packing my suitcase by Mark

The process of packing my suitcase begins weeks before the journey, which was also the case when I went to Sydney. Three weeks before the trip I usually do the full load of laundry and make a first selection of what might go into the suitcase and what might not, once I take the stuff out of the dryer. This selection goes straight into the suitcase, and over the next days I will be living out of the suitcase, which is an indication whether the first choice was right. Any objects that are relevant during that time period are placed close to the suitcase so I wont forget them. About two days before the flight another trip to the laundry takes place to make sure that only clean bags go into the suitcase. All the clothes are packed separately into plastic bags. Before this I usually take a picture of what is packed so I know what is missing in case it gets lost. Two tshirts will be going into the hand luggage, which are used to wrap camera equipment.

Before returning home, I go through all the stuff that has accumulated in the city I travelled to (in this case sydney). Besides purchased items there is usually an amount of receipts, tags, metro tickets and other things that document the trip that make it into the suitcase in order to go through them at a later point.

The content of my hand luggage is basically identical on both trips, consisting of the most expensive, mostly electronic objects such as cameras and chargers as well as irreplaceable things like my notebook.
In general I pack my suitcase (the checked luggage) knowing that I might not see it immediately when I arrive.