Pre-travel notes, part 1

Timeliness

When taking off on my most recent international trip, I nearly missed the Van Galder bus to Chicago’s O’Hare. The chain of disastrous events that would have ensued as a result of this tardiness was of such great magnitude, that right then and there I promised myself I would never again commit the Folly of Treating the Day of Departure as a Normal Day. I would treat it as a day during which my one and only obligation will be to grab my belongings and speed over to the Union bus stop.

Therefore, packing, blogging, going to my office (forget past sins where I would pause there thinking that, after all, it’s so close to the Union and the bus doesn’t depart until 11:30 am… no no! wrong train of thought! No detours this time!) – all these would have to be done in advance.

Packing

Since I am leaving on Tuesday, logic has it that I should open my (new and spiffy) suitcase today and start packing.

But I don’t especially like packing. I regard it as a frustrating experience, one which spotlights my most shameful insecurities and weaknesses. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I am not one to pack lots and lots of clothes for all weather options and social situations. In fact, I have been tempted sometimes to just take my summer sun dress (which should be called the beach-to-bar dress, because it is lovely and suitable for both) since I can literally roll it up into a ball and stuff it in my change purse and be done with the whole clothes issue.

Clothes are easy, especially in the summer time (traveling to Poland in December is another matter: if it’s warm, wooly and snuggly, I take it! I can never have enough of the warm and snuggly in those months). But it’s the THINGS that I must take now that drive me insane.

For instance, in the suitcase I must find room for:

books to read recreationally;
books about the historical significance of where I am heading;
books guiding me to the optimal eating establishments;
dictionary type-books;
papers proving my confirmed reservations (this is especially important when traveling to Italy. When hotel proprietors want to close down for le vacanze, they will do so and your only friend then is the piece of paper documenting their prior commitment to providing you with shelter – Italians are respectful of paper, preferably with an official stamp at the bottom, but any paper will do);
cameras (yes, this year it’s cameraS because there’s the big SLR and the little digital);
umbrellas (I’ll surely lose one along the way);
cosmetics (time to look presentable; after all, I’m leaving the borders of the most casual town in the world where people actually go for walks in torn t-shirts and gym shorts -- I’ve seen them!);
the computer (yes, certainly, of course);
sunglasses, extra reading glasses (an accoutrement of the ELDERLY, I am told);
maps (there’s car travel ahead);
laundry detergent (have to wash that beach-to-bar dress each night);
earphones (I have learned that my ears are not the same size as economy class French ears. The earphones on Air France should fit snugly in the ear canal, but for me, they do not. They pop out. Now, on the occasions that I have been upgraded by nice nice super nice Air France crew to business, or when a funding source that is not my own pocket is footing the business class ride, I have found Air France ear phones perfectly comfortable. I have concluded that my ears are thus closer in size and shape to wealthy French ears. This time, however, I am back there with the populace and so I must pack my own earphones);
a tote bag (does anyone besides me remember the agony of carrying portables each day in a torn Gap bag during my Japan travels in spring?)…

Alright, I’ve made my point. There is a lot of STUFF in that suitcase and it frustrates me no end that I may have only one spare dress rolled up in my change purse, yet still look like the classic traveler who has over-packed and is now lugging a heap of unnecessary clothing items all over the country.

Anticipation

I have to note also that I am not in agreement with the saying that “anticipation is even better than the trip itself.” Anticipation may be great after one has just returned from a vacation (my strongest urge to think about planning the next one comes on the return flight of the one in progress), but on the days just before travel, anticipation is tantamount to frantic and bizarre behavior where I run around doing a million odd things without my usual mental clarity or attention to detail.

When Anxiety Mounts…

I can retreat to blogging. I have tomorrow, after all. And if push comes to shove, I can crank in some last minute things into the morning of the departure.