Travel Tips - What to Pack

There are all kinds of travel tips available on the web.  Here are some I found useful on my 13 day trip to Italy.

Take luggage that is not full - you may want to add things on your travels (I added olive oil, limoncello, and candy).  (I saw lovely kitchen towels and I thought they would make wonderful souvenirs, but they were made in India, Bangladesh, etc.  Seemed to defeat the purpose!)

I need, at most, five outfits, color coordinated. (I wore red/white/black - with an extra pink shirt for variety when I wasn't wearing the red Scottevest.)  I took five sets of sox, underwear, and shirts.  Also a suit and an extra slacks.  Hoodie, Scottevest, fleece.   Also a hat, and I wished I had worn the hat on the plane over, since the kid soccer team filled the plane, and they played with their tablets all night, and with their reading lights on, the screen would flash in my eyes.  Got smarter on the way back, and that worked well when a seatmate decided to read a magazine when I wanted to sleep.  (I did not want to use a sleep mask, because I feel claustrophobic when I can't peek.)

Some essentials that I was glad I had:  Scottevest, Walkstool, fanny pack, Healthy Back Bag, carabiner, hat, hoodie, clothespins and cord (I used shoelaces from the dollar store), sanitizing wipes, lots of plastic bags and baggies.   I did not need the corkscrew, but I would probably take it anyway.  I took flip-flops, ballet shoes, wore Keds, and had loafers.  I did not need the loafers, but if I had gotten wet shoes in the rain, I probably would have been glad I brought them.  Small notebook and lots of pencils were great to have.

This Scottevest has 20 pockets.

When this picture was taken, pockets contain:
ipad
earbuds and earplugs
cell phone
chargers for camera, ipad, cellphone
wallet with driver's license, credit card, ATM card
passport
ticket folder
money in three separate compartments
sunglasses
two cameras
altoids
hard candy
water bottle
It's a bit bulky, but it meant that the weight was on my shoulders, not my hands/arms.
I chose this jacket because the shoulder and sleeves are detachable, converting the jacket into a vest.
I found it comfortable in temperatures from 55-75 degrees Fahrenheit.  It is also water repellant and can function as a rain jacket, windbreaker.  If it only had a hood, it would be perfect!

Walkstool:
This made it so much easier on the trips to Paestum and to the museum.  There was lots of walking, but then long pauses to listen to information about the buildings or items.  A quick sit, and I was good to go.

I took this picture in my hotel room in the Grand Hotel Cesare Augusto.

The tile floors are pleasantly cool and easy to keep clean.

When closed the stool measures 15 inches and weighs 20 ounces.  I attached it to my fannypack with a carabiner.  That way I was hands-free.

The stool is 18 inches high when the telescoping legs are opened.  (They do make larger ones to suit bigger people.   See Amazon, but they are sold by several companies at varying prices.)


Snacks:  A friend made muffins for me to take.  Boy, was I glad to have those!  The airport food really did not appeal to me, and most of the airplane food was grim.   I also had pretzels, homemade Altoids, hard candy, candied ginger.   At breakfast in the hotel, they always had cookies, I usually scarfed a few and put them in a baggie in case I got peckish later.   (Some were lifesavers on the return trip, where again, the airport food was not appealing, and the airplane food was grim.)  On days of "on your own" meals, I also made a little sandwich in case I decided not to go out.

Bathroom stuff:  I was surprised that you need much less than you think you do!  I packed a one ounce container of my favorite shampoo/bodywash.  I figured I could always use the hotel soap when I ran out.  I was amazed that I used less than half the bottle.  Who knew?  I took a three ounce container of dish soap to use for laundry.  I used less than half of that, and that included washing slacks a time or two, as well as the shirts and underwear.  I was surprised that I used less than one ounce of lotion.  And I did not have to carry the weight of more shampoo/soap/lotion.  (or the weight of extra clothes!)

Carryon Bag:
There are a few essentials that must be in your carry on bag:
meds
snacks
change of socks, underwear, shirt
(swimsuit if that is part of your plan)
minimum bathroom supplies
baggies and plastic bags
passport, money, travel docs
chargers for any electronics (your toys won't be of any use if you can't charge them)
plug converter for foreign plugs

I may add to these travel tips, so you might want to check back. . .

If you take it, you have to schlepp it

In an effort to minimize the weight I had to haul around, I took one small suitcase, lightly packed, one carry-on, lightly packed, a handbag, and I wore a Scottevest.  The suitcase went into checked baggage, cameras, ipad, and chargers went into Scottevest, along with money, passport, and tickets. One set of meds, liquids bag, one set of tops, extra jacket, flipflops, went into carry-on.  The other five tops, five underwear, extra shoes, suit,  slax, bathroom bag, went into checked.  Pencils and pads, various miscellany, went into checked.

How do you make it work for two weeks?

This is how.

The checked bag also included a few clothespins and laundry soap in a little shampoo bottle.  (One of the women swears by Pert for oily hair.  Cleans well and takes out grease spots.)  I also packed a pack of shoelaces from the dollar store so that I could make a line of any length.  Works slick.  It helps to have a balcony.  (BTW, those sox were bought at Brooks Brothers in 1976, when D needed a great suit.  It pays to buy quality!)

Most apartments in Sorrento have special lines to hang clothes because no one uses or even has a drier.  So I didn't feel out of place hanging clothes on the balcony.

This is taken from my balcony.

Find Your Luggage

Did you ever try to find your car in the mall parking lot?  It seems that almost every car is the same color as yours.  It works the same way luggage on the baggage carousel.  Combine that with fatigue and jet lag, and it's no fun at all.

There are lots of tips out there to mark your luggage with something that will distinguish it from all the others spinning around.   Many suggest tying yarn or ribbon on the suitcase.  I have visions of the ribbon snagging and holding my bag to be bumped and thumped by all the bags behind it on the conveyor.  

On our first flying adventure, I got an artistic kid to decorate my bag.  Turns out, the fabric bags take acrylic paint very well.

Cat thinks so, too.  Flight attendants commented that it was a great idea.  Thanks GLMH-L.

But I decided it was too subtle for these eyes, so convinced D to jazz it up for me.  Got a picture designed to be a tattoo.  Punched holes.  Patted chalk through holes.  Two coats later, we're ready to roll!

Thanks, D!  I think I'll be able to find it easily.

No need to jazz up the carry-on...It's bright pink.

The carry-on is an L L Bean Deluxe Rolling Backpack.  I got it after watching a student use hers for two years, cramming it with all the essentials for high school.  At the end of two years it still looked brand new.  Zippers still worked perfectly.  Handle and wheels were fine.  I found this bag in an LLBean outlet.  I just have people thinking my name is Shelbie.