69 kilograms

Did you know that I have 69 kilograms of stuff?

In reality, I probably have WAY more than that, but that's how much stuff I will be taking to Hong Kong with me.  Lots of people have asked me what kinds of things I'm moving with me.  I'm in a little different situation than most expats that move to HK, because my company isn't paying to relocate me.  This is totally fine, because 99% of the things I have, I really don't need that much anyway.

In any case, most people are shocked when they hear that I'm only taking the stuff that I can fit in 3 suitcases (or 166 linear inches, if you were curious).  I've done a LOT of research, talked to some people who have lived in HK, and have decided on the bare essentials.  I'm hoping that this blog might be of some help to someone in the future who is moving to Hong Kong, so I'll give a you a brief rundown of what I packed.

• CLOTHES.  Lots and lots of clothes.  Probably about 85% of my packing space is devoted to clothes.  Mostly, this is because I've heard that buying clothes in HK if you're not a size 2 is not a pleasant experience.  So, I've over-packed a little, in my opinion, just in case I want something I can't easily (or cheaply) find.  I'm sure I could buy things at department stores, but I'm all about spending money traveling and not on expensive clothes.  So, there you go.



• Toiletries.  Probably about another 13% of my luggage.  Again, after doing research, I've discovered that there are a few, shall we say, key items, that cannot be easily found in HK.  The first, and most important, is deodorant.  Not that HK'ers don't wear deodorant, but apparently the kinds that are available are gel or spray-on.  And that isn't going to work for this girl.  I have a very specific kind of deodorant that works for me, since I can tend to be a sweaty beast, so I stocked up on approximately 8 sticks.  If you're a guy and you're skeezed out by lady issues, just skip down to the next bullet point.  Ladies, stock up on those tampons.  Apparently the pickins are pretty slim in HK (truth of this remains to be seen) but my feminine hygiene is nothing to play around with.  So, I stocked up on about a years worth of tampons, just to be on the safe side. I will definitely report on this tampon dilemma once I get there.



• Last but not least, books, mementos, pictures, DVDs etc.  This occupies the paltry remaining 2% of my luggage.  With pictures ultra digital nowadays, I have most everything on my hard drive, but there are a few things I really wanted to take with me.  Like my 20x24 stretched canvas picture of Nyhavn in Copenhagen that my cousin got me for Christmas.  Still trying to work that one in... 



• What I'm not taking: Electronics of ANY sort besides my cell phone and laptop chargers, very many winter clothes, or items I haven't seen or used in the last 6 months.  

This woman obviously has fingers of steel

I decided that in order to be on the safe side of things, I would load each bag to capacity before starting another one.  That way I didn't end up with say, 200kg of stuff after I'd completely packed.  So, I started on the first bag, affectionately called the blue beast.  I could fit myself in this suitcase EASILY.  The good news is that this suitcase can hold A LOT.  And another great feature is that there's a little handy weight indicator on top that will tell you if your bag is over 50 pounds. Doesn't that sound like a great idea?

So, after loading my bag down with as much as would fit, I set it upright (okay, lugged it), placed my fingers underneath the indicator, pulled up, and almost sprained every finger on my right hand.  It felt like I was lifting a 4th grader worth of dead weight.  And yes, I have done that before, don't ask.  It's called Children's Ministry. The red light immediately came on, as if to say, "are you an idiot? Of course this is overweight!!" So, just to "double check" I took it over to our scale, set it down, and waited for that magic number to appear.  67 pounds was the verdict.  Despondently. I unloaded 3 bottles of contact solution, a couple of shampoo and conditioner bottles, and one space bag full of clothes and got it down to 51 pounds.  I'm hoping that with a smile and a story about how I'm going to share Jesus with the Asians, they'll let me squeak by.


In this bag contains: 3 pairs of flats, 4 picture frames, a wooden plaque that my sister-friend Amy made for me, a T-Shirt quilt, 2 space bags full of 47 articles of clothes, a purse full of toiletries, q-tips, mousse, perfume, 8 sticks of deodorant, and a pair of running shoes Pretty decent! You can even see my sparkle Toms poking out of the zipper pockets.

All in all, I'm feeling pretty good about the move.  Despite a splitting headache that has made me feel bleh for the past couple of days, I think I'm ready to go.  It all feels really surreal to me - not sure when reality will kick in.  Probably when I'm over Northern Canada and realize that I'm not in Kansas (okay, Houston) anymore.


And for the pièce de résistance, I went to the doctor this week.  While talking about my normal sleeping patterns (I got a gold star for my 8+ hours of sleep per night) I informed her of my 31 hour flight extravaganza, and my abysmal record of sleeping on planes. Since I would be awake for 41 hours when I arrived in HK assuming I couldn't get to sleep at all, she happily prescribed me some Ambien! Praise Jesus.  I have tried literally every. single. method. for sleeping on a plane. Melatonin, Ear Plugs, a fuzzy U-Shaped pillow, having an entire row to myself, lights off in the cabin, comfy clothes, following my normal bedtime routine, meditating (seriously), lots of water, no water, etc, and I just cannot fall asleep.   While I'm normally totally anti-medicine, I'll defer to what my friends U2 would say, sometimes you just can't make it on your own! So, me and my friend Ambien will be getting acquainted somewhere over Kazakhstan if all goes according to plan.  Hey, I figure being in a sleeping medicine fog is preferable to being in a sleep-deprived coma/hate spiral/funk when meeting my new workmates and hosts.

This weekend is party-a-palooza.  I feel so loved and appreciated by all of my Houston friends.  Just 5 short days til I'm outta here!

Til next time,
The Adventurer