I love traveling. I love walking off a plane into a different climate and time zone and being surrounded by different languages and people. I love eating foods that taste like the high-def version of what I thought was authentic back home. I love having to remember to stand on the other side of the escalator and hand over a credit card with both hands. I love struggling to remember how to say “thank you,” and noticing when an “obrigado or a “kop khun kha” become second nature. Most of all, I love seeing the outfits people wear and finding out where they buy them so that I can wear those things while I’m there, too. When in Rome, right?I only really hate one thing about traveling, but it’s a really, really big hate. I despise airports. Every single minute I’m standing in line after I exit a plane is a minute less of fun. Mostly because of that, I’ve learned how to become an efficient packer to avoid checking any luggage and having to wait at the baggage carousel. I only do carry-on vacations, and so when I began thinking about what I was going to bring on my four-week-long # r29sabbatical throughout Southeast Asia, I knew that I had to really be ruthless. Not only did I have to fit 36 days' worth of things into one carry-on, but I also had to leave enough room for things I might/would definitely pick up while abroad. I had to go beyond “minimalist packing” and adopt a new strategy. Enter: The "Snowball Method".