a disagreement with the pros
Mom and I leave for our trip to Sicily on Saturday evening. I was having trouble falling asleep last night, so I got back up and worked on my packing list for a little while. I have a good idea of what I'm taking, but I like to write it down so I can see how much it will really be, and to prevent me from forgetting to actually put things in the bag (items I forget most often: pajamas and my toothbrush). Rick Steves is a huge proponent of packing light; in fact, we are only allowed to bring one carry-on-sized suitcase and one day bag on our tour. Which is fine with me! I'm a fan. Before the liquids restrictions for carry-on bags, we went to Europe for six weeks without checking luggage. I was also enthused to see a number of suggestions on his travel tips bulletin board section recommend saving space by bringing a DivaCup instead of pads or tampons.
Where my beef comes in is when "travel experts," (usually male) suggest saving space by leaving toiletries, makeup, and bags at home. It does save space, but the other part of traveling is to not look like a yokel tourist. European and East Asian women just do not run to the store in sweatpants with their hair is a messy ponytail. Nor do they carry brightly-colored nylon backpacks. They leave the house looking groomed, wearing makeup, and carrying a purse. When I travel, people don't ask me if I'm lost, they ask me what time it is. I still travel light, but I leave the jeans and khakis at home, wear blended skirts with neutral tops, and carry a purse with a zipper that I hold on to in trains and crowds.
Part of it, in my opinion, comes from the generally-male "expert," and when they have a woman address women's packing, she's generally middle-aged. We both pack light, but Mom and I take very different clothes. I don't know if I have ever seen any discussion about size, either. A very petite person can pack more clothes per pound than a tall person. My shoes take up a lot more space than most women's, as do my long pants. Maybe I'm just whiny, but some of it bothers me. I would rather leave jeans at home than mascara.
I am really excited for the trip, though. It didn't quite seem real until Saturday, when I realized that we only had a week to go! I will say that in my browsing last night, I have become slightly fixated on us staying at an agriturismo in Italy. Agriturismos are working farms ("agri-") that also offer hotel or B&B-type amenities ("tourism"). In addition to scenic, rural settings, they often serve their own food and wine products. We stayed at one outside Florence on our last tour because their usual hotels in the city were full. It worked out brilliantly as there was an intense heat wave. The city was about 102F. The agriturismo was cooler and had a pool. Glorious. I've been to enough cities at this point that it sounds much better to be in the countryside, and the prices are so reasonable! You can easily pay upwards of $150 per night for a two-star hotel in Rome. An agriturismo offers doubles starting at $50. Now I just have to convince Mom (shouldn't be hard) and make us reservations (oh, how to choose?!?!) before we leave. We can probably do it during the tour, but it's nice to have goals once the tour is over.
Where my beef comes in is when "travel experts," (usually male) suggest saving space by leaving toiletries, makeup, and bags at home. It does save space, but the other part of traveling is to not look like a yokel tourist. European and East Asian women just do not run to the store in sweatpants with their hair is a messy ponytail. Nor do they carry brightly-colored nylon backpacks. They leave the house looking groomed, wearing makeup, and carrying a purse. When I travel, people don't ask me if I'm lost, they ask me what time it is. I still travel light, but I leave the jeans and khakis at home, wear blended skirts with neutral tops, and carry a purse with a zipper that I hold on to in trains and crowds.
Part of it, in my opinion, comes from the generally-male "expert," and when they have a woman address women's packing, she's generally middle-aged. We both pack light, but Mom and I take very different clothes. I don't know if I have ever seen any discussion about size, either. A very petite person can pack more clothes per pound than a tall person. My shoes take up a lot more space than most women's, as do my long pants. Maybe I'm just whiny, but some of it bothers me. I would rather leave jeans at home than mascara.
I am really excited for the trip, though. It didn't quite seem real until Saturday, when I realized that we only had a week to go! I will say that in my browsing last night, I have become slightly fixated on us staying at an agriturismo in Italy. Agriturismos are working farms ("agri-") that also offer hotel or B&B-type amenities ("tourism"). In addition to scenic, rural settings, they often serve their own food and wine products. We stayed at one outside Florence on our last tour because their usual hotels in the city were full. It worked out brilliantly as there was an intense heat wave. The city was about 102F. The agriturismo was cooler and had a pool. Glorious. I've been to enough cities at this point that it sounds much better to be in the countryside, and the prices are so reasonable! You can easily pay upwards of $150 per night for a two-star hotel in Rome. An agriturismo offers doubles starting at $50. Now I just have to convince Mom (shouldn't be hard) and make us reservations (oh, how to choose?!?!) before we leave. We can probably do it during the tour, but it's nice to have goals once the tour is over.