Plane Packing Procrastination

Perhaps I pin-pointed the cause of my procrastination pickle I always put myself in.

Its the airlines. I blame them. I sit in my window seat and stare out at the men throwing our luggage around. I've had the damaged suitcase before - and trust me it wasn't pretty. I've had things go into the suitcase in perfect condition, and by the time I got home they were irrepairable.

I think this is why I hate packing so much. Aside from always feeling fat when I try on my potential vacation wardrobe, I stress packing because I worry about my things being ruined.  I always carry-on my electronics and make-up. Too much money is invested into my cameras and make-up to let it get checked and possibly be lost, stolen or damaged. I end up placing everything in an exact manner in my carry-on bags so that my belongings won't be damaged in overhead bins when other people shove their bags, guitars and skateboards up against my appropriately sized bag.  I pretty much have the carry-on packing down to a science. That is the easy part.

My checked luggage is what I really stress over.  Finding the right clothes is hard enough, but then I feel anxiety when I figure out how to best make things fit in my suitcase. I don't want my bathroom things to leak, so I have liquids inside of ziplock bags that are inside of main toiletry bags. But then I can't just put my bag in carelessly. What if they toss a bag right on top of mine and it punctures my shampoo? Then I have a leak and that would be a disaster. So in the end I have to go and cushion my bathroom bag with clothes. And if shoes are packed in there, well then they must go in their own plastic bags so as not to get my clothing dirty.

AAGGHH - the stress!! You'd think I wouldn't agonize over this considering how often I travel - but maybe that is why I do stress. I learned my lessons when I was first flying, and now my anal system has paid of in successful flights without having things damaged or in-air suitcase content explosions!