Under the Bodhi Tree

So I have a problem. I am a chronic packer. I start packing for whatever trip months ahead of time. For our Tokyo/Thailand trip I began packing for Bodhi and I about three months before our departure date. You may think, “Don’t you need the clothes to wear on the day to day?” Well, no. I have a lot of clothes. Bodhi has a lot of clothes. And because I start packing at the end of winter for an end of spring trip, the clothes I am packing I won’t be using. I imagine outfits I would wear. Possible weather conditions that will necessitate types of shoes and jackets. What sweater or hoodie to bring even though Thailand is tropical. (I’ve found sweaters a necessity because the ac in malls and restaurants are wintery.) I pack the things we will need during the down time: card games, crayons, paper, lots of cords for our electronics. 

I pack all of this. Then every week I check what I have packed to make sure I’ve gotten everything or whether I need to add or subtract. I talk to myself. I say things like, “Ira, do you really need three pairs of shoes?” Or, “Ira, will Bodhi be able to fit into these shorts by the time we get there?” Or, “What if a monsoon comes in?”  Or, “Underwear, do we have enough underwear.” My packing, my obsessive packing, is a form of play for my imagination. Whatever I put into the suitcase, I imagine where we will be and what fun we will be having. 

A week before departure, I change the suitcases I’ll use. Multiple times. (This is where problems can arise. And they did.) I often take apart everything and spread the contents of the suitcase on the bed or floor. Deedra thinks I’m a nutter. She packs her stuff the day before. That drives me batty. Undoubtedly she will forget something, and sometimes, 5 minutes into our trip to the airport, she will say—like she said this time—I forgot my IPad. And my glasses. And my….” We turn back to get her things and continue forth. 

This is why I am obsessive with my packing. I don’t want to forget anything. 

Well, friends, we arrived in Tokyo. 

And I forgot to pack underwear. 

Damn.