bag worth of clothes. Panick attack right then and there.

But then, our awesome leaders Cameron and Eliot produced a miracle: a packing list. By looking at it I realized how many unnecessary things I usually pack. Who needs 5 pairs of jeans, 8 pairs of shoes and 3 hats? Clearly not me. And just like the extra stuff I pack and can now get rid of, I want to get rid of the unecessary emotional baggage during this trip. I’m not talking about severing emotional ties and whatnot but to get rid of those attitudes which hinder our experiences. For example, being lazy? Not in Jishou- I want to wake up with the sun and go to bed with it. My usual 10-pushing-on-11 wake up time simply has no place here. What’s more, I don’t want this emotional baggage to be left behind because it’s mandatory but rather voluntarily, as some sort of cleansing process which in the end will hopefully- fingers crossed- make me a better person.

So here’s to packing, smart packing, and to getting rid of all those unnecessary items that only add weight to our bag but not real value.

-Arianna