The Voss Dufour World Tour

Believe it or not, I think it’s easier to pack for a Round the World Trip, than moving somewhere for 3 months.

On a RTW trip, you eliminate so much of your wardrobe as options for packing. You have to make the assumption that you aren’t going to hit the nightclubs, visit nice places, dress well or have wardrobe options. For those of you that have been with us since the beginning of our blog, you know I didn’t bring much on our trip. As James called my clothes, outfit 1 and outfit 1A! You can also reread my post about that first attempt at packing here or James’ packing list here.

So I put off packing for awhile as I just wasn’t sure where to start. How do I approach packing for 3 months that will cover different climates, temperatures and different wardrobe needs? Dresses, shoes, boots, jackets, yoga, rock climbing, pants, long sleeved shirts, shirts! Yikes. Seeing as how much I have been enjoying having lots of clothes to pick from each day since we have been home, I couldn’t see myself going back to 2 or 3 options again.

Finally, I started pulling out different bits of clothes and laying them on my brother’s bed as he was out of town (unfortunately!) Piece by piece, I pulled items from my closet that had more than one option for wear, ie dresses that could be paired with leggings, layering shirts, you get the idea. After all, this had to fit into one suitcase so I was trying to maximize and be efficient.

You can see from the photos below that I somehow squeezed it all into that pretty empty looking suitcase on the floor! And dare I say, I am enjoying my clothes options in Barcelona. Definitely packed well and more importantly will look cute during our time here

The 3rd world takes 1st world trash, junk and makes it useful. Not necessarily efficient or pretty to look at, but useful.

Everyone, no matter where they live, takes pride in their space.

People will live anywhere.

I (Johanna) have a small bladder.

I get cranky when I am hungry. Worse when I am hot and hungry.

A smile goes a long way and costs nothing.

You just have to believe, to have hope.

People never cease to amaze.

People can be happy anywhere, doing anything.

Holland has an “awesome” mortgage system.

It’s all relative.

Assume the best of people but never stop watching their eyes.

I sleep a couple hours less than James each day.

James likes coffee in the am when he first wakes up, while I would prefer it in the afternoon, if at all.

Never trust the baggage handlers.

There are very defined gender roles around the world.

No matter where you are on this planet, people will stare if you look different. The more homogeneous their society, the more they stare at what’s different.

Transiting from one place to another is physically and emotionally tiring and generally is less than ideal.

I have a need to know the time, especially when I am sleeping.

Believe it or not, James and I are taking off again, this time for Spain. In less than a week…Ekk!

We’ll depart once again, waving goodbye to friends, from Logan airport next Wednesday, September 1st on our way across the big pond. We’re making a quick stop in London (as that’s where the plane lands) but leaving soon thereafter for sunny places south of the United Kingdom.

It’s crazy to think that our two months, 8 weeks, 56 days at home is drawing to a close. Like most people, I wonder–where did the summer go? How could it be over already? Apparently the weather has decided the summer is over as it’s been cold, like pants-and-sweatshirt-cold these past couple days. And windy with sideways rain to top it off! That I shall not miss.

To be honest, I am not ready to go. I just started thinking about packing.

Kinda.

But it took me all day to motivate and then after shuffling back and forth from my closet to my brother’s room (where I am laying out selected items), I look on the bed and there isn’t much there. (I did learn in the process that I consigned a majority of my shirts these past two months. Which has been fine for my stay here as all I do is wear yoga pants and tank tops anyway, but that’s not really going to fly in Barcelona. But I digress.)

Don’t get me wrong. Once James and I arrive in Spain (IN ONE WEEK!) I will be super duper beside myself with excitement. I love Spain and everything about it—the food, the people, the language, the culture, the topography, the cities to name a few. But I am not too keen right now on the process of repacking, saying hasta luego to friends, if only for 3 short months, and hopping onto another plane.

I think James would agree that we didn’t even have 1/409345th the amount of time we wanted to catch up with family and friends. The list of people I didn’t get a chance to see is definitely longer than the list of people I did get to see. And even with the people I did get to see, I don’t necessarily feel like we got a proper catch-up.

A good chunk of my time was spent as a recluse at my parent’s place. After spending July running around for weddings, I took that last week of July, when I was home for more than 2 days in a row, to start to decompress (and apparently get rid of my shirts!) It’s a process that isn’t close from over.

And the craziest thing about it, is that we’ll be back before you know it! As I said to my yoga instructor today, only 16 more Wednesday AM yoga classes and then we’ll be back.