i'm not a lavish person, i don't believe in a lot of excess. i'd say i like nice things...absolutely. i just don't believe in having a lot of them. i don't own the latest this or that. it actually pains me to spend money on certain things and i often times feel guilty when i know i'm spending lavishly.
it's funny to see the ideas i have about myself tested and to watch myself fail miserably. what am i talking about? well on my trip to sierra leone my luggage got stranded in london until a day and a half before our departure. so what does that mean. i had 1 long sleeve shirt, 1 short sleeve shirt, 1 set of undergarments, 1 pair of socks, 1 pair of jeans, capri yoga pants and my trusty converse. that's it. clothes that would normally only be enough for one day, no hair products, no face wash, no deodorant. the temperature was a hot sunny 90 degrees or more.
i had packed enough for 2 changes of clothes a day. figuring we'd be doing so much running around during the day i'd need to shower and change for the evening (and i did - but couldn't). the guest house we stayed at was great - but because of the electricity issues in sierra leone (run mostly by generator) air conditioning was only available at night. the cars didn't have air either. so basically we are sweating ALL day and i was wearing the same outfit everyday. no joke. jeans are great but when it's hot they are stifling!
i handwashed what i could (because the humidity on certain days wouldn't allow things to dry) but i ended up wearing my boyfriends boxer briefs for a couple of days because i had no choice.
my hair was an absolute mess the entire time. i refused to buy health and beauty aids because i thought my luggage would arrive any day and it wasn't worth spending the money. i was miserable but trying to fight it. i was in sierra leone and it would not be worth it to let my luggage situation damper my experience. i got over it, bought a tank top and an african dress (which i could only wear one day because of all the sweating).
what it made me consider was my actual attachment to these items i knew were on their way eventually. i knew that had i prepped myself before the trip, had decided to live very basically - i would have been fine. but i hadn't mentally prepared myself for this. and i realized how sad it was.
people everyday live with less and are happy - because they know nothing else. how spoiled i felt due to my frustrations. how dare i feel a loss for things that those around me don't even know. a luggage full of clothing and accessories. i learned a definite lesson. i dealt with it. i got over it, and i managed all the same. it was an extremely humbling experience.
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