Summer Soap (Episode 2): Natalie packs her bag for cold and wet Cork!

Natalie had no idea packing could be so stressful. The longest she’d ever had to pack for was a week-long beach vacation some years back.

Not only would Natalie have to pack for an entire year, she’d be spending that time in an entirely different country, which was much farther north than she first thought.

She could pick Ireland out on maps, but they’d all been two-dimensional. Natalie hadn’t realised how far up on the globe it would be, and couldn’t help but feel ill-equipped as far as the weather was concerned.

Granted, Cork was in the southern parts of Ireland, but it was still the closest to the Arctic Circle that Natalie had ever been before. All she could do was pack her warmest jackets and hope for the best.

Tully, the family dog, wasn’t helping matters, nosing around in her new suitcases and grabbing a pair of socks to drag away whenever Natalie turned her back.

The suitcases themselves had been birthday gifts, along with travel adapters, charging packs, and all other odds and ends that her mom acquired for her. While Natalie was grateful for her mom’s consideration, the fact that she hadn’t thought about any of these things hardly helped build confidence in her ability to take care of herself.

Natalie’s father wanted to leave the organisation of her travel plans to herself, which led to mixed results. She’d selected her dorm room, booked her flight, and then realized that her flight would land her in Ireland a few days before her dorms would let her in. Thankfully, she managed to book a room in a hotel in the city centre.

She didn’t want any more opportunities for mishaps than absolutely necessary, so she opted to fly into Cork directly. After many hours in Google Maps, she concluded she could use the days in her hotel to buy all of the household goods she needed while she was within walking distance of all of the shops and stores.

She’d also developed a keen interest in Butlers Chocolate Cafe, but that would have to come later.

All in all, Natalie had done an impressive job in facilitating her own travel plans, considering it was her first try. Her flight was three days away, and all she had to do was pack.

“Don’t forget to pack your raincoat,” her mom said as she walked through the door, fresh basket of laundry in hand. Natalie huffed as she playfully rolled her eyes while her mom sat down and began folding some of her clothes before putting them in the suitcase between them.

That had been her mom’s mantra for the last week. From what she’d read, her mom was right to be concerned. It was exactly why Natalie had made it a point to set her raincoat aside so she could wear it in the airport. That way she wouldn’t have to go rummaging through her suitcases if it was raining when she landed in the early Irish afternoon.

Her flight would take off at 11pm in the evening, so she wasn’t sure what that would do to her sleep schedule. She considered reading through the flight, but later resolved to sleep while she could on the plane and hoped she was tired enough to sleep through the night a few hours later.

“Hey, that’s one of mine,” her mom was looking at the shirt in Natalie’s hand. She was right in a technical sense, but Natalie had grown fond of it. If their laundry loads got switched, she could hardly be blamed for wearing a shirt that fitted her perfectly well.

“Is it?” Natalie feigned ignorance, but she must not have been very convincing, because her mom gave her a suspicious glance.

You’re not taking that to Europe with you.

“It’s a nice colour on me.” 

Her mom rolled her eyes, taking the shirt from her hands and putting it back in the laundry basket.

“At this point, I’ll be glad if I make it to Cork with an extra pair of socks,” Natalie remarked, eyeing the door warily as Tully pushed her way through with a pair of socks that definitely belonged to her father. It was her mom’s turn to sigh, trying in vain to extract the socks from Tully’s mouth.

While her mom was distracted by a tug of war the dog ended up winning, Natalie retrieved the shirt and slipped it under a pair of jeans. After surrendering the socks, her mom turned her attention back to Natalie.

“It looks like there are still some seats left on your flight, I checked this morning,” she said, and Natalie couldn’t help but chuckle.

Three days before take-off? It’d cost my college fund!

“You’re right, but I’m still tempted,” her mom sighed, tucking a shirt into the suitcase, only to snap the lid closed when she noticed Tully getting a little too close. She eyed Natalie with the scepticism innate to all moms.

“Are you sure you have everything packed and ready to go?”

“I’m sure,” she said, rolling her parka as tight as she could and pressing it into her second suitcase, which she’d reserved for her winter wardrobe.

“You packed your rain boots?”

“Yeah.”

Your winter clothes too?

“Yes, Mom.”

“And you have all of your toiletries?”

“Mom I’ve got it,” Natalie replied, a bit exasperated this time, “I have everything under control. I promise.”

It wouldn’t be until Natalie was settling into the plane that she’d realise that she had forgotten her raincoat at home.