Packing Problems

The biggest problem that new travelers have is that they pack too darn much.


Put your heels back in your closet, and no, you probably don't need to bring that curling iron.
If you're anything like me, you spend most of your time abroad skipping along in your Keens with your hair windblown and utterly unkempt.

Two days ago the company I work for got me plane tickets to Germany for a game convention (Not game-hunting, not computer games, but old fashioned pen-and-paper roll-the-dice type of games). My flight leaves tomorrow. I am very grateful that I have traveled before, and so am not at all frazzled when it comes to figuring out what to pack.

Here is a complete list of everything I am taking with me:

• Ipod, charger, headphones
• Outlet converter
• Sarong (multi-functional, can serve as a towel, a beach cover up, a skirt, a picnic blanket, toga, etc)
• Three pairs of pants (one worn on the plane, one that can double as pajamas)
• One skirt
• Four shirts (neutral, that can go with all my bottoms, at least one long-sleeved)
• Three tank tops
  
• 6 pairs of socks
• 9 pairs underwear
• two books
• Manuscripts for work
• product to sell at the convention
• one belt (not worn on plane, as it makes the security process more difficult)
• Toiletries (toothbrush, toothpaste, face wash, Dr. Brommer's soap, cu-tips, feminine needs, hand sanitizer, baby wipes, medications)
• Maybe a necklace and a pair of earrings (I like to pick these items up when I arrive, they make nice gifts to myself)
• Notebook and pen
• Slip-on shoes (worn on airplane)
• Keen sandals
• travel towel
• Passport
• Currency of wherever I am headed to (easy if I have already been there, as I usually just put away the leftover cash from my previous trips)
• Mini-flashlight
• Presents from home (chocolate, candies, soaps. To give away to the people I stay with)
• Bras (two or three)
• Hair brush
• Jacket
• names and addresses of the places I will stay
  
• Burrito (for the plane)

My golden packing rule: lay all the clothes you plan on bringing on the bed. Look it over. Put half of the items back into your dresser. The way I see it, if I under-pack I can always pick something up when I get there. I rarely regret picking up a sweatshirt with the name of a foreign city on it, or a cool skirt from a local market.

Here are various photos from my last European adventure. My sarong came in handy as a fashionable toga at an impromptu toga party in Budapest, and was used as a dress on laundry day while in the Netherlands.