Let’s talk about packing
ON PACKING
There are several factors that limit how much you are able to take with you. First is weight/baggage limits set by the airlines. Second, if you are traveling by car then your packing is determined by the amount of space available in your car. That’s easy. Next, if you are traveling by train the limiting factor in packing is your strength and endurance. Finally, so as not to stress you out I just want to show a very easy, moderate, and friendly set of stairs leading to a typical apartment. I am hesitant to show the narrow twisting staircase that leads up to the bedrooms.
Now, let’s return to that BIG, HEAVY suitcase that you want to bring. Remember you bring it; you carry it.
This next point was difficult for me to accept --- but bloody well impossible for Deed to accept. Are you ready for this bulletin? No matter how much time you take getting ready to go out in Italy --- or most other European countries, and no matter what you wear it is impossible to look as smart as an Italian. Give up! Relax. Let the gelato roll down your face.
The specifics of packing must also be to plan according to where and when you go.
Yes, packing is a big issue.
In our early years of travel, we packed too much vanity, and vanity is a very heavy item in the suitcase. When in Rome or Paris (not so much in London) we wanted to wow the locals with our style and fashion. We now have filed that idea in the “dumb and dumber” folder. Leave your vanity at home. Those guys across the pond live fashion. We live outlet malls.
What is to be done? We asked an old sage on the mountain top about our packing dilemma and through the misty clouds gently came the voice of wisdom, “Go my children to see but not to be seen.”
Piece of cake. So, let’s pack.
You have only one suitcase, one backpack, and of course the suitcase you take is not that extra-large plastic red one that should be reserved only for cruises to Jamaica.
There is no bad weather, just bad clothing. Your itinerary tells you what to pack. Europe is cobblestoned from one end to the other, so comfortable waterproof hiking boots are important, raingear, and a hat. What did you mumble? Speak up. Yes, you will need comfortable waterproof boots. For some reason this is a really hard sell.
Most places where you stay will have a drying rack in the bathrooms to handle the overnight wash. That really cuts down on the number of socks, underwear and light tops that you need to pack.
To further reduce the weight in my suitcase I buy much of what I will wear in the local street markets of Europe. Why take a wool sweater to Scotland? It’s silly to shop for your trip at TJ Maxx when you’re going to Madrid or Milan. Then with 2 days left in my trip I go to the local post office and send home at the cheapest rate most of what was bought --- antiques, books, clothing, etc. Yes, it’s marginally expensive, but remember we’re old and we have the money. But the point is that I never lug home a heavy awkward suitcase.
Let activities be your guide.
So, let’s pretend that you have just arrived in Dublin, Bruges, Oslo, or any one of a hundred villages, so far so good, but your friendly host at the B&B informs you that there will be rain for the next 4 or 5 days. At home it’s an easy call --- stay dry, stay inside. But in Bruges, or wherever you are, it’s hop into your rain pants, zipper up your hooded rain jacket, strap on your boots and pull down your hat and enjoy the sites. Rainy days or sunny days are both “out-and about” days.
In the big suitcase also goes a Swiss knife and the walking stick, cosmetics, and anything that the airlines and customs will not permit to be carried in the backpack.
TIP! Pockets, pockets, and more pockets. And in our backpacks our pockets have pockets. Now you understand why Deed doesn’t carry a purse. Her hands and arms are free to wield her walking stick as needed.
Almost every day I wear cargo pants (pockets) or travel shorts with gobs of pockets and a vest that has 12 pockets. No, I don’t look Italian. Why don’t I wear jeans? Because jeans have small stupid pockets.
Remember you go to see, and not to be seen. It’s all about form follows function, and to hell with fashion.
In the backpack for the flight, I always carry my meds in labeled containers wrapped in plastic bags including new prescription refills, all devices, cables, hearing case and charger, extra glasses, a shaving kit with toothbrush, toothpaste and deodorant. I am hairbrush and comb free which you may interpret to be either I am sloppy or bald. I also have a sweater, hat and raincoat --- and extra undies. My great fear has always been that my suitcase would get lost and I would have to buy Italian undies. Imagine me in Italian --- actually better not.
If our first stay is in Rome for 8 nights that’s all I have in the backpack.
But our last trip we stayed the first night at the Sign of the Angel a 15th century coach inn in Lacock a beautiful English heritage inn. The proprietors’ You Tube enchanted us in part because of their description of the inn as possessing, “creaky old floors, stone fireplaces, and uneven walls”. They failed to mention the narrow winding stairway leading up to our room. Once again, I remind you --- you bring it --- you carry it. But remember, I am no longer as dumb as l look. So, we never do an overnight carrying a suitcase but take what we might need in our backpacks.
When you have an overnight stay we strongly recommend that you backpack it, unless you are staying at the Hilton. So, for the trip to Lacock when we left home knowing we had a one-nighter our backpacks also had a complete change of clothing.
TIP! Because most of Europe uses AC (alternating current) you will need 2-3 converters.
This next paragraph likely will never see the light of day because Deed often hits the delete key on my late-night brainstorms. Deed has gone to bed and I’m on my own awash with confessional vibes that cannot be closeted any longer.
Opening the laptop I return to the topic of “packing”. When I travel naturally the suitcase is carefully packed with folded sparkling clean clothes, but by the 6th day some clothes are still somewhat folded and still sparkling clean while others are somewhat folded and somewhat clean. By the 10th day almost nothing is folded, and the clothes have moved to semi-clean phase, and as I approach day 16 while nothing can be declared as “dirty” some things do get left behind so by the time I am closing in on week four an attitude starts to overpower me when contemplating tomorrows’ packing.
That attitude takes on a life of its own and is best expressed. “I don’t give a damn!”
The funny thing is the rest of the trip is so much more relaxing. You know that old saw about, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Well, so is dirty.
We are getting better.
“How can that be?” you ask. Our slower-paced trips ensure our clothes remain clean and orderly even after 4-5 weeks.
We mostly stay longer in fewer places and neatly unpack as soon as we arrive, tuck the suitcases out of sight, and arrange the cottage or apartment to our liking.
Here’s where the age factor helps us keep our clothes orderly and clean. To the young this will sound arrogant or extravagant, but it is my firm conviction that the aging process grants an unspecified number of privileges. One of the privileges is space.
When we now rent a cottage or an apartment we rent, what Deed calls, a pretty good size place. After one night in a hotel room all four corners are messy or beyond, but after 12 nights in a large cottage, it’s still neat and tidy --- as are we.
In review
You bring it --- you carry it
Buy a sweater in Austria not at the local malls
Remember the size of the car trunk
Now, more about packing, but first another little story about where you most likely will not be staying --- at least we hope you will not be staying --- and that is at some sterilized bland cookie -cutter Americanized franchised hotel. Save that for Altoona.
Here are some of the places we have stayed on our journeys. University dorms, convents, hotels, working farms, a canal boat, a merchant ship, abbeys, B&B’s, resorts, inns, boarding houses, guesthouses, cottages, apartments, lighthouses, castles, and trains. So far we have been yurt free.
For some irrational reason we have not experienced elder hostels --- perhaps because it sounds too much like a youth hostel for old people. I half suspect the evenings in an elder hostel are spent roasting something and singing the best of Peter, Paul and Mary.
Finding the right place to stay is easy once you define who you are. In our youth we stayed at 1-star hotels, in fact, I painfully recall several 1/3-star hotels.
There were other times when we stayed in hotels, went to the theatre, ballet, and opera in the great halls of Europe. I’m told by my traveling authority that there were times when I wore a nice suit and tie and walked in dress shoes from the restaurant to the theatre sans backpack. I can’t recall. But during the daylight hours I always had my backpack and my pockets. Again, I digress.
When all is said and done your accommodations, and what you pack should match your itinerary. Pack for comfort.
What Deed wears on the airplane:
Boots
hoodie
loose fitting multipurpose skirt
raincoat
wick-a-way socks
backpack
money belt
top
Packing list for Deed:
2 pair shoes
Underwear
Socks
4 pants,
Walking shorts
Scarf, Balaclava,
Gloves, hat
5 tops
Sweater
Raingear
Washcloth
Extra glasses
Phone, cables, Converters
Walking stick
Documents
knife
TIP! Deed is less concerned with what she takes than the weight. Remember if you bring it you carry it. Deed’s suitcase is never more than 22 pounds for 5 weeks. During the trip Deed will shop and ship home a box(s) of goodies.