On Tuesday 17^th, I began to pack for my return to Shropshire, which would start in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Realising that I had – despite not really buying much (only a new pair of hiking boots, a couple of new tops, some Christmas presents and a dozen or so of books), and despite not having too many extra belongings (only the two coats my Mum brought over for me, the three books my Dad brought over, and the two pairs of shoes, dress and top that my brother brought over) – accumulated too much to fit in to my already overweight suitcase, I took the plunge and bought an extra bag for the plane. This meant that my weight allowance was 46kg of hold luggage, and a further 10kg of cabin baggage.

The first disaster came when I tied to zip up my new…