Cast:
Me - the OCD planner / packer
My Sister - the "fly by the seat of your pants" one
I texted her the other day, "There are apps to help you remember what you need to pack," in regard to our upcoming cruise.
She responded with, "Only you would know that lol."
So I said, "And only I remember all my stuff. LOL"
I win! :D
You know why I'm so into planning for a trip? Because it makes me happy to think about where I'm going. :). I know it's an unusual way to show optimism, but it means I'm thinking ahead of something good to come.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Confession: I Cheated on my 3-1-1
You know how the TSA limits your liquids and gels in carryon luggage to what will fit into a quart bag? Well, I cheated a little bit.
Allow me to plead my case, for those men and clean-face women out there. I wear contacts, wash my hair with color-safe shampoo and use color-safe conditioner. The best hotels don't ever provide samples that protect your hair color, let alone the cheap places I usually stay in.
I need hairspray for my layered hair to stay out of my eyes. I can't get my hair into a simple and neat ponytail no matter how many hairpins I add to the mess, or I would certainly ponytail it when traveling.
I was using styling gel until my hair stylist noticed recently that my hair is rather dessicated and falling out, so now I'm using hair serum instead. (That's likely a hormone hurricane causing this problem.)
I like to use my favorite body wash in the shower, too. Feels like home that way. :). Bar soap isn't my friend. Waxy, soap scummy, drying....
Even with my hormones being goofy, as they sometimes are in middle aged women, I'm still having to fight mild acne. It's been a thirty year fight. I need clear skin, and Nature has decided otherwise. So I use a four-step facial treatment every morning, which controls it and keeps my skin normal. Okay, dry. Those four steps alone would be too big for the quart bag, so I downsized them drastically. After all, I don't need a two month supply on a week-long trip, right?
Still, the more products you use, the more small bottles you have, and those bottles take up a lot of space.
Enter the contact lens cases.
Every time I get a new prescription, I get a new case. And I keep 'em, because I'm weird. Well, I don't have ALL of my old cases. Just several. I can put a week's worth of product into each side of the case. :). All four steps into two contact lens cases. Takes up very little room, and I don't put it into the 3-1-1 Baggie. That's where I'm cheating, though if it does fit, I put it in there anyway. What can I say, except that it works beautifully for me?
Lens cases can hold a lot of stuff. They're just little pots, with (hopefully) leak-proof tops. I've put small dry things in there too: earplugs, earrings, OTC drugs.
There's also that bonus that it really lightens up my baggage if I don't have to wag around full bottles of my stuff. :)
3-1-1 Baggie tip - use freezer bags with pleated bottoms. They're thicker and sturdier than the storage bags, but you can reinforce any of those bags with a little clear tape.
Allow me to plead my case, for those men and clean-face women out there. I wear contacts, wash my hair with color-safe shampoo and use color-safe conditioner. The best hotels don't ever provide samples that protect your hair color, let alone the cheap places I usually stay in.
I need hairspray for my layered hair to stay out of my eyes. I can't get my hair into a simple and neat ponytail no matter how many hairpins I add to the mess, or I would certainly ponytail it when traveling.
I was using styling gel until my hair stylist noticed recently that my hair is rather dessicated and falling out, so now I'm using hair serum instead. (That's likely a hormone hurricane causing this problem.)
I like to use my favorite body wash in the shower, too. Feels like home that way. :). Bar soap isn't my friend. Waxy, soap scummy, drying....
Even with my hormones being goofy, as they sometimes are in middle aged women, I'm still having to fight mild acne. It's been a thirty year fight. I need clear skin, and Nature has decided otherwise. So I use a four-step facial treatment every morning, which controls it and keeps my skin normal. Okay, dry. Those four steps alone would be too big for the quart bag, so I downsized them drastically. After all, I don't need a two month supply on a week-long trip, right?
Still, the more products you use, the more small bottles you have, and those bottles take up a lot of space.
Enter the contact lens cases.
Every time I get a new prescription, I get a new case. And I keep 'em, because I'm weird. Well, I don't have ALL of my old cases. Just several. I can put a week's worth of product into each side of the case. :). All four steps into two contact lens cases. Takes up very little room, and I don't put it into the 3-1-1 Baggie. That's where I'm cheating, though if it does fit, I put it in there anyway. What can I say, except that it works beautifully for me?
Lens cases can hold a lot of stuff. They're just little pots, with (hopefully) leak-proof tops. I've put small dry things in there too: earplugs, earrings, OTC drugs.
There's also that bonus that it really lightens up my baggage if I don't have to wag around full bottles of my stuff. :)
3-1-1 Baggie tip - use freezer bags with pleated bottoms. They're thicker and sturdier than the storage bags, but you can reinforce any of those bags with a little clear tape.
Confession: I Threw Away My Underwear
When I went to Italy this summer, I tested something new out. I packed some clothes that I intended to throw away after I wore them. Underwear that had seen better days and a couple of polo shirts that were stretched or stained were discarded, along with a couple of pairs of socks.
The socks were actually new, but after a day of walking for hours in them, I couldn't bear to put the sweaty things back into my suitcase and contaminate everything else that was clean. I think my shoes were to blame. They were great walking shoes, but they chose this trip to suddenly start reeking. Maybe I was the only one who noticed. My roommate said she couldn't tell, but I could, and I was really anxious about it. So I switched shoes and tossed my socks, which greatly improved things.
I took laundry soap sheets to wash some fast-dry tops I'd brought along, and they (soap sheets) were really handy when most of my travel group's luggage was lot by Iberia. Lesson learned: carry on until you're not allowed to. I always do, because I'm a little panicky without some of my stuff. That's why I've condensed all my necessary items into the tiniest possible spaces.
So... The polo shirts had some stubborn stains that wouldn't come out no matter what I tried, but they wouldn't be likely to show while I travelled, so I tossed them after wearing. Maybe someone in Italy would have a solution to remove the stains I couldn't, or they could just stay in the trash. I don't care, really. They had been part of my attempt to look perky and professional at work. One was such a pale pink it had always looked dingy anyway. I was disappointed when I received it, and it was very stain-prone. Another stretched in weird places and just didn't look flattering. Good riddance.
My underwear... Well, you know how that is. Elastic starting to wear out, tiny holes beginning to appear, annoying fit from the start, stretched out fabric, or just too darn big after a few pounds lost. Besides, you have to consider the appeal of having NO dirty underwear to bring back home. After you've worn them in 100 degree heat on stone Italian streets, sweating all day... I was happy to trash them.
I just wish I'd been brave enough to throw away my shoes!
It wasn't hard to throw away my old stuff. Today I'm eyeing my sock drawer AND my closet and underwear drawer as I get ready for my next trip.
The socks were actually new, but after a day of walking for hours in them, I couldn't bear to put the sweaty things back into my suitcase and contaminate everything else that was clean. I think my shoes were to blame. They were great walking shoes, but they chose this trip to suddenly start reeking. Maybe I was the only one who noticed. My roommate said she couldn't tell, but I could, and I was really anxious about it. So I switched shoes and tossed my socks, which greatly improved things.
I took laundry soap sheets to wash some fast-dry tops I'd brought along, and they (soap sheets) were really handy when most of my travel group's luggage was lot by Iberia. Lesson learned: carry on until you're not allowed to. I always do, because I'm a little panicky without some of my stuff. That's why I've condensed all my necessary items into the tiniest possible spaces.
So... The polo shirts had some stubborn stains that wouldn't come out no matter what I tried, but they wouldn't be likely to show while I travelled, so I tossed them after wearing. Maybe someone in Italy would have a solution to remove the stains I couldn't, or they could just stay in the trash. I don't care, really. They had been part of my attempt to look perky and professional at work. One was such a pale pink it had always looked dingy anyway. I was disappointed when I received it, and it was very stain-prone. Another stretched in weird places and just didn't look flattering. Good riddance.
My underwear... Well, you know how that is. Elastic starting to wear out, tiny holes beginning to appear, annoying fit from the start, stretched out fabric, or just too darn big after a few pounds lost. Besides, you have to consider the appeal of having NO dirty underwear to bring back home. After you've worn them in 100 degree heat on stone Italian streets, sweating all day... I was happy to trash them.
I just wish I'd been brave enough to throw away my shoes!
It wasn't hard to throw away my old stuff. Today I'm eyeing my sock drawer AND my closet and underwear drawer as I get ready for my next trip.
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