Over packing is a major issue for families on their Ukrainian adoption journey. I know hundreds of families who wish they had taken less. I don’t know a single family who regrets packing lightly.
Prior to my adoption trip, I was provided with the following luggage test. Maybe you will find it useful.
First borrow a crabby child. Hopefully the child is hungry and tired. If this fails then recuit a small child who will pretend to be crabby. Encourage them to whine and dart away from you.
Now take the luggage for a walk around the block while holding onto child. Include many stairs in your walk. If you cannnot hold onto luggage and child, then you have over packed. If you need a nap after this test to recover from the stress, then you have over packed.
Natasha was 3.5 years old when I adopted her. But developmentally she was between 18 months and 2.5 years. She was a slippy sucker with the ability to squirm away from me within a millisecond. I really wish that I had taken less luggage.
My darling was over stimulated by everything during our journey home. She ran in the airports and tripped more then a few times. She cracked her head so hard on the Austrian airport floor in immigration control that the 50 adults around us winced.
Ukraine is a diverse country the size of Texas. You can rent an apartment and have access to a washer and dryer. Or you could be in a very poor rural village with minimal lodging choices. Regardless you will likely have the ability to buy anything that you forget to bring. With all this in mind, here is my “essentials” packing list.
- Sense of Humor
- Stress Plan – This may be a very emotional trip. Maybe use a safe word. If you say the word “asparagus” the other person has to back off. Experiencing an emotional meltdown isn’t uncommon.
- Child Communication Plan – You can take something like Kwikpoint Cards or First Thousand Words in Russian.
- Lifebook Plan – To make a Lifebook you will need certain photos; you standing in front the SDAPRC, front of orphanage, court room, city life, rural life, etc… Think about the pictures you will want and write them down.
- Health Plan – Having a medical pack of some kind is very helpful. And don’t forget to buy traveler’s health insurance.
- Febreze™ – When you cannot wash your clothing, this can help.
- Duct Tape – It can be used to create or repair everything except for ducts.
- Flashlight
- Wet wipes and Waterless Soap Gel – Having a clean face and hands felt so good. And the wet wipes can be used on the train’s toilet. I was on an overnight train and the drunks had really bad aim.
- Ziplock bags – These are useful for storing almost everything.
- Enough clean underwear for 4 weeks.
- Assuming you are in Ukraine for 4 weeks, you will need 5 outfits with multiple layers. One outfit is more formal and is for the SDA appointment and court hearing. You may be too cold or too hot. You can adjust to the temperature by adding or removing a clothing layer.
- Personal Hygiene Items
- Entertainment – Books, Movies, Computer Games, Deck of Cards
- Copy of your dossier for reference