I have been trying to perfect the art of packing. Over the years I felt that I had pared the necessities down to the basics, but this year somehow I lost sight of the grand simplicity that I had aspired to. It all started with a new slightly better Adolfo suitcase–just don’t do it.
Last summer when I picked up my bag from the airport I noticed yet another of my zipper pulls had disappeared. I don’t know how the baggage becomes so totally mangled in transit, but it does. My last bag was actually a nice size for quick trips because it was small enough to be a carry-on. But for five or six weeks, it gets a bit cramped. The last couple of summers I noticed that I was jamming more and more into the poor thing and it was as heavy as a load of textbooks by the time I headed for the airport to fly home (which may have contributed to the zipper pull problem–but I don’t really see how). It did “expand,” when necessary (and it is generally quite necessary when I do my yearly hunt for travel bargains.)
I save my little shekels all year so that I can blast through the European end-of-summer sales and bring home a new pile of clothes. I used to feel a bit sheepish about it–but no more. I have come to feel totally unapologetic on this point. The clothes in Europe are more stylish, they fit better, and I can almost guarantee that I won’t be wearing the same sweater that someone else in the office has. Not to mention that many countries in Europe regulate the frequency and seasons that stores may drastically reduce their prices. When the sales occur–as in the last weeks of July–the prices are dirt cheap, even at the nicest boutiques. Of course, it is like a feeding frenzy inside these shops and its best to stand clear of the women at the bargain tables. Honestly, when the stores close their doors for the evening the places look like they have been looted.
So given the need for a few souvenirs, gifts and the yearly clothes stash, my new larger plum Adolfo bag allowed me to expand my packing capacity. The bag had a hefty looking wheel base for added balance and stability-also, more internal structure. What I didn’t adequately test drive was the handle, which turned out to be a bit flimsy in comparison to the wheels, nor did I simply lift the thing up to see how heavy it was while still empty. The slightly heftier construction weighed more as well. Adding that to the increased dimension–I was no longer a lightweight traveler, and I regretted this every time I lugged the thing up a set of stairs from the metro.
I have a list that I just print out now to pack. It has everything on it so I don’t even have to think. I have a little camping organizer pouch for the toiletries–from R.E.I–I’ve had it for maybe 15 years and its still just the perfect little thing to carry most of what I bring besides clothes. So that wasn’t a problem. The problem was that with the bigger bag I could bring more crap–some of it is necessary, some not. For example, the umbrella. Anyone who has visited northern Europe on a rainy year will verify that you simply don’t want to be caught without one–you will just end up buying the first one you find during the first downpour. Then there is the requisite rain-jacket–sometimes needed, sometimes not–but if you don’t bring one you may end up shopping for one on the fly. I also always pack an extra duffel bag just folded inside my other bag, since there is inevitably overflow by the end of the trip that needs to be carried-on. Then there are the shoes. Its just always so damned hard to decide how many shoes to bring.
So, bottom line...here are the things I packed that I didn’t use at all: a second pair of jeans, a pair of cotton pants, a pair of cropped pants, two pairs of shoes, my rain-jacket, a towel, my swimsuit, a “modesty” scarf for the cathedrals, and several medium weight tops. Ok, some of these items I could well have used, but most were just taking up space because I had more space to take up. I could have actually eliminated about a third of what I brought. Lumped into a pile, it was probably a few pounds of extra crap to haul up every set of stairs–for which the only benefit was perhaps stronger arms and sore knees.
I took a look at my bag this evening. It really fared pretty well overall, aside from the piece of plastic that was torn off the underside on my long haul up the steep cobblestone alleys in Mértola (which dragged along the ground for about half the trip until I finally just ripped the thing completely off). But like so many other bloated American schemes, my packing needs downsizing. My suitcase has become an albatross around my neck.
I’ll be shopping for another new bag this year–the same carry-on size I had before–only with hefty wheels and handle. This time, however, I’ll sling it over my shoulder and carry it around the store for a half hour before I even think of rolling it up to the register. With my new “old” sized bag the decision about how many shoes to bring will resolve itself. All that extra crap just won’t fit.
