10 items I'm happy I packed & 10 items I wish I had packed

Let's state the obvious: packing to move abroad for a year can be very overwhelming! At the end of the day, trust the fact that whatever you bring and whatever you leave behind will be totally fine, as long as you remember the important stuff. 

Now that it's been a month and a half since I moved to Madrid, I've realized there are a lot of things I'm very happy I brought, and a few things that would've been nice to have. Below is the advice I'd give to someone teaching abroad next year:

10 items I'm happy I packed:

1. A year-supply of contact lenses & the daily medication I take. Make sure to get this from your doctor before leaving!
2. A folder with photos of friends and family, letters, small posters, and art to decorate my bedroom
3. My favorite books so that I can lend them to friends. Yes, they were heavy, but I'm so happy I have them with me
4. A gallon-size bag of toiletries and OTC medication so that I don't have to worry about finding it here for the first few months. I brought toothpaste, toothbrushes, makeup remover, Dayquil, Tylenol, Midol, allergy pills, bandaids, mascara, face lotion, etc.
5. €100-200 cash. You need €30 cash to open a bank account and the rest is just good to have
6. Multiple copies of my passport and visa
7. A large tote bag for walking around in the city all day (bonus points if you keep a notebook and pens in there)
8. AirTags that stay in my wallet, purse, and every suitcase when I travel in case they have to be checked
9. My tempur-pedic pillow from home (might seem silly but I brought it on the plane with me and no one questioned it)
10. A cheap pair of flip-flops from Old Navy (good for showering at hostels and they double as house shoes)
11. One extra for good measure: a good attitude!!!!!!!!!!!

10 items I wish I packed (but can obviously purchase here):

1. 20 pairs of socks because for some reason I only brought 12 pairs and now I have to do laundry all the time
2. More sweaters because it's already 10°C (50°F) until noon
3. Betty Crocker box cake and icing for friends' birthdays (you can find it here, but it's €6 for the cake and €8 for the icing)
4. 3 phone chargers (I had two and one already ran away so now I'm left with one)
5. Stationary to write a thank you note to my host family and language teachers
6. More shoes for walking (I brought a few but we walk around 15-18k steps a day, so it's good to have multiple options)
7. Wired headphones that aren't noise-cancelling
8. More of my books even though they're heavy (but they don't weigh your carry-on!)
9. This list is actually going to end here because I don't wish I brought anything else

If you're currently packing for your year abroad or you're thinking about moving abroad, trust me that you will figure it all out! Everything will fall into place and you are capable of doing everything you need to do. Thousands of people have done it before you, so you can too. You have endless resources and as long as you bring the necessities, you have nothing to worry about. ¡Buena suerte empacando!