Too Much Stuff

I overpacked.

Obviously, I overpacked.

Tammy watched me just doing the very, very last bits of the packing and she thought, "Dude, you overpacked." Which I did.

What is interesting, though, is the way in which I overpacked. In that I never would have considered that I overpacked in this particular manner.

See, this is the second-to-last night of the cruise. And we've got some land bits coming up, so the trip isn't exactly over yet. But I am packing up my previously unpacked clothes so I'll be ready to disembark at whatever unholy hour of the morning they want to dump us in Juneau. And, in the repacking process, I've come to a few conclusions. A few conclusions like: way too many bras; not enough socks. This is odd, as one generally uses the same quantity of bras as pairs of socks (one per day usually covers it) and, although I did pack the same quantity of each, I find I've got way more bras on my hands than days left, while the sock situation may require recycling. Not sure how that happened exactly -- well, no, that's not true. It happened because it's cold here and my cotton socks have been completely worthless. So have my wool socks that only go ankle-high. The small exposed area between the bottom of my long underwear and the top of my shoes is quite insistent that I have something nice, warm and woolen to cover it -- so I am in dangerously short supply of high wool socks.

Also found out that I packed too many ... wait for it ... sweaters. Meaning that I've packed two and haven't worn either of them yet. Now, I will be wearing one tomorrow, since that's when I've got a shore excursion involving a dog sled and I will be pulling out all the stops winter-wear wise: big wool sweater, heavy-weight long underwear, the works. But, up until now, it's all been about layering -- generally with a fleece vest or jacket (under another jacket) -- and the big honkin' Icelandic wool sweater (or even the mid-size tooting wool ski sweater) have been unnecessary. You heard it here first, people: you apparently don't need a wool sweater on an Alaska cruise.

Oh, and the sunscreen, bug repellant, and sunglasses? I'm not even sure where they are, as it has never even crossed my mind to use them. Ditto on my sun hat. Come to think of it, I wonder where I left the sun hat. I think I put it in my carry-on bag when I stashed it under the bed in my cabin. I'll have to check on that. Conveniently, my cabin is small. It couldn't have gotten far.