The legacy of living the ex-pat life for 18 years, is not only a mountain of emotional baggage in general, but, quite a heap of emotional baggage about packing. Any person who has travelled extensively has their own list of funny and/or infuriating stories about airports, luggage check-ins, excess baggage etc.
I came to hate packing over the years. I even came to fear it. The amount of stuff just does not fit. Especially returning after a Christmas trip home, when people have given you so many lovely presents. Or after a long leave when you stock up on food items or something like... a kettle, or... rollerblades. Especially when you are flying on a British airline and have only 23 kilos luggage allowance. And when someone said you could bring a baby car-seat, a computer bag and a handluggage bag, and the officials tell you, they want to weigh it all because it looks so much. And it is far too much and then you either have to pay several hundred pounds or leave stuff behind.
Now, packing is simple - we just go to Cornwall for a week, or away for a long weekend - but, the reluctance, the actual hatred of packing is still there. I wonder how long it will stick around. Ugh. I'd better get started.
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