This is my UAB, or Unaccompanied Air Baggage, which is sent more quickly than the rest of my things on the slow boat to China/Chile/Cameroon. I didn't actually realize the UAB would be delivered now; I thought I wouldn't see it until we all got to the other side. And under that assumption, I filled the boxes up with all kinds of things I've never taken overseas before - including lots of delicious (and generally unhealthy) American non-perishable food.
This idea came from the experience of bringing hard-to-find food items into China returning from Thailand. No trip to Chiang Mai was complete without stocking up on granola bars, cereal, sauce packets, and Earl Grey tea. So this time around, why not be ready for anything? My Brazilian roommates advised me on what's in their home country; friends recently returned from Syria recommended essentials for baking. A giant shopping list took shape.
But something strange happened as I walked every single aisle of Target - the initial excitement of getting to pack little luxuries turned into stress. Will I need this? Will I need that? How many packets of alfredo sauce will I use in a year? I definitely need that brilliant kitchen tool....and why not a nice cutlery set? After all, shouldn't I be a real grown-up and have grown-up things? Soon the stress and materialism was overwhelming, and I tried to put things back. Turns out it was easier and more simple when I just trusted that all my needs would be provided.
There's probably a spiritual lesson in all this. Compared to most Americans, I don't have too much stuff - it all fit in one room when the movers came back in May. Yet all that STUFF is still such a burden when you get the call to go. The option to take all you own seems like a pretty sweet deal, until your possessions end up owning you. And in the end, you don't really need it.
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