It is three hours before your flight. You are frantically cramming everything that's near and dear into your suitcase. Only you, your mom, your dad, and the guy next door combined can lug the behemoth down the stairs and into the car.
This is not the way to prepare for a trip abroad. Your luggage will probably exceed the airline's weight limit and cost you money; you had rather spend at a cafe. Worse, you will find it impossible to handle your bag solo when you arrive at your destination.
Gearing up
Before you begin to think about packing, find out all you can about what you will need in your host country and during your travels. As you research, create a packing list. Your study abroad office may be able to provide you with a list specific to your country, programme, and housing situation. Some programs require you to supply your own sheets, towels, pillows, and even cookware. Some don't. Anecdotal information can be invaluable if you are undecided about details such as clothing styles. Talk to a student who has just finished the program or try going online to chat with someone living in the country.
That's the most reliable way to collect information about the weather conditions, appropriate clothing, availability of over-the-counter medications . . . and the 1,001 other questions that arise when you want to make your life portable.
When trying to decide what to pack and what to buy at your destination, keep in mind that the availability and cost of items will vary depending on where you are going. Preparing for several months of study abroad requires walking a packing tightrope-you are not on a one-week vacation, yet you are not relocating either. Here is some general advice that should help, but perhaps the best philosophy to follow is Gandhi's: Less is more. Luggage
Probably the biggest determining factor in your packing process will be whether you can bring one bag or two. Call your airline to learn its limits on the number and weight of bags for your flight. If you plan on hitting the road during your stay abroad, be sure to make your primary piece of luggage portable enough for you to carry easily. Do a practice run of you with all your luggage climbing stairs, advises Reena Sharma, a Computer Science student who studied in Edinburgh, Scotland. "I didn't do that and I nearly was stuck in the Tube station in London. It was really a bad start." Bring a backpack for daytrips. Consider buying and packing a collapsible bag such as duffel that you can keep without occupying much space after unpacking besides, this could also be used to ferry home souvenirs acquired over the months. "I ended up just giving loads and loads of stuff away," says Vikram. He accumulated so many things abroad that he gave away towels, notebooks, and other "random things that I did not have room for." Wardrobe
Get used to wearing clothes more than once and hand washing your clothes now and then. You will only be able to bring a limited amount of clothing, and getting clothes launder is often more expensive abroad. Pack T-shirts and clothes in solid, neutral colors for easy layering and mixing and matching. Be sure to pack one outfit for special occasions and also a traditional Indian clothes like saree or Shrwani. And keep in mind that you will probably see clothes you want to buy when you arrive in your host country. Don't overlook seasonal changes. If you are going abroad for an entire year, remember to bring a mix of warm-weather and cold-weather clothes, including a winter coat, gloves, long underwear, a scarf, a hat and a lightweight jacket. Use the Internet to learn about the weather in the host country and familiarise yourself with the centigrade temperature scale. Footweare
Bring comfortable walking shoes for traveling and for daily use. You probably would not have access to your own conveyance, so you will often walk and use public transportation to reach the campus, the supermarket, museums, etc. Medication
Don't forget your prescription medications, and ask your doctor for extra refills if you believe you will have difficulty finding the medicine in your host country. Always keep the medication in its original packaging to ease your transit through customs. If you can refill the prescriptions abroad, bring written prescriptions indicating the brand name and the generic name of each medication. Some over-the-counter medications and pharmaceutical products are worth bringing with you. You should also bring medicines you normally take for common ailments such as headaches or colds to reduce the risk of exposure to unfamiliar ingredients that might have unusual side effects. You cannot prepare for everything, but err on the side of restraint rather than overpacking and assume that what you need and you can find here is likely to be available there, depending on the location. Documents
Make copies of all important documents, such as your passport, visa, health insurance card, plane tickets etc. Leave a set of copies with your family and pack another set to take with you in case of loss or theft. Invest in a money belt to carry your passport, credit cards, and cash-pickpockets abound in tourist spots. Consider buying an international student ID card for discounts and extra insurance. Toiletries
In most countries, you can purchase basic toiletries such as shampoo and toothpaste with minimum fuss, so they are not worth packing. But do some research to be sure. If you have sensitive skin or allergies to certain ingredients in cosmetics, shampoo, soap, lotion, sunscreen, or other toiletries, pack the products you normally use rather than experiment with unfamiliar ones. As for bulky items, buy things there, although it is a little more expensive abroad, you can certainly find deals if you look around . . . And it is sort of fun to find lotion or make-up that's new. Appliances & Computers
In general, it is best to leave electrical appliances such as hair dryers, radios, and alarm clocks behind. They are bulky and consume valuable luggage real estate. The converters they require are not always reliable, so you could end up buying new appliances abroad anyway. Do not take your laptop either.
If you panic at the thought of no E-mail access, rest assured that many campuses abroad have computer labs for student use and most countries have Internet cafes. Of course, you can always keep in touch via good, old-fashioned snail mail. Important extras
If you are staying with a host family, remember to bring a small gift such as a book on your hometown, a CD, or a collection of postcards. Definitely bring photos of your family. You will be talking about your mom, your dad, your dog-it is nice to have your [host] family have an image of that. You might also pack small souvenirs related to your state, city, town, or school-such as pins, patches, or decals-to exchange with new international friends. Books
Pack a journal to record your experiences and try to make an entry daily. Take your address book or at least a list of addresses of people you will want to write to. But keep reading material such as books to a minimum-they are just too bulky and heavy. You can buy books abroad, but be aware that English-language titles are a bit more expensive in non-English-speaking countries.
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