OH MAN. So I’m leaving in a few days for what can only be described as an epic adventure (5 months traveling around Europe just because I can) and while excited, I have to admit the planning process has been slightly overwhelming… and I’m almost at the point of just showing up with the clothes on my back and leaving everything else to figure out later. So in the spirit of packing I’ve asked my fellow princesses to think about the things they can’t live without for this month’s COTM. What do you always bring when you leave the house for the day, the week, forever?
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I always like to be prepared. So even if it’s just leaving the house for the day, I make sure I have everything. I’m one of those people who checks and double checks and then checks a third time to make sure I’m not forgetting my phone or my keys or my cards. Of course, those are all pretty much necessities. The one other thing that I take with me on a daily basis is chapstick. Whenever I don’t have that on me it’s very annoying because I use it so often. I hate the feeling of dry lips.
As far as longer trips, I feel the most important thing to have with you are good walking shoes and a rain jacket. I don’t feel that I need to bring a lot of stuff with me when I travel. I just want the experience of being somewhere new. I don’t want to be weighed down with a lot of baggage.
And the same goes for when I move residences. I think moving is a good excuse to purge unnecessary things. Of course, I have my own stash of sentimental items like photographs, but besides that I like getting rid of old clothes, furniture, etc. My organizational style is probably best described as organized clutter. So, when I actually have a reason, like moving, to go through the clutter and dump things—it is a very satisfying feeling.
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When I was growing up, my family almost never traveled. We took exactly two vacations in the first 18 years of my life that required us to fly on an airplane. But since moving abroad almost two years ago, I have probably been on 12-15 international flights. Needless to say, I’ve become a better traveler, and I’m now used to packing all my important worldly possessions into a few suitcases and moving them thousands of miles. I’ve always been an overpacker—I like to be prepared. For me, that means always packing more clothes than I’ll actually need, because I can’t predict what outfits I’ll want to wear days or weeks in advance (my husband gets annoyed with me for this). There are a few things I never travel without: comfortable clothes/shoes, my Kindle, and my bottle o’pills.
Wherever life may take me, I want to be comfortable, so yoga pants are always a great option, and shoes that don’t result in blisters are a must. Bonus points if they’re easy to slip in and out of when going through airport security. For long, long international flights I almost always wear the same outfit: a comfy three-quarter length shirt and my softest pair of jeans. Once I’m comfy, I have to ward off the boredom that sometimes comes with traveling. The Kindle is a great invention for someone living the expat life like me, because you can carry innumerable books with you at all times, download new ones from wherever, and yet it’s compact and lightweight. Winner.
Finally, part of always being prepared means thinking about contingencies—will I get a sore throat, chapped lips, start my period early, need to brush my teeth? I always have this kind of stuff with me, just to be safe. I carry a little Tylenol bottle with a random assortment of over-the-counter pain-killers, some Benadryl or Melatonin for sleeping on planes, and some Sudafed or other cold-symptom reliever.There have been many, many times when having this little bottle with me saved the day, whether it was when fighting a cold during a long work day or getting cramps at 35,000 feet.
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I never leave the house without a camera (some things are too pretty to forget), my notebook (to write down things I know my brain won’t remember), a deck of cards (always useful) and a water bottle (hydration=happiness). Carrying all these things generally means I become the purse for the group, stashing phones and wallets and keys so we all don’t have to bring tons of things at concerts and adventures. But I don’t mind, because water and photos are invaluable and carrying things makes me feel strong.
For a week long adventure I’ll bring a hat to protect from sun/cold depending on the season, my phone so I can fall asleep playing Free Cell while listening to music, and excellent walking shoes – I just don’t understand why anyone would adventure without the right shoes. I also always bring a blanket, I’ve learned my lesson from sleeping on airport floors and friend’s couches, blankets are a must.
If I moved I’d have to bring… everything. I’m okay leaving my craft art supplies for a few months, or leaving my favorite candle that puts me in a trance every time I smell it on my dresser for a while, but I’ll always want to come back to them, my scrapbooks and CD collection, my books and journals, my greeting card stash and drawer of random figurines. I have letters and costumes, home videos and photo albums, American girl dolls and beanie babies. I even have a binder full of stickers that I’ve organized by subject. My most frequent nightmare is watching my house burn down, having no time to decide what to save or how to save it. These things all mean a lot to me, and while I frequently purge parts of all these collections, I rarely throw one out entirely. Some people like to always be prepared when they leave the house, I like to always be prepared when I’m at home. Inside is for creativity, outside is for adventure.