One week! A.k.a I should probably actually pack...

Wow how the summer really flown by. I feel like I just blinked and BAM! Only one week left here at home. Officially this is my last Tuesday at home. Starting now everything is going to feel like my "last" time doing stuff at home. Which obviously won't be the case in the long run, but for now I all of a sudden feel so rushed.

As you can probably guess from the title of this post, I have not officially begun packing. I've done some of the very easy things, like picking out what shoes I want to bring, picking out what jewelry I want to bring, making a list of things I can't forget to pack, etc. Here's the tricky part though - packing to live abroad is very hard. What do I bring? What do I buy? These are the difficult questions I am now finding myself facing. Which I probably should have started thinking about a while ago, but procrastination is a part of who I am.

So in case you're curious, and because I've run out of creative ideas for the whole "miss and looking forward to" thing, here's what I've been figuring out so far. Maybe this will help you fellow world travelers in the future in case you need to pack for a long trip out of the country.

1. Buy some food storage containers to pack some of your stuff in. I decided to do this mainly because I didn't want to have to buy storage containers in the UK, only to throw them out as I come home again next summer. Pro-tip: Sam's Club has really cheap containers that you can buy. Obviously I won't be bringing a whole tub full of them, but enough that I can still pack lunches!

2. Find a good way to travel with jewelry. I mean, we've all been there. But I can't tell you how many times I've untangled some of my necklaces. Or how many tiny stud earrings I've lost. This time, I decided to turn to the best source of knowledge I know - Google. I haven't tried it yet, but one blog recommended using plastic straws to thread necklaces through, keeping them nice and tangle free. As for the earrings, I invested in a little "earring booklet," basically a small booklet with pages that have holes for the earrings. Super nice and keeps me from losing my earrings.

3. Shoes take up a lot of room. To which you're thinking, well duh. But for those who know me, you know I like shoes. And I have a lot of them. And I want to take them all with me. But for the sake of the overweight luggage fee, I'll have to make some sacrifices.

4. Make sure you bring something to remind you of home. I'm bringing many things, because one, I'll be gone for a while, and two, I'm living alone. I know there will be times when I will miss living with people and miss sitting at home with my family watching baking shows. But that's when I can take out whatever reminds me of home and I won't feel so lonely.

5. You're going to forget something. So far, I've always forgotten something. Never anything super important. But it's an important to remind yourself that if you forget something, it isn't the end of the world. They have stores in England.

Obviously my adventures in packing are only just beginning tonight. This is going to be the most difficult part of moving but hey, I still have a week to get it done.

One last addition, for those who have an Instagram account, please feel free to follow me for some awesome pictures of my adventures. For those who don't know, I also travel with a small tiger named Spot, so he's usually in on them. Follow me @sheep.herder!