A to-do list for the last day in Berlin
1. T-shirts
2. Sweatshirts
3. Shoes
4. Hairbrush
5. Underwear
6. Don’t forget to say goodbye to everyone, even the people who are like, “But you’re not really leaving” because taking an expensive airplane ride over a literal ocean isn’t really leaving, apparently
6a. You won’t say goodbye to everyone. Goodbyes are awkward and Berlin is big.
7. Don’t forget socks
8. Stress
9. Try spaghettieis, finally
10. Be a little disappointed with the reality of spaghettieis, which is that, on a hot day, it is more or less indistinguishable from regular ice cream.
11. Practice viola (one last time)
12. Get chocolate at supermarket (one last time)
13. Books
14. Souvenirs
15. Stress
16. Wallet
17. Stress
18. Purchase Bettdecke (They’re so comfortable!)
19. Go on bizarre cross-city Odyssey trying to figure out how to mail said Bettdecke home, since it won’t fit in suitcase. This will involve visiting three different post offices before finding one that is open.
19a. Be happy you’re leaving and won’t ever have to do that again.
19b. Be sad you’re leaving and won’t ever get to do that again.
20. Ticket
21. Passport
22. Stress
23. Last walk
24. Last dinner
25. Last (probably) Bahn ride with some lady’s Chihuahua invading personal bubble
26. Winter coat (No room in suitcase. Will have to wear it. Should be fun.)
27. Winter boots (No room in suitcase. Will have to wear them. This is going to be an exciting trip.)
28. Water bottle
29. Swim suit
30. Mood swings
31. Double check ticket
32. Double check passport
33. Stress
34. Remember that this is the thing you’ve been waiting for. Remember all those days when you were sick of having to repeat things to shopkeepers, or mime things to your guestmother, or look things up in your offline dictionary phone app while standing in the middle of the supermarket aisle. Remember you’re excited to go home.
34a. I am excited to go home.
34b. Or, I’m excited to be home. Not excited to leave Berlin. There’s a difference. I think.
35. Take out trash (why do I have so much garbage)
36. Vacuum room (no matter how I try, the cat hair will never go away completely)
37. Double-check
38. Triple-check
39. Quadruple-check
40. Suitcase
41. Carry-on
42. Personal item
43. A sense of adventure
44. Yourself
45. Pants
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Clarissa Grunwald
<p>Writer, composer, musician. American student with a terrible sense of direction set loose on Germany. After years of telling people that I love to travel, this is my first time actually leaving the country.</p>
