Category Archives: packing

The Pondering Continues

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Have I selected my capsule wardrobe? Did I use the Sudoku method. Wellllll … maybe.

But okay, I sort of cheated: I added one more pair of ultra-light pants since we are doing a week-long walk and I know I might get those pants too dirty to wear in public aside from the walks, and I added one more very lightweight top that may or may not be removed before I finally zip the backpack up. The colors you see in the photo are a bit off, but close enough for me not to tweak things. Boring? Maybe. But comfortable and a good variety for cold or more temperate weather. Of course you don’t see pjs, socks, and underwear in this photo. Nor do you see the extra pair of shoes that look a bit nicer in case we go out to something that feels like it calls for something other than the shoes I will use most of the time.

The things that cause weight issues aren’t these clothes (the row with the black and beige “shacket”, black pants, and gold-ish colored top on the right will be worn on the plane, along with the heavier pair of shoes I have). (And hey, Woolx, You are the “all of it” aside from the puffer jacket above!) It’s all the rest of the stuff I have to bring.

There’s the toiletries bag, but honestly I don’t bring all that much! I don’t wear makeup, and I don’t bring soap or shampoo. (Side note: I cannot believe what some women have to bring on a trip. The amount of “product” is astounding. Good thing I’m too lazy to bother with makeup!) But I do need toothpaste and our electric toothbrush and brushes (I carry both mine and Dan’s as it all fits into a case). I have a lightweight brush and comb, and a couple of barrettes and hair bands. There’s sunscreen and deodorant, of course, and … gosh it alljust gets heavier than you might imagine.

And then … we are going to places where we might be in wind and rain, so I have to add a rain jacket, rain pants, and a rain hat. I have to bring a little bag of things I hope not to use — like a trowel if I have to “create” my own bathroom (yeah, really), wipes, and fun things like that. It would be lovely if that bag never gets opened. I’m happy to say it didn’t when we did our Portugal walk, and our walks this time are shorter than those so I will remain hopeful.

Still, it just amazes me how heavy things are once I put it all together. I just might have to pull a few things out. Time will tell.

Maybe I’ll nix my wool scarf. I’m sure that will make the load much lighter. Heh.

One Of These Days …

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We have some upcoming trips. I was telling Dan today that SOME day I’d like a trip that isn’t requiring extra “stuff”. Our first upcoming trip requires me to bring my oboe and reeds (but I will not bring my reed equipment because we are doing carryon). The next requires a good amount of warm clothing because we are heading to a very cold spot of the US. The final requires trekking poles and walking “stuff”. Yes, another walking holiday!

I dare not complain. And yet I think I just did!

But really … one of these days I’d love a trip with no “extras”.

Maybe.

The first trip is only one week long. Actually eight days and seven nights. When we pack for our long trips we really pack one week’s worth of clothing — as I’ve mentioned in the past, no one cares if you repeat an outfit! In fact, no one notices! So how funny that this short trip includes about the same amount of clothing and, actually, more underwear since we won’t be doing any washing.

With three upcoming trips I have a difficult time keeping things straight. Good thing our plane tickets will get me on the correct plane to the correct city.

Or at least one hopes so. (I always marvel at those stories you read about how someone ends up in the wrong place … how did they even manage to get on the plane?!)

Okay. That’s it from me. I just thought I’d better liven up this site a bit. HAH!

Here … have a photo … one I’ve shared on my photography site, but hey, it’s from our Portugal walk so why not?

Just Some Thoughts After Our Trip

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Maybe if I write these down I will remember them. Maybe not. I thought for sure I’d be better about how much I packed, and yet I wasn’t.

And fyi: today is a much better day. I’ve almost no fever at all (for some this would be a normal temp, actually), and my headache has nearly gone away. I’m taking it VERY easy, but I did manage to unpack and get everything put away. Laundry can wait until tomorrow, though.

● Backpacks are handy for cobbled streets, but sometimes a roller bag makes better sense, and the latter is much better when it comes to spatial awareness! (And maybe I’m just getting too old for the weight of a backpack?)
● One pair of shoes is ideal unless I have a concert or something that requires a bit more dressing up. No one cares if you wear sneakers with a dress!
● Don’t bother with a dress unless you know for sure you need it. You can always dress up pants with the right top and scarf. (The dress is the one thing I never wore.)
● With merino wool four tops is plenty. I know, I know, we all worry about wearing the same thing over and over, but who remembers what we are wearing?!
● One ounce of toothpaste will last a week for two people.
● Have a travel toothbrush just in case your electric one breaks or grab one on the airplane (if in business class) or get one at the first hotel.
● Three pair of undies: one to wear, one to wash, one ready. They dry quickly!
● Three pair of socks aside from the compression socks for the plane: same as above. (Unless on a walking holiday — then take one extra.)
● If I’m unhappy with my clothing decisions I can always buy something. I can also leave things behind. No big deal. (I left two polyester shirts behind this time. I’m so over poly and ester.)

it’s likely I’ll come up with more … we shall see.

But, honestly, if you bring merino wool you’d be astonished at how it doesn’t smell bad, and when washing it dries quickly. I washed my pjs in the morning and they were dry by evening. Socks take a bit longer, as do shirts and pants (but shirts rarely need washing, pants even less so), but since I always have more than one of each of those it’s not a problem.

My Bags Are Packed

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I’m ready to go …

Of course that doesn’t mean I won’t change my mind about something, but the two main bags are packed and locked, so I’m hoping that’s it.

Here is a shot of the clothing I’ll be taking:

In addition to what you see above there are pjs (in carryon in case the checked bag doesn’t arrive) and a raincoat (also in carryon since it looks like we will be encountering rain when we arrive). Not pictured is the one stuff sack of the clothes for our five day walk (hiking pants, shirts, hiking socks, waterproof cap, “bathroom” necessities when you have no bathroom, if you know what I imean!). The outfit on the left — black pants, “Sahara Dust” sweater, and short sleeved blue shirt, will be worn on the plane, along with the scarf The rest has all fit in one compression bag. Well, except for the hat! That’s a foldable hat, and it’s packed as well, since it’s a nuisance to have a hat on the plane.

I did do the “while we’re on the walk” packing job first today, and everything worked just fine. Then I took everything out and repacked for the flights and the rest of our travels.

Above is the “rest of the stuff” … but since I took that shot things have changed: the black bundle you see on the left was a raincoat I deemed just too bulky, despite my loving it, so a shorter, more casual raincoat took its place. The latter will also work for our walk, so I could delete the really light raincoat I’d packed for that. I also switched out the larger umbrella for a smaller one. Other things there: green compression bag full of unclothes and socks, meds (OH, and I managed to make those smaller as well, as I could peel the label off of one and put it on a tiny bottle), a very small backpack (that small blue ball you see), all my cables, an adapter, and other necessary things for devices in the red bag, my extra pair of shoes stuffed with socks, an electric toothbrush, a puffer jacket stuffed in its own pocket, my toiletry bag, my vitamin and pain med box, and my extra glasses. And gee, writing all this reminded me I hadn’t yet packed my AirPods! So off I go to do that after I post this.

Every ounce counts!

Yep, that’s my motto at the moment.

I have a small Pacsafe purse that contains passport, wallet, credit cards, chapstick, some sanitizing towelettes … exciting, I know.

I neglected to take a photo of my little camera bag (or my purse, for that matter) that fits into my carryon bag. But that camera bag holds my Fuji camera with two lenses – one zoom, one macro, extra batteries and cards … all things photo.

In any case, I’m packed and ready to head out on another adventure. I’m glad to have this distraction: yesterday I was on an audition panel for my replacement — and what a fabulous replacement we have! I’m overjoyed for the winner Adrienne Burg, and I know OSJ will be very pleased to have her. I have been principal oboe of Opera San José for what seems like forever, and this is a huge change. I thought I wouldn’t really react since I opted to move to second oboe for this past season, but I guess the finality of the audition did cause me to pause and ponder a bit. It’s the end of an era for me. I’m trying not to think that it’s the end of me!

Now we wait …

Time To Whittle

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Ugh. It’s that time. Figuring out what I will take on a trip.

Whittling down what I pack so I don’t have too much in my bag is a challenge. All the “What ifs” start haunting me … as in “what if I hate the colors I brought?” “What if I get bored with the items I chose?” “What if I’m not in the mood for any of this stuff?!” “What if I’ve totally misjudged the weather?”

And more.

So I put out all the things that I am considering, knowing I have to pull things out.

For instance, I plan on bringing three pair of pants. The photo below shows four pair. There are two pair of the same style of Unbound MerinoLightweight Travel Pants— one a kind of golden tan and one green. The bluish pair of Unbound (next to the black dress) are their Merino Transit Sweatpants in what they call dark teal. This are a given, because I’m wearing them on the plane. Finally there is a pair of Woolx Emerson black pants next to the brown hoodie on the left. And … well … they are Emerson pants so it seems only right that I would wear them, don’t you think? But they are the heaviest and perhaps not necessary. I still can’t quite wrap my head around what the weather will be on our upcoming trip. (So far it looks to be in the mid or high 60°s.)

Then there are the tops. I love all the colors here. But I really should cut back. I was thinking a maximum of five, one of which I’ll wear on the plane. Right now I have seven there. Who needs seven tops?! What you are seeing includes both Woolx and Unbound tops. They are all really comfy and it’s hard to figure out what to leave home.

The dark “French Roast hoodie, a Woolx Ryann, is also being worn on the plane. I adore that color, and I’m so glad I got it when I did: they no longer carry that color. I’m also pondering bringing the Woolx sweater in that burgundy-ish color that they call “Cabernet Crush” (another discontinued color) you see on top of the purple dress. I had planned on two layering pieces, so those two could work.

The dresses … well … do I even bother? I’m not sure! It’s quite possible we’ll end up at a nice dinner at least once or twice. But if I do bring a dress, it can only be one of these, and most likely that means black … but isn’t that purple (they call it “Montana Grape”) pretty. And yes, dresses are from Woolx — Cassie is the name. It’s a really comfy dress, and would work as is or with a top underneath or a sweater over which I’m sure is what I’d do: I really don’t like showing my bare arms. But perhaps I should nix the dress. Pondering ….

Articles about packing light say pack for a week, even if you are going for more. That makes sense. And as I’ve said, “NO ONE CARES!” what I wear. I’ve read some blogs where they suggest taking only 3 each of tops, bottoms, and layering items. There is also the 5-4-3-2-1 system (5 tops, 4 bottoms, 3 shoes, 2 dresses or outerwear, 1 accessory). Two pair of shoes in the luggage seems like a space hog issue so one pair will do in the bag, and one pair on my feet. And if you really want to go down the packing rabbit hole, just do a search on packing minimally and you’ll find all sorts of opinions about what you really should do.

But I ramble, and really this particular post is mostly about me trying to sort things out in my mind. But hey, if a reader has any strong opinions feel free to share!

So here we go!

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Today after church I played my final La Bohème, and after getting home and changing into travel clothes my sister drove us to our hotel near SFO (Thank you, Carolyn!). We don’t always spend the night up here when on a trip, but it just worked out well to do so this time. After going to dinner, Carolyn headed home and we got settled in for the night.

I’m pretty weary and tomorrow will be a very long day, but I thought I’d at least fill readers in on the final luggage decision:

It’s roller cases this time. It just was the best way to go for this winter trip. We have our Cabin Max bags for our under the seat bags (not that they will go under this first flight’s seats since we are in Polaris). My purse can be stashed inside that bag when necessary. The roller you see in the photo that is in between our two Gregory roller bags is one that we won’t need to bring back with us. It has a few treats and surprises for people we’ll be seeing soon. So after that it’s just the two Gregory roller cases (they DO qualify for carryon and will be used that way on the flight back from Europe) and two Cabin Max bags you see there, plus Dan’s small PacSafe and my (not pictured) purse. Since we have to check that middle suitcase on our flight there we will go ahead and check the other two larger bags and enjoy a rather light load on the flight. I’m not usually in favor of checked luggage, but it just made sense to dump ‘em all off this time.

It’s funny, isn’t it? All this time I’ve been excited about my new Osprey backpack and now it’s just sitting in my closet. But I think we’ve learned something: winter means heavier clothes and means we really don’t want all that weight on our backs!

Packing, Unpacking, Repacking, Pondering

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Packing for a winter trip is a bit challenging since we want to do carry on only. I hope I can make it work! Below are images of what I have packed at this point: I think I might need to pull some things out! For United we are fine: they don’t weigh carryon luggage and our packs are the correct size. One leg, though, is on Lufthansa. They only allow for 8 kg in the bigger bag, and their small one is pretty darn small! So far my pack is a bit over 9 kg. Perhaps a sweater and a bit more will end up staying home. We shall see.

This first shot is all the “stuff” … toiletries, prescriptions, exciting things like shoes and socks and pjs … so what to remove? Probably silly to bring two tubes of toothpaste: it’s not like we can’t buy that on our trip. (But I do prefer this particular toothpaste so there’s that.) I could substitute a shorter pair of socks for one pair of the knee socks. I’ll have to think on that. The little pouch on the right, under the bright red bag that holds cables and such, is an incredibly lightweight daypack, in case you’re wondering.

For clothes I have, I’m sure, too much. I’m wearing the Darn Tough socks pictured, merino wool brown pants, brown merino wool turtleneck, oatmeal cashmere turtleneck, cranberry wool “shacket”, and wool scarf on to the plane, so those aren’t an issue. My Bog waterproof ankle boots aren’t picture because they aren’t here yet! I was planning on different booties, but the ones I have aren’t waterproof and I think it would be foolish to wear them. The Bogs will arrive tomorrow.

In my luggage I have the cranberry v-neck cashmere sweater, the grey wool v-neck, a striped cashmere (grey, brown, oatmeal, dark grey), and two merino wool turtlenecks (greenish black and off white) that can be work under the cashmere. I have two pair of pants that are packed: one merino wool in a goldish brown color, and a pair of black merino wool pants. (Yes, tons of merino!)

If I’m to dump I suppose I could move to only one packed pair of pants and drop the cranberry cashmere. It’s not easy to say goodbye, but maybe …?

Finally, the few things I couldn’t fit in the photo above: the bag contains my down jacket, the purple is a rain jacket and it can fit over the down jacket. Also pictured is my merino wool jumper and Christmas red merino turtleneck (c’mon, I DO need to dress for Christmas, yes?!), and my wool cloche.

So that’s it. And now it’s ponder time. Think you have an opinion about what I should drop? Feel free to share. I might not listen, though!

If you are curious about brands: you are seeing Woolx (jumper, pants, shacket), Unbound Merino (pants), Uniqlo (turtlenecks), Darn Tough (socks), Eddie Bauer (rain jacket), Marmot (down jacket which you can’t even see), REI (grey wool v-neck), Macy’s (that’s all the cashmere), and … wait for it … wool hat and scarf from Amazon. (I try to avoid Amazon when possible). My nicer shoes (we ARE attending concerts, after all) are Dansko. (But that does bring me to the “could I just wear the Bogs with my dress and get away with it? I might see how they look with tights on. It’s usually not my style but nixing a pair of shoes would sure save space and weight!) Still, they aren’t anywhere close to dressy:



Oh … and then there’s my “personal item” bag. It has all the other “stuff” … wallet, passport, necessary tickets (most are on the phone), iPhone, iPad and keyboard, camera and all that is needed with that, sunglasses (do I really even need them? I wonder!), chapstick, nail file … well, you know, typical purse stuff plus camera gear. I’m going light with the camera: only one lens and one extra battery. It’ll do.

So that’s that. And I’ve packed the backpack and, as I said, it works, but not for Lufthansa IF they get picky and weigh things.

Meanwhile … life does continue here … I have the final opera dress tonight for Bohème, three students tomorrow, two on Saturday, and opera performances Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.

Guess how difficult I’m finding it to focus on work right now?!

Today is the Day

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Yep, we are heading to the UK this evening, and we are packed and ready to go. Today was the day to tidy up the house, wash linens, and just generally wander around seeing what needs some attention. The house won’t be as clean as I would like, but I do have to be careful with this back of mine! Last night I managed to nearly trip and fall when my foot caught on a piece of luggage (it was dark in the room), but I managed to catch myself with the help of some furniture. Whew! As I told Dan, it really could have been a major catastrophe. Instead it’s rather minor, but I can tell my back wasn’t happy with me. So it goes …

We will be off in less than two hours. There is a Polaris lounge just calling our name!

But first … take out trash, check lists again to see what I’ve missed. And maybe attempt to relax.

Time is Going Quickly!

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Indeed, between having work and doing various tasks, time is flying by.

Both Dan and I are now getting all the things we need out and our bedroom is a wee bit of a mess! I have a bag that contains things that I must take in carryon. Then I have a stack of things I know can go in the (sadly) checked luggage, including new trekking poles. Why new, you might ask, since we already have excellent poles? Well, Dan got ours out yesterday and we realized they don’t collapse small enough for our smaller suitcases! I, at least, will be taking a smaller case, while Dan will have to see if all his clothing and gear will even work in the small one. (Men’s clothes take up more space, wouldn’t you know?!) I did a bit of a search and found some, via Amazon, that will work (15” when collapsed!) and reviews said that, for cheaper poles, they were pretty good. I ordered them yesterday and they were outside our front gate early this morning. (Sigh: I have clear instructions about leaving things inside the gate. Oh well.)

Next up is a bit crazy; We have to pack our suitcase with everything we won’t be taking on the Great Glen Way walk. We need to be sure everything will fit in the suitcase that gets transported from place to place by a company that is doing that for us (Mickledore takes care of arranging all that). If it all fits we are set for that. THEN we redo the packing for our flights, so that the essential things that must not be lost will travel in carryon with us. Some of that isn’t necessary for the trail (like charging gear and whatnot), but we do need it with us during flights and layovers and we definitely don’t want to lose it. For carryon we will use our daypacks and the “personal item” we are allowed when we fly United. Our second leg getting to Glasgow is on Lufthansa and then we are actually allowed two carryon items plus our personal item, but weight is the issue there. At that point I will probably have to take my camera out of the daypack and carry it as the second carryon piece. Crazy, right? I wish airlines could all have the same rules, but that’s never going to happen, I’m sure.

Anyway … to clarify: first we pack as if we are on the walk, then we repack as if we are heading to the planes.

Meanwhile … this was bound to happen, I suppose, pessimist that I am … my back went out last week. The day it happened — all because I was changing the guest bed sheets — I could barely walk. The second day improvement had happened, but it still wasn’t great. Gradually, though, it felt better, with only minor twinges. This morning, however, it went bad again. Not to the “can’t walk” stage, but not good at all. So this week I have to be extremely careful. The house won’t get as clean as I’d hoped, but I’m sure our housesitters will understand. AND Dan’s hip has been giving him problems!

Ah, timing! But this is one reason we decided we MUST have our trekking poles with us.

I will now put on an optimist’s hat and say, “I’m sure all will be well.”

My pessimist voice is arguing, but I’ve put him out the door and I’m not listening! Instead I’ll pray that, indeed, all will be well. 😊