Spending large amounts of money

Okay, I have booked my flights. I shall be staying in Sydney and Tokyo for a week each and visiting Abu Dhabi for 4 hours, then on to London. YAY!!! So excited. And my friend wants to take me to Disneyland Tokyo. Must remember to leave enough money to get into the UK...

Now I’m thinking about what I should pack. I have been thinking about this a looong time. Default baggage allowance is 23kg+7kg (multiply by about 2 for lb). It’s not much. Not when I’m planning to be away for 18 months. I once smuggled 13kg worth of hand-luggage on a domestic flight (you just have to walk tall and pretend your backpack isn’t pulling you through the floor. And I did maths to figure out how much the overhead lockers can carry, thank you. There was no danger of me breaking the plane. I thought about it), but I don’t think I’ll risk it internationally. Domestic flights you can just drop stuff with friends if they catch you. International... not so much.

So. 30kg. I had a crazy idea that I’d take pictures of all my knick-knacks and paintings and things, print them out and hang them on my new wall on the other side of the world so that I’d have some kind of decoration in my new room. Then I thought this might be weird. But fun. And possibly entertaining for my bemused flatmates.

What can I fit into a suitcase? I would like to fit three pairs of boots, three pairs of shoes, two blankets and a feather duvet, a pillow, dresses, t-shirts, jackets, coats, a soft toy or two, jeans, skirts, trousers, books, make-up, jewellery, and my cat. I wish I had Hermione’s evening purse, or even Mary Poppins’ carpet bag. Neither of them would have any trouble on international flights (I’m sure the weighers wouldn’t ask to weigh Hermione’s evening bag).

I’m going to make a list of all the stuff I can take and how much fits in my suitcase, which I may or may not have bought yet (depends whether I decide to take a suitcase we’ve already got or not. I’m not going to take my old one because the mayor dragged it around the waterfront and skidded the wheels and now it clicks loudly. Yes, the mayor).

Question desert island style: what would you definitely stick in your suitcase?