Packing - Ugh!
How I hate this part.....deciding what to take, what not to take, what suitcases-the big ones or the small ones, then trying to make it all fit in and not be too heavy. The main problem is getting on a cruise at the end of our nine days in Japan and spending nineteen days on the ship . If we were only doing the land visit the exponential increase of our luggage would be averted. The itinerary of this cruise - the polar route - means we have to include sweatshirts, vests, jackets and gloves and oh yes...two mini umbrellas. It's much easier when you just need shorts and swimsuits.I do all the right things; I wrap each item in a separate plastic bag, colour coordinate so everything is mix and match, take lightweight drip dry items where possible and heed every other tip I find to help me with this hated task. I always say "This time we're going to travel very lightly" but why is it when all is done, I then have to go through everything and cull the contents. One suitcase each and a carry-on is the maximum but I wish I could manage to take smaller and therefore lighter bags. It's those darn formal evenings that cause the problem....it means my husband packs his tuxedo, as well as a sport jacket and then the black shoes and the white shoes to go with his stylish attire. Then of course, there's mine but we won't go into that.
As well as clothes and shoes, there are cameras with their necessary chargers and cables, and binoculars...thank goodness for the mini ones; books - I always have at least two travel books because they always seem to have different information and as we do our own tours, they are necessary but heavy. Then an entertainment book each - fiction for me so I can get lost in the story when flying or waiting; non-fiction for him - probably something important like Poker Strategy. We always toss in a couple of fold up bags for any purchases that we just can't resist.
I have lots of those little plastic bottles and containers and transfer what I can into them....lotions, hair gel, and other such stuff but then you're supposed to leave medications in their original containers and have to squish them in too, even if they're large and half empty.
We top off our carry-ons with four bottles of water to keep hydrated while flying, Vaseline for our nostrils (this is a new hint I gleaned on a forum - keeps tissues moist and hinders those flying viruses from landing - I guess they slide right off). Moistened wipes to clean the trays, which are so often mucky from the previous inhabitant of the seat, a small bottle of antiseptic hand cleaner, Kleenex, earplugs, Alpine gum to assist clearing the ears as we change altitude, hand cream, lip balm and slipper socks complete our flying comfort kit.
posted by O'Leary @ 7:20 PM
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