My Packing-Process
Innibos is an arts festival held in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga. It has almost all mediums from the entertainment industry, except TV. So it is one of those great festivals where everything you experience is real-life and not a representation thereof. Which obviously then gives it the coolest vibe, because everything is bursting with life (literally).
If your geometry is as good as mine, you would not have known that Nelspruit was in Mpumalanga (in the first place), because not only do you not know which direction Mpumalanga is situated in from your current position, you don't know where it begins or ends or that there is no border separating IT from Gauteng. (I promise I'm smart in other aspects of life).
So for all the geometric-special-people-like-myself, if you type Nelspruit into Google maps it's roughly three and a half hours drive from Johannesburg.
QUICK TIP: I would say, work it in to be more of a four hours drive. I don't know why it took us longer to there and back. Maybe I'm special in my driving ability as well.
Eitherway, Nelspruit is one of those towns that has special weather conditions. Like it might be winter, but it's basically summer in the desert. Or you would think it should be snowing, with warnings of extreme danger weather conditions when you look at your cupboard and realize you are wearing all your clothes, a heater following you and you are still indoors, freezing conditions.
Not knowing exactly what the weather would be like, I was very proud of myself when I thought Nelspruit would be warm during the day but then freezing at night. To get there and to be proven right! #yayme #toldyouimclever
Packing for a trip is always a big mountain for me, because I have to make decisions today about something I would only be certain about tomorrow.
What I wear is influenced by my mood for the day (which is like a lucky packet, you never know what you're gonna get). So packing means trying to predict the unpredictable, and what I wear has such a big affect on my mood for the rest of the day it is something I have to ponder about. Very seriously.
So this is how I usually pack.
I try to make outfits (especially if I have limitations like my bag may not be more than a few kg's, or I have small boot and it's not only my bag that has to fit, therefore my bag may not be bigger than a set amount of cm's.)
I start with my favorite pieces in my closet- that way I also know I'm most likely to be in the mood to where it- panths, shoes and tops. Even if it exceeds the amount of days I'm going away, I take out all my favorites. Then the mix and matching start.
In the back of my mind I'm always thinking about where I'm going and what's the vibe, and what's the vibe I would like to feel while I'm there, and then I mix and match to the vibe.
After my room is swamped with more than enough outfits, my brain quickly reminds me that I'm only going away for four days, where two of those days I'm traveling (The one traveling day I will watch some shows, and then the other one, I'm leaving at 5:00 am so no need to worry to much about that outfit, except that it has to be comfortable) and the other two days I wool be fully enjoying the festivities.
And then the process of elimination starts.
In this process I think about:
Which of the outfits are two of my favorites? (For the days when I'm fully attending the festival).
The vibe I'm going for.
The weather.
Then the remaining outfits get laid out before me. After this, the shoes comes: I know I can't pack too many so I have to be smart. Three pairs of sneakers should be enough, and I make sure that they each match the outfit. So that I don't wake up one day and go: "Ah! I WISH I'D RATHER..." (Hate those words).
My little gut bone told me that it might be warm during the day and then cold at night. So then I take out four of my favorite t-shirts, make sure all of them match the pants and cardigans for the different outfits. Just for in case little gut bone is right.
T-shirts don't take that much space, so packing more than what is needed is not a problem. Then I make sure I have enough warm jackets.
The thing about jackets is that they sort of have this magic ability to match any outfit, so usually only one is necessary (and because they are so big that, that is all my baggage limitations allow). But I sorta bought this amazing jacket from @iboughta___ that I got from the Slay Market, and of course my second hand denim jacket sorta works for any and-every mood and outfit which was enough reason to get more space so that I can take both. The denim jacket I could wear on my way there, save some space. And I have a back seat that won't be used, so the other jackets can just lay there. Baggage limitation problems= SOLVED.
If you are curious about my outfits, or just the magical jacket I bought, just keep looking' at this blog. 'Cause they sure will feature on Thursday.
Happy Packing, campers.
HI-5!