Hi everyone,

Between snow storms that shut down Seattle, the holidays and the stress of preparing to leave the country for nine months, I haven't been able to participate hardly at all for over a month. But I arrived in Vilnius, Lithuania on Tuesday and got the internet connection in my apartment here set up today. So hopefully I'll be back on the forum more often.

I had originally planned to document my packing process in case anyone else ever has to pack for 9 months, three seasons, with airline baggage restrictions. But I was so overwhelmed that I didn't take any photos until just before I left for the airport on Monday morning.

Here I am with my three suitcases, one carry-on, small purse and heavy coat:
http://i514.photobucket.com/al.....G_0038.jpg

Eagle Creek compression bags saved my sanity. I had to pack several coats along with heavy winter clothes since Lithuania has cold winters. The bags really turned big piles of clothes into manageable units for packing. That was a good thing since I also had to pack boots, shoes for warm weather, dictionaries and research materials, my computer and various electronic accessories, and enough toiletries to get me started. In the end I mailed two small boxes with spring/summer clothes. I decided that was cheaper than trying to buy new clothes here and would keep me from going crazy trying to fit everything into the three suitcases I planned to take. It was also cheaper than excess baggage fees for a 4th suitcase. Hopefully the boxes will arrive -- they are supposed to take 7-10 days. One of my suitcases didn't arrive with me but it showed up on the next day's flight and Lufthansa had it delivered to me -- that was a relief!

Other than the difficulties of adjusting to a 10 hour time difference, I'm off to a good start for my 9 month research stay. I'll check out the Lithuanian fashion scene and let you know what's in!