Most of my friends would agree, I think, that I’m reasonably
well-travelled. So when they take a trip they often ask me how much of each item to bring on
a given trip.
I admit I have packing lists based on country or state – or
time of year – and length of stay. I’m not obsessive. I’ve simply made packing
lists for vacations and never bothered to delete them.
It simplifies things for the next vacation. And I’ve updated
several of them based on what did or did not work.
Having just returned from my longest trip since my semester
abroad in the ’70s, I have learned some valuable lessons: chief among them finding
lighter, more compact items.
Recently, I was away
for a month. While some practical people would assume I’d do laundry at some
point, that was not part of my agenda (And yes, I do have that much underwear).
Why not?
The first two weeks I was with family members. They had only
the two weeks, and I didn’t want to take away from their tour opportunities to
do laundry.
Next, I had four days on my own to discover some places I’d
never been to before in Northern Ireland. Being in new territory not only meant
opportunities to explore, but also no idea where to find a laundromat. The only
time I saw one in all of Ireland was on the way out of Dundalk on my way to
Dublin Airport.
The third leg of my trip was a week in County Donegal for a
total emersion Irish language course. We spent all day in class, and most of
the evening in enrichment events, such as Celtic Dance, story-telling sessions
or going to the pub for the craic (although pronounced crack, it has nothing to
do with drugs). There was nowhere and no time to do laundry.
My final three days involved meeting and spending time with
distant relatives, and by then, there was little point in doing laundry. If my
cousins didn’t like seeing me in the same trousers and shirt two days in a row
they were too polite to say so. It was the last of my clean clothes.
Most people don’t think about finding laundromats. They
simply assume they exist. After all, when was the last time you used one? For
me, it was 1979 in Manchester, England.
Hotels may do your laundry for you, but the charge is
usually high. I’m generally trying to save money for important things, like
seeing someplace new, so using a hotel laundry is out of the question. Besides,
I mainly stay in inexpensive hotels or B&Bs. While they may offer ironing
boards or hair dryers, laundry is not
part of the deal.
Assuming doing laundry while vacationing is off the table,
here are a couple of suggestions.
Some people do their “delicates” in the bathroom sink. A
good option, but personally, I never feel like they’re really clean unless
they’ve been scrubbed on a rock by a professional washerwoman (or man). But
that’s me.
Febreeze.
I was introduced to this concept by a fellow traveler, and
by the fact that they sell travel-sized containers of it in places like Target
and the local drug store.
At the end of the day, spray your outer clothes in the areas
they may develop odors with the Febreeze. Hang them up and plan on a different
outfit for the next day. When you come back to them, they will most likely
smell clean.
A clothes brush (or your hair brush if you’re desperate – I
am talking discount travel).
If you spill
something other than drinks or oil on your clothes, once it’s dry, you may well
be able to give the clothes a good strong brushing and remove the offending
dirt/stain. Wine and olive oil, I’m afraid, do not respond to brushing.
If you do spill wine, oil or something similar on clothes
you’d like to wear again, by all means, rinse the area with cold water as soon
as you can, and do a spot clean with soap and water. It may or may not work.
Now that we have laundry out of the way, I discovered a few
things about my luggage.
Over the years, I have had a variety of cases for traveling.
I have whittled those down to three different sizes. And for me, any that are
large require wheels and pull handles.
My largest isn’t the largest size made. It’s just too big to
fit as carry-on. It’s about 27 inches. But it is large enough for me to fit at
least two weeks’ worth of clothes in it, with room for a souvenir sweater or
two. I generally only use this when I’m traveling overseas or other places that
allow a free checked bag. (Obviously, there are certain airlines I don’t fly.)
However, this trip I discovered, not for the first time,
that, when it’s fully loaded, I can
barely lift this bag on and off trains and buses or up a flight of stairs.
If I’m going on a cruise, where we’re picked up at our
doorstep, dropped off at the airport, and then chauffeured to our ship, where
all lifting and carting is done by someone else, this bag is just fine.
If, as it happened this trip, you are on your own for the
lifting – or if you can’t afford/ don’t do the airport limo – you can hope for
the kindness of strangers, which I found in abundance in Ireland. But be
prepared to fend for yourself.
The fending for myself has made me want to look for a
lighter-weight case for my big trips.
My second case, which is the largest carry-on size, is my
go-to for under two-week trips. If I get creative, or most of my clothes are
shorts and T-shirts, I can get away with it for a two-week trip. It’s all a
matter of finding the packing method that works for you. I use packing cubes
and some rolled clothes. I find rolling actually does make them take up less
space. The downside is that larger items (shirts, trousers) tend to wrinkle, so
if you don’t like ironing, they may be better flat.
The down side to the second case is that it is the same
construction as the large one, so that, when stuffed to the gills, with the
expansion part open, it’s nearly as heavy as the bigger case. But it’s still
manageable, as long as I keep up with my fitness program.
The third case is a weekender, designed to fit under the
seat of an airplane (and it actually does!). I can pack for a week in this. If
you’re flying and need leg room, you’d want to put this one in the overhead
compartment. If you’re like me, and short, this one will suit a short vacation
when using those ultra-stingy flights that don’t let you use the overhead
without charge. (I never fly the airlines that don’t even allow carry-on
without charge.) And it’s lightweight.
You may think, at this point, why not ditch the large one
and use the two small ones? Well, they’re both on wheels, which is great for
pavement walking, but cumbersome when going up and down stairs or getting on
and off trains.
Generally, I have a second bag, my true carry-on, cleverly
posing as my computer bag. It’s a backpack. This is for my electronics and the
insignificant things like passport, wallet and keys.
When traveling overseas or somewhere I think I might need
entertainment like email and Facebook, I pack my Surface, which is a pseudo-laptop.
I know, Blue Scream will rant it’s not called that. It’s a sort-of tablet with
an attachable keyboard. But that’s my name for it.
In addition to the Surface (which I also use to download and
title any pictures I take before I forget what they are of), I have my phone,
my DSLR camera, a Kindle, an iPod, a converter and a plastic bag with any small
liquids I may need before I arrive at my destination.
Ok, at this point, you’re probably shaking your head and saying
I’m over-packed. Let me ‘splain it to you.
Yes, my phone takes pictures. But I don’t find the quality
or the ability to take anything more than instamatic shots to be very good.
Yes, I could get all the gadgetry to turn it into an alien being that takes the
sorts of pictures my DSLR does. But the DSLR is already set up for that.
However, the DSLR is big and clunky and it is probably the
heaviest item in my backpack, making carrying the backpack almost as trying on
my muscles as lifting the big case. I am looking into getting a smaller,
lighter version that isn’t simply a point-and-shoot.
Yes, I have the Kindle app on my phone. But it eats up
battery almost as quickly as using the phone as a camera (I’ve used up battery
power while touring around and needed a back-up camera). I would have to be in
constant contact with a recharge station in order to multi-task the phone in
this way. Also, I prefer a larger medium
for reading than that little screen. And the Kindle stays charged the whole
trip without a recharge.
For very short
sessions I will read on the phone, or use it to take a few pictures so I’ll
have the place recorded. But long term, the phone doesn’t have enough battery
power or storage for me to give up my over-packing ways.
I also have access to the internet on my phone, but I don’t
like the way it accesses it. And overseas, unless you get a special plan, there
is a charge for data and calls. Why pay for an extra plan when I already have
internet access on my Surface?
And let’s not forget the iPod. Yes, I could somehow get
music on my phone. However, I’m not sure how that works or if I can multi-task
the phone to play music while I’m doing something else with it. And how much
battery does that eat? As long as I have a perfectly good iPod that works and
still isn’t full, why not use it?
Ok, I could leave the iPod home. I really only use it on the
plane. And there are generally pretty good movies on the plane that Blue Scream
was never interested in seeing, so I missed.
One thing I regret leaving home this time was the
noise-reduction headphones. I usually use these with the iPod, but since I got
ear buds that actually do fit my ears (long story), I decided the headphones
were too cumbersome, since I usually only use them on the plane.
Bad move! On the flight home this time, there was a toddler
who screamed throughout the entire flight (except take-off and landing, when
most babies cry). Having experience with children, I could tell this was not a
fear or pain scream, it was a brat scream (The accompanying behavior made this
obvious), which his caregivers did nothing to make stop.
This is where noise reduction headphones become a necessity.
Had I only packed them, I could have had seven blessed hours of just listening
to movies or even a peaceful nap. But no. Seven hours of some 3-year-old
screaming for no very good reason made it difficult to even hear the movie
through my iPhone earbuds.
On my next trip I will carefully think through whether I’m
going to read enough to bring the Kindle. If I can also find a smaller, lighter
DSLR camera, that would allow me to bring a smaller backpack (which I already
have). But the noise-reduction headphones will definitely be in it.
Lessons learned: Think carefully before packing; find
lighter suitcases; find a smaller camera; reading may be fundamental, but do it
on a smaller screen when traveling.
Tune in next month, when the topic of the blog will be:
Adventures in Packing, part II, in which I will discuss the things inside the suitcases.
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