Today was the day I had set aside to start packing for my upcoming 40-day trip. Of course, I had to do the laundry first—otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to pack anything!

On previous European trips, it has been very difficult and even adventurous to find any sort of coin laundry. So I have packed more than enough underwear and socks for my entire trip — do you think 50 pairs of socks and panties should do it? Unfortunately except for the overnight flights to Philadelphia and to London, I’ll be spending every single night in a hotel — no homestays this time to do laundry. And heavens, I wouldn’t dream of using a hotel service to do my wash. I’m also not the type of person who washes underwear in a hotel sink every night, so forget that.

I had bought a new large, super lightweight suitcase (weighing only 2 pounds!) and a rolling backpack for a carryon. I packed lots of summer clothes: shorts, capris, cotton T-shirts, etc., knowing it might be pretty warm in those Philadelphia churches (some of them unairconditioned, I’m sure), where I’ll spend the first week at the Organ Historical Society convention. And I’m sure it will be hot in Spain. Of course, I packed my concert music, organ shoes and concert clothes for the Hawaii Vocal Arts Ensemble tour to Ireland. Naturally, I’m taking lots of omiyage (white chocolate macadamia nut candy and honey-roasted macadamia nuts) to give away to new friends and tour directors. And taking my electronics (laptop, tablet and phone) with their chargers and voltage adapters (both for Europe and England) are a must, in addition to several battery packs. I even packed all my vitamins and medications in 6 weekly pill dispenser packs. And I remembered my travel neck pillow and my headphones.

I thought I was all done packing. Everything just fit beautifully.

And then I checked the weather report for Iceland and found this blog about packing for a summer visit:

This is what I read on the blog: Unless you’re extremely lucky, everyday in Iceland is a battle against the elements. At night it got below 0°C, while the daytime fluctuated between 15°C and 5°C. Hey, Americans, that’s a big temperature swing. 

And for someone who lives in Hawaii, I think going to Iceland in the summer will be like going to the North Pole!

I had to take everything out of the suitcase and gave up half of the summer clothes. Luckily last Christmas my sister-in-law (Carl’s sister) gave me a packable lightweight (but extremely warm) coat which rolls up into a small bag. I retrieved my long underwear, gloves, hat, and scarf from my trip to Yale last February. I also found the sleeping mask but will forego taking my winter boots, and will have to make do with my walking shoes.

All this means is that I won’t have as many clothes to choose from, but I should be set for any type of weather, summer or winter.

However, I did not give up any of the 50 pairs of socks or underwear!