Member-only story
Emotional baggage: why I pack too much on trips home
Listen to Brenda tell the story
You might think a person who left their home country to live abroad would have figured out the luggage thing after a few decades of traveling to and fro. In this case, you’d be wrong.
It never fails to evoke smirks from He Who Shall Remain Nameless (ahem, dear husband) to see me pack for a visit to the U.S. Summers there are so much hotter than in Germany, so mostly tank tops, shorts and swimsuits are needed. Bulky sweaters, jackets, winter coats and boots stay at home, so that’s one excuse I had to strike off my list when trying to explain my bulging bags.
So why is my suitcase always so jam-packed that it takes several rearranging steps to a) tuck in loose straps from a summer dress that insist on spilling out, b) squash down an impacted tennis shoe whose sole is blocking the lid, and c) match up the misaligned top and bottom of an uncooperative hard-shell suitcase, like a 10-year-old with a severe overbite? This is one of the few problems that can be solved by sitting on it, but the question remains as to why I can’t act like a mature adult and just pack less.
To figure this out, I took inventory of my luggage after returning from my last trip. There were a few items that I wore non-stop, others only once, and yes — you knew this was coming — a…
