title: Packing Light: Thoughts on Living Life with Less Baggage
author:  Allison Vesterfelt 
description: <DIV><P>&ldquo;At 26, Allison Vesterfelt had a graduate degree and a job, but she felt like something was missing from what was supposed to be the climax of her life. So she gave up everything and embarked on a six-month cross-country road trip. In <I>Packing Light</I>, Vesterfelt, now an editor at <I>Prodigal Magazine</I>, tells her story in a beautiful, honest memoir that challenges us to reconsider what baggage we are carrying and what we need to leave behind.&ldquo; &ndash; Relevant Magazine. <I>Relevant Recommends: Books</I>. Issue 66. </P></DIV>
zlib_text: Prologue
  
  I suffer. I want a Prada bag. I'm in pain. I caught a cold, and now I have a
  stuffy nose, sore throat and only one thing can make me feel good again, only
  one thing can heal all the symptoms of a typical New York spring flu. A brand
  new, shiny, beautiful Prada bag. I guess I'll have to find some kind of job
  after all.
  
  Six month of sitting home, six month of doing absolutely nothing but watching
  TV, going out, sleeping, getting drunk and sleeping again. Oh no, wait, I was
  busy with something, I was doing some renovations in my new apartment. Which
  legally became mine only a month ago. Yep, that's what all my life has been
  about, spontaneous decisions and living in the moment. Because right now
  technically I'm a 25-year-old illegal immigrant from Russia, four years in New
  York, no papers, no work authorization, no work itself. Only a crazy life
  filled with restaurants, shops, beauty salons, clubs and restaurants again.
  How is it all possible? Very simple. I used to be a stripp