Luckily enough, Semester at Sea (SAS) has this very neat service where you can buy your textbooks online at the University of Virginia bookstore, and they will take your books to your cabin on the boat!! This service is wonderful because, due to airline restrictions, I can only take two checked bags of 50 lbs each. I barely made this work as it is. Adding four classes of textbooks would not do.
The Rules:
So here are the rules, guidelines and circumstances I had to consider while packing:
- All snack food and late night snack-type stuff costs mucho dinero on the boat. It is not part of the meals and therefor, not part of my tuition and not part of my plan.
- Out at sea, nights can get cold. I will also be visiting places like Hawaii, Ghana, and Brazil which are warm. And I will be visiting South Africa and China in places that have the possibility of being chili.
- Life on the boat is very casual, much like a very friendly college campus. However, I want to be presentable and respectful of other countries while visiting.
- I found out through a previous SAS traveler that 3 bags of 70 lbs are allowed on the ship. I am unsure of the accuracy of this information but it doesn't really matter because airlines have another restriction. The airline I will be using only allows two checked bags (each for a fee totaling $50). Both of the bags must weigh under 50lbs (otherwise additional fees will be incurred).
- Carry-on items are one personal bag and one carry-on suitcase.
-I plan on shopping and bringing back a lot of items including silk bed sheets (they will feel so nice!). On return I have the same restrictions of two checked bags, each weighing less than 50lbs.
- I am a girl; I over-pack easily, and I like variety and comfort.
The Process:
I first went online (of course) and found a few older packing lists from SAS 2006 and so forth. I read comments about laundry frequency, and how you can slide stuff under the bed if its small enough. Next, I did laundry (I have no intention of packing smelly socks before the trip even begins).
I laid out all the clothes I thought I could possibly desire on the trip. I think I ended up with about 35 tops originally. I also laid out more pants and skirts than were necessary too. I went through and put away many tops. The point here is that I pulled a lot out, and I put a lot back (my parents aren't sure if they believe me on this). Surprisingly enough the clothing part was the easiest and does not take up too much room. It's the toiletry items and food that take up the most space and weight.
Yes, I did say food. As I mentioned before snacks are sold on the ship. When you are the only store, in the middle of the ocean with no competitors at all, prices get jacked way up. From talking to my friend who has done SAS before, I learned that bringing food with you is a great idea.
I did a COSTCO run and ended up with near to 45lbs of food. All of the food is individually packaged and therefor, it is permitted on the ship. I have easy mac, fruit leather, candy bars, fruit chews, pepridge farm cookies and goldfish, beef jerky and more. How did I pack all of this? As I said the clothing was the easiest of the items. My clothes did not even fill one suitcase. I had a full check-able suitcase all ready to be filled with snacks. But first, I had another thing to think about.
I know I am going to buy stuff on the voyage, so i need an extra suitcase. I ended up putting a carry-on suitcase into my large suitcase.
I filled the carry-on with the food and stuffed the edges (between the two suitcases) with toiletry items. The ingenious part of my plan is that as the voyage continues I will use my shampoo and conditioner, and I will share and eat these snacks. At the end of the voyage I should have a completely empty large suitcase plus a carry-on to put all my purchased items into! It is a perfect plan... and hopefully I don't prove myself wrong later down the road.Side Note:
When shopping with my mom, I began picking up little and trying on beanies because nothing else at that store looked appealing. My mom turns to me and smiles. Then she says I should get something that really stands out. She says, "One of my friends would always wear a hot pick baseball cap with flowers on it. Wherever she traveled her group could always find her." My response was quick, "I will be a taller-than-average red-head in Asia; I won't have a problem standing out". I grinned, we both began to crack up, and I was saved from wearing a garish hot pink hat.
Back to packing:
Then I had the toiletries to pack. This is where I get picky. The information from the Semester at Sea program even suggests bringing your preferred hair products and such because there is a good chance it won't be available elsewhere. I am generally not picky about products, but I have had bad experiences so I don't like taking chances, especially when I can't even understand the labels. The trip is four months long! That's a lot of product and I know I am going to have to do some international shopping even with the large bottles I have. I am also going to be in the sun a lot, so for me (red hair, blue eyes, and pale skin) I need lots of sun screen. I also have dry skin and adore good lotions, so there are items I think are really important, that not everyone needs. I am also accustomed to using a small amount of make-up daily. My long hair requires hair ties. All of these things beefed up the amount of toiletries I am taking. And since many of the items are like face wash and shampoo, they are liquid and heavy.
I went through and put away things that are more for comfort than necessity. Finally when clothes, food, and toiletries, (and some pens/pencils and notebooks) were put away or packed I had to weigh each item. My two checked bags and a backpack my wonderful boyfriend, Adam, is letting me borrow. The backpack is my carry-on and it was to hold my important papers, my laptop, my hard-drive, my kindle (which is amazing by the way) and a change of clothes.
On the first weigh-in, the huge red duffel (see picture above) only weighed two pounds over. But the big black suit-case (with all the food) was 17lbs over! My decision to solve this was to make the backpack my personal item, and get a collapsible duffel for the main carry-on.
I took clothes and shoes from the red bag and the back pack, plus one toiletry kit and put it all in the little duffel. Then I moved the heavier toiletry items to the red bag. I also had to make little bags of the snacks and put two in the little duffel, and one in the back pack. Now both large suitcases are 50lbs!!!!
I did it. And I probably disclosed too much information, but if you were bored and had the time, I hope you were entertained with this struggle.
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