Luggage and Packing

I've come home (ie. "to my parent's house") for the Thanksgiving holiday, and one of my goals is to choose my luggage. It's quite tricky business, you know. You have to be able to fit everything you need in it, but it can't be too big or bulky and for someone [tiny] like me it's important to be able to carry the thing myself when it's full (ie. not too big), it has to be able to be searched easily without getting messed up, it has to stand out somehow so you can find it on the luggage belt, it has to be sturdy enough to cross an ocean... (must remember to look at Delta's luggage restrictions yet again).

Also important and proving difficult is knowing what I'm going to have to pack. There's the weather: I'll be passing through several different kinds of climate. Winter in Dallas is doubtless different from winter in New York, and in Africa it's actually summertime now and I have no idea what a summer in Cape Town is like.

The internets tell me the temperature ranges between 16°C (~60°F) and 26°C (~80°F) which quite frankly is heavenly to me. It means I can wear long pants/jeans plenty, and may need a sweater or jacket - which is fine because the ozone layer over Southern Africa is rather thin apparently. I've read that in the Western Cape winter is the least rainiest season, so that's good, but I've also been told that the wind in the city is phenominal, and I'm genuinely afraid of being blown away. May have to find some weighted boots! (Am I kidding? Who knows...)

I guess I'll just take what I'm wearing now, and include some shorts and a heavy jacket. I'm also getting prepared for the infrequency of air conditioning. What it's like outside it's likely to be like inside as well, and that's where being a spoiled American gets me. I like my steady 75.5°...

There's also me wondering how much laundry I'm going want to/be able/to do.

Final question, what do I want in my carry-on luggage? Mostly I think just my computer and some food.

By the way, I've already gone and purchased a grounded S. A. outlet adapter, and if I've done my homework properly my computer power source should be okay with the voltage there. *crossfingers*

To think I used to love packing so much...