Take It or Leave It

I have written a lot of posts about the things that I am glad to have with me on a long trip (see HERE and HERE) but Sarah’s post the other day prompted me to think about what I took with me that I wish I had left behind. Of course I already had a list started in my trusty Paperchase Notebook (HERE). Okay, so I am sorry, but I couldn’t help sneaking in one of the “can’t do without” items. 

In addition to Sarah’s back supporter and mini micro-fleece moldy travel towel (and her 50 granola bars and 20 pair of underwear), here are a few things that I could have done without: 

-       Socks: It depends on where you are going but usually you can do with very few pairs of socks. I brought three pairs – 2 pairs of ankle socks and one long pair for combo warmth and utility. If you are going to a warm place ONLY, I would say, bring one pair. Unless you are hiking, you don’t need very many and you can ALWAYS rinse them out and hang them up. (Also, buying these abroad is cheap if you absolutely need a new pair) However, I tend to bring a lot of underwear. If I have clean underwear, I feel “clean”. Right?

-       Unnecessary Electronics: 2 chargers, three USB cords, extra batteries… My electronics bag is probably one of the things that contributes most to the weight of my pack. However, unfortunately, until Apple, Sony and Amazon start getting along, you may have to carry at least two cords. I made the mistake of ALSO bringing a battery operated iPod charger, which was heavy since I also had extra batteries for it. I did not use it at all. I thought maybe I would be in a place with no power, but I rarely was. There are plugs in other countries! I would suggest investing in both a universal charger and a universal adapter and only taking these.

-       This brings me to a related subject and the other thing that weighs down my pack the most, Unnecessary Toiletries: I am not even really a very girly girl, so I didn’t have makeup or weird lotions or powders, but I still had A LOT of toiletries! Shampoo, Conditioner, Soap, Contact Lens Solution, Sunscreen, Fingernail Clippers, Floss, Toothpaste, A Year’s Supply of Tampons, etc. Unfortunately, you do NEED a lot of these things. And, some things, such as Tampons and Sunscreen, depending on where you are going, are scarce. However, I suggest taking small bottles and buying many things along the way (yes, they do have shampoo pretty much EVERYWHERE in the World!) Especially of Shampoo and Conditioner – get a combo and don’t wash your hair as often (gasp). Also, use things for more than one purpose. Shampoo can also be body wash or laundry detergent. Sunscreen can be your new body lotion. Tampons can be…no, just kidding.

-       Books: This is a hard one for me, as I don’t want to run out of reading material. When we started our trip, we had: (1) Lonely Planet Europe, (1) Lonely Planet Southern Africa, (1) Lonely Planet Africa, (3) Novels – me, (3) Novels – Mr. L. That is 9 books total, and that doesn't even count my journal, a couple of magazines and a mini notebook for my purse. The LP’s weigh about 45 lbs each*. If you don’t mind wreaking book havoc, I would say cut out the section of the LP that you need and only bring that. If you want to keep it, you will have to lug around quite a heavy book! Now there are also LP’s for iPad, iPhone etc. This may be the way to go, although I have not tried them to see how they look. They would be a lot lighter! As for Novels, there are always book swaps at hostels. Sometimes you have to pay a little fee to swap, but a dollar or two is worth saving your back! I admit, I did read some pretty horrible strange books while traveling, but there WERE always books in English! I would say carry one or two. Or get a Kindle! *small exaggeration. They may be about 5 lbs though!

-       Clothes: Clothes are HEAVY! Think carefully about what you will need, and pack accordingly. For me, we were not going to any nice places, so I could mostly pack hiking type stuff that could double as street wear. Get used to wearing things a few times a week, layering or mixing and matching few items. You may start out thinking fashion is important, but soon you will realize it all comes down to how much each thing weighs!

-       Food: We, and by we, mostly I mean my boyfriend, carried around a lot of food. Most of it we ate. However, there were some things (canned Pate from France) that we carried around for a long time before finally deciding to ditch. I guess it’s the survival instinct. It is hard to find non-perishable things that you can carry easily and eat quickly. They are mostly canned. And heavy. Just try to plan to go shopping more often and carry less items if you can. This one is difficult, as it is hard to have enough so if you have a 25 hour bus ride with no stops you don’t starve, but to not have to carry around 400 lbs of canned tuna.

-       Weighty Items in General: When picking out your backpack, tent, jacket or sleeping bag, it may be worth it to spend a couple (hundred) extra dollars to get the lightweight versions. I heard about a guy who hiked the Pacific Crest Trail with only 7 lbs on his back. He hiked it twice in one year (normally one way takes about 5 or 6 months). Now, I am not suggesting you do that, but if your sleeping bag weighs one pound versus six, and your pack, tent and jacket are the same, you will save 5, 10 or 20 lbs just by paying a couple hundred more for your items. This is the same even if you are not camping. Check the weight of your items! 

Here are a few lists of things I DO like to have with me:

How to Pack Light For a Long Trip
Top 10 Essentials For Your Pack
More Essential Travel Items
10 Things You Will Be Glad You Lugged Around

Are there things you have brought with you on a trip and not used? What is one thing you would leave behind? What is one thing you cannot live without when traveling?

My First Time

Do you remember your first time? I do. I was so nervous! I had no idea what I was doing; I wasn't prepared. I brought too much stuff. I was way too early.

What? NO!!! What did you think I was talking about? I am talking about my first time abroad! Sheesh.

The destination: Bordeaux, France.

The reason: I had taken a semester of French in college and had then (rashly) signed up for a summer abroad work program.

My French was not good. I was young and crazy. I would never do this now, since I really wasn't ready. But I am so glad I did.

I was not packed when my parents came to take me to the airport. And when I say "not packed", I mean...my entire room was in a shambles. I was moving out of my house I had lived in for a few years; I had quit my job, had a huge going away party at my house and two days later, I was moving out of my house. I didn't have ANY idea what to bring on a trip, especially when I would be gone for three months. I didn't know what the apartment I would be staying in would have in it. I didn't know what I would be able to buy in...ooooh....France (like it was Mars or something!) I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

We finally got everything together and my suitcases consisted of: 1 suitcase that I got from my dad and was probably from the 1950s. It looked like this:

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Notice it DOES NOT have a sweet handle to pull it with. I does have a leather strap, but one that was not as long as the one in this picture. Think: one of those straps that goes on a clutch handbag. It was more like that. A wrist strap. So, to use the wheels, you had to crouch way over and pull it. (by the way, note to self, never google "crouched over" when you are looking for a visual aid for this post)

And 2: A regular, and by regular I mean old, suitcase which was also large and had to be carried by a handle.

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So, I get on the plane in San Francisco and I arrive in Paris. If you have ever been to Charles de Gaulle airport, you will know that it is a bit confusing. There are multiple terminals and the train station has to be taken from a certain one and I was tired and I didn't have any francs yet, and I didn't speak French very well and I couldn't read the maps and I was shy! There were turn-styles that you had to go through to get onto the train and I had my two huge suitcases (and I think I may have also had a backpack) full of clothes and shoes and alarm clocks (what, you can BUY those in foreign countries?) and presents for my future new friends (I was told this was "good manners" but that's another story.)

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I got stuck. My suitcase with the wrist strap got stuck in the turn-style and it was still attached to my wrist and I tried to heave the other one over the gate but it was too full of crap I didn't need heavy. And people were looking at me like, "what is YOUR problem?" and they were talking to me very quickly ("Vous-avez besoin d'aide? Madmoiselle? blah, blah, blah") and I couldn't understand what they were saying and I couldn't get my suitcase out of the doors and I couldn't get my wrist out of the strap and I wanted to sit down and cry.

I finally got my wrist free, got my suitcase free, got francs, figured out where the Gare du Nord train station was and how to get to it and got on the train. The TGV, which is the speedy train in France was awesome! I was highly impressed, although my jet lagged mind was really looking forward to going to bed. However, it was my first time abroad! I was so excited. Bordeaux was about 2 hours by train from Paris and the trip went by fast. I arrived at the train station in Bordeaux thinking, "how the heck am I going to get to the apartment?" But, wonder of wonders, the girl who's apartment I was subletting was there at the train station. With her boyfriend, who was VERY good at lugging around suitcases.

I still had difficulty trying to speak to them in French and to understand what they were saying, but luckily gratitude and kindness are both common languages around the world.


To see what I have learned about packing in the last 12 years, you can go here .

"Her Royal Highness's Matched Luggage" - Original Source HERE. Edited by Me.