No matter how often one travels there is always a specific type of stress involved around packing the bags. I love making lists, making sure I have it all figured out, but when going on a dig there is so much more to keep my focus away. Will the hat be better or the scarf? Will I need that many long sleeve shirts? Am I really going to read books, or find time to practise my language learning, or play games? Should I consider one, two or more backup storages for photos? (and many more questions are being discussed in my head at the moment 🙂 )

There is no perfect way to prepare myself. I will bring more than I need and I will forget something super important, for sure. But that is perfectly fine. Life is full of surprises. I might just surprise myself this year.