How to pack for Ukraine

Packing for Ukraine? Full of trepidation about what to bring? If you'll have access to a larger-size city for shopping runs, read through this list carefully. I'm a big fan of the travel light / Tim Ferriss' B.I.T. (buy it there) method, so I've asked some other expats for their regrets and surprises and put together this hopefully space-saving anti-packing list.

For a teaching supplies list, check out the EFL anti-packing list.

Decluttering

Enter the nemesis.

Tech updates, Part II

D and I have put down our bows and arrows, come out from the cave, logged on to Amazon.com and finally joined the 21st century.

Hello, future. We have arrived.

What do you think? I'm still adjusting....this netbook screen is so freakin tiny, I have to squint at it like an old lady trying to read the newspaper. On the other hand, there will never be a repeat of me lugging a 10 pound laptop and 7,000 other bags across Moscow to catch a flight. Yeah for that! And the Kindle really seems like a godsend...so many books for free (as long as you're happy reading the classics) and it weighs as little as a magazine. I read that e-readers are already very common on the metro in Russia; perhaps they've made it to Ukraine too? D is thrilled with his Android tablet. He's made eye contact with me only about 5 times this week- the rest of the time he's been staring at the screen!

Meanwhile, the packing / moving-out continues....and continues.....and continues.

Days until departure: 3

Packing, Part II

Have you ever seen Hoarders? I'm not saying I'm that bad.....but I have accumulated a lot of stuff. I've always traveled heavy. When I went 'backpacking' in Central America in 2002, my backpack was the largest back-country model available; I set it on a card table at the airport while going thru Mexican customs- it broke the table. You could seriously fit a 5 year-old kid in there. There was all the usual stuff: clothes, sleeping bag, first aid kit. In addition, I hauled $200 worth of Guatemalan fabrics south thru Nicaragua and Costa Rica. And I kept a rolled-up posted from Honduras and large wall maps of South America in there . And I fit hammered metal wall art and a round tortilla basket from Oaxaca in the bottom. On my freakin' back, people! When I went to study abroad in Russia I took the usual 2 suitcases and 2 carry-ons, plus an extra duffel bag of shoes. High-heels for the club. For what turned out to be a 4 month stay. During winter. And then, I had to carry them back. All the way across Russia. On the train. In a small compartment with 3 other luggage-heavy people.

I think this is the extra ticket I had to buy in Moscow to fly all that luggage to Yakutsk.... eek!

Technology updates

[Dilbert is at work, sitting in front of his desktop computer.]
Coworker: Are you getting a lot done on the grandpa box?
Dilbert: The what?
[Coworker pulls out his ipad.]
Coworker: The people in my generation do our work on our phones and tablets.
Dilbert, angrily: I also have a laptop.
Coworker: I'll text the nineties and let them know.

That is so us. We don't even have cell phones. Most of the time that seemed to work in our favor, until the car accident and its painful and awkward aftermath, and since then we've been more aware of our cave-dweller status. I'm getting a cell phone in Ukraine of course, but we jumped the gun a little and just ordered a Kindle and a pad (not ipad though). Yeah, 21st century!

Packing, Part 1

How much stuff do you really need to travel with?

My favorite quote- Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard:
"As far as gear goes, you don't need any of that shit. Nobody needs that stuff. If it makes people feel better to have a garage full of the very best gear available, great- I'll sell it to them. We're going to keep making the stuff, make it as good as we can, as functional as we can, but I don't have any illusions that it's very necessary. If you want real adventure, you leave all that at home and encourage the birds to shit on your head. That's when you start having adventure."