The more I can travel the better. Any size of trip
broadens my mind and teaches me a lot; it’s a fascinating thing to do, it
really is. And it’s not just the trip itself, but the planning, the
expectations and of course the utter excitement of packing. Calculating the
right quantity of clean undergarments, decide on ankle or tube-socks and other life-saving
being-away-from-home necessities to bring along, can in itself be extremely
exciting – okay, in a weird kind of way, but still exciting.
My packing background and self-inflicted packing expertise
is based on countless trips within Europe as a young lad living in Denmark and then
from many trips to Europe and elsewhere since I moved to the USA. We go to
Scandinavia at least once a year. It’s not like we travel with deep pockets,
but visiting our family and friends in Scandinavia has always been a travel
priority – so we have made it happen.
Tomorrow morning we are off to Florence and Tuscany
(Italy) and on to Denmark and Sweden. We planned and bought the flying, hotels,
museums and rental cars some 4-5 months ago; a lot of time to enjoy great
expectations. And then the all-important travel packing must be done; talking
about utter excitement.
Some travel light with barely enough clean undies and
socks to last half the trip; the reason some tourists smell, well like
tourists. Some overload on a lot of unnecessary stuff (flat screen TVs and
microwave ovens); some pack and repack 2-3 months ahead of time. Some promise
themselves that THIS time the packing will be done so ahead of time – and then
they scramble to fill the suitcase with anything an hour before departure – but
they promise themselves that NEXT time will be different – and it really won’t.
We have the ones who, for some slightly warped
reason pack every bloody thing in Ziploc bags of all sizes – and then mark them
using a blue Sharpie just in case they don’t fully recognize their own
underwear through the clear plastic - duh.
Some travelers use bags bigger than Ziplocs, cramming
a bunch of stuff in there and mark it “Tuesday”, or whatever day these clothes
will be worn; from undies (sounds like I’m excited about undies, huh? Well, I
am, all depending…) to blouses, socks, shoes, jewelry, and the occasionally weird
travel hats. I’m positive that we have as many different packing-strategies as
we have travelers.
When I pack depends solely on the time of departure
– rather scientific, huh? Tomorrow’s take-off is at 8am which means we leave
home for the airport at 4:30am, getting up at 3:30am. So my packing will take
place the evening before, with a light round-up in the morning. Pay attention,
because this is how it’s done – fast, furiously and efficient; you might even
want to take notes.
We will be gone 22 days including full days of
travel on each end. Looking at the itinerary, we are staying with good friends
in Bedonia (Italy) from day 8 through day 11. So I inquired about the availability
of laundry facilities. All Angela said, in fluent Italian, was: “DUH”, which actually
means: “Duh, e persona stupida” (translates to: “of course, you silly person”).
A second laundry facility will be available near Stockholm (Sweden) on day 17, so
I plan my clean underwear strategy accordingly.
Based on the above and without the use of an adding
machine, I can now calculate quantities using the figure 10. This will leave me
a bit of breathing room for the “just in case” moments, of which I have had
none what so ever – ever. You are proud of me, aren’t you?
So the evening before take-off I lay out my
travel-clothes, top to bottom. Then I pack, based on 10: 10 pairs of underwear,
10 pairs of socks (2 variations), and a mix of 10 T-Shirts, polo-shirts and
perhaps a dress shirt – but rarely. As the weather should be warm in Italy and
predictably unpredictable in Denmark and Sweden, I will bring 3 pairs of shorts
(heavy duty with lots of pockets) and some cargo-pants. I add a couple of
sweaters (for cool Nordic nights) and a thin nylon jacket that is actually very
warm (for cool and rainy Nordic nights).
I travel in sneakers, light as can be, and pack a heavier
pair for variety and support. We are going to do a lot of walking, but mostly
on flat and paved surfaces, so hiking-boots are not needed. By the way, the
last time I said “hiking-boots are not needed”, I broke a leg – brilliant. And
that’s about it – fast, furious and simple; not the broken leg thing, but the
packing.
I’m a very active photographer, so my carry-on will
have a couple of cameras, some lenses and other photo stuff. I also pack a
laptop (checking E-Mails, looking at the day’s photos, etc.), my Kindle Fire
(for reading), both my US and European mobiles, as well as my iPod for musical
entertainment and Italian lessons; yes, I want to verbally communicate (and
embarrass myself) with the natives beyond handing out round and shiny objects
to appease them; “prego prego”. I also pack a few pens, a steno-pad as well as all
the reservation documents, passports, ticket information, a bit of cash, a credit
and debit card – just in case, huh?
The morning of departure, I place my beauty-bag on
the bathroom counter, and as I go through my normal beautification routine, the
stuff I use, go into the bag after I use it (after brushing teeth, all of them,
toothbrush and paste are dumped in, etc.) very quick and efficient. And I’m
good to fly…
I have never missed anything, but at times I have
packed stuff where I have spent a bit of time going: “Now why the heck did I
bring this?” Case in point, on a 12-day solo trip to Denmark visiting my
Mother, I brought one of them rubber elastic band exercise things that never
made it out of the Ziploc (Oh my, it WAS in one of those bags). Well, the
intentions were good.
On another solo-trip I brought so much writing-stuff
as I was working on my first book. A heavy duty HP laptop, research
material, pads and pens and lots of notes. I sat down and wrote only once – and
then I dragged everything back to California.
I have never been insanely concerned about how I
dress when I travel – simply because I travel, so I consider whatever I want to
wear is cool. I have never felt over-dressed, but on the other hand I
have never felt under-dressed either. I start every day in clean clothes,
including clean undies – isn't that all we should expect from a vary traveler?
But I wouldn’t be surprised if the natives are commenting behind my back: “Look at what he is wearing
– he must be a great travel packer… Or perhaps his wife is…” – I would tell them that it’s just from years of
experience.
In spite of my travel packing being a thing of efficient
beauty and swiftness, I am staying so far away from commenting on how my wife
or anybody else packs for trips, simply because I am not, as they say in
Italian: “Una persona stupida” and I think that’s pretty smart, don’t you?
Ciao, Pietra
No comments:
Post a Comment