Care Packages From Home - What You Need vs. What You Want

I have always loved getting a package from Australia. Invariably it contained some of the foodstuffs or other little thing that had just finished from my Australian goods and packages hoarde which we first brought to China.

Now that I'm back in Shanghai, I've been busily storing away the mountains of stuff we brought back to China with us so we can feel that a little bit of our old lives can linger on in our Shanghai life.

The problem with bringing stuff from home back to Shanghai is really figuring out that there's sometimes a hard choice to be made between the items you need versus the items you want. And usually, with your small baggage allowances and will to travel lightly, something has to be cut.

So here's my list of the things I wanted, but couldn't take with me...

• Weet-bix (or any other cereal).
• Nutri-grain (supposedly a cereal - more like sugar, oil with corn).
• Any other cereal.
• Nacho Cheese Doritos (D-ree is with me on this).
• My Mum & Dad.
• Eye fillet steaks from The Breakfast Creek Hotel.

And here's the list of things that you can take with you...

• Vegemite
• Tim Tams
• Bounty and Cherry Ripe coconut chocolate bars.
• Socks that are size Euro 45+.
• Underwear - just something that won't last 2 washes
• Violet Crumbles - No idea why, this happened to my sister too when she & DannyS lived in the UK for ~3 years.
• Deodorants that work (yeah, I'm a stinky laowai). Rexona Sport Anti-Perspirant Deodorant - It won't let you down, and won't leave you smelly like Shanghai deodorants do.
• Eclectic Good Music - anything from the JJJ's playlist could get it, particularly if its got a blues & roots theme, is mellow, or upbeat.
• Books - just about any book could satisfy Linda, its just hard to find a book that already hasn't satisfied Linda!
• Packets of sauces: gravies, cheese-based sauces, pestos.
• Good quality shoes that are Euro 45+.
• Pharmaceuticals, supplements, and other such things.
• Big, well-fitting clothes off the rack (like my new jacket! Made in China ironically).
• COFFEE!!! Big bags of beans.
• My mum's pickled chutney.
• My manual SLR camera gear!
• Thai cooking ingredients (because you can, and I haven't looked that hard in Shanghai).
• Gifts for people.

I calculated that from this last trip, two-thirds of the weight I bore back from Australia could be attributed to the above. That's a good 20kg!

You should have seen me at the airport. Heavy stuff!