Comments on: Friday Fun Thread: Don’t Leave Home Without It

By: Singing the TSA Blues - The Pursuit of Harpyness

Singing the TSA Blues - The Pursuit of Harpyness — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 12:16:08 +0000

[...] of “Uh…TSA WTF?” before we headed to the airport, which we chatted about as I packed my suitcase. I fly a lot—nine round trips in the last sixteen weeks, both domestic and [...]

By: Mackey

Mackey — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 09:17:54 +0000

Generally, so long as I have at least one pair of jeans, a singlet, cardy, underwear ([number of nights away] then double), toothbrush/toothpaste, and happy happy joy joy reading I’m good to go.

Camping can be a lil different, a cozzie, shorts, long sleeve t-shirt, short sleeve t-shirt, trackie dacks, thongs (as in a type of footwear), and happy happy joy joy reading, I’m good to go.

By: emilyanne

emilyanne — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 17:40:09 +0000

@Endora, no BAA had made the decision before hand, they closed all Borders and Books Etc in airports and gave the contact exclusively to WHSmith – it meant that the Hughes and Hughes in Terminal 5 got shut as well. Not that I’m in any way bitter about this subject.

By: Alexia

Alexia — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 07:31:18 +0000

Whenever I’m back home in Texas or visiting family in GA, AL, and AR, I always make sure to bring grits back to Los Angeles. I’ve not been able to find my favorite brand out here NOWHERE.

Grits!

I wish I could bring back Blue Bell Ice Cream.

By: Endora

Endora — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 01:38:37 +0000

Books, way more underwear than I’ll use, my computer, lots of black, a couple of pairs of jeans. I’m not very good at packing light actually.

Emilyanne, unfortunately I think that didn’t have anything to do with the BAA, Borders in the UK closed. I still have a gift certificate for 10 pounds I can’t get rid of

By: Nadia

Nadia — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 00:39:43 +0000

So many tips! I’m travelling to my first international conference in a few days so this discussion is incredibly useful. I’m planning on travelling light too – it’s not a long trip – but it’s a bit formal so I’ve gone with a couple of different outfits plus comfy clothes to travel in. I never used to fuss with my hair when it was long but now that it’s short-and-growing-out I find some hair goop indispensable. Shampoo and soap though I tend to skip since you can always get those at your destination. The only thing I’m really finicky about is moisturizer – I use unscented stuff and I don’t like the way other creams make my skin smell. I’m debating the razor – take it along and the bag has to be checked in. Don’t, and I can skip the wait at the luggage carousel. I’ve never had my luggage go missing (and I’ve traveled a lot) and I don’t mind the wait at the carousel really, but why not skip it if you can?

Books are my heavy items too. Factoring in travel time I’m going to be away six days, three of which will be full of conference stuff and sightseeing, and i sleep like the dead on airplanes so I *shouldn’t* need more than…um…ten?

By: Hilary

Hilary — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 22:00:42 +0000

I don't travel often, but I like to read this website and dream. It's a little dated and corny, but he's put an impressive amount of analysis into packing light. One thing I try not to leave without is a digital camera. Besides tourist snaps, it comes in handy when you're trying to remember where you left your car/hotel etc; I used it to take pictures of maps you find in malls and on trails so you can refer back to it (as long as your battery doesn't run out.)

By: Brennan

Brennan — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 21:46:33 +0000

Unless I’ll be away for more than three days, I can usually live out of my overnight bag, which is about the size of a large toaster. Of course, that’s without packing anything dressier than jeans. When I do interviews this winter, we’ll see if I resort to a garment bag.

My favorite trick is dressing in layers. Before my flight into Nassau, they had to de-ice the plane. Instead of a parka, I layered, and then when I got to sunny San Salvador, I had a couple long sleeved-shirts, a hoodie, and a rain jacket, none of which took up space in my weight-limited checked luggage.

By: Nimue

Nimue — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 21:32:55 +0000

I once did 5 days in Colorado, including 2 professional presentations, with only a messenger-style back. I packed everything in plastic zip-top bags so I could squeeze them down small. Of course, some wrinkling was inevitable. I wore my suit to travel in to avoid that.

Oh, and I think a corkscrew is a critical travel item, tho in the US security may take it away from you.

By: BookGeek

BookGeek — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 19:14:29 +0000

@becky-I see your 5 days in London with one wheelie bag and raise you 10 days in London with one carry-on size wheelie bag and an oversized purse containing a laptop, a kindle, and all my usual purse stuff. I always travel with my regular drugs plus xanax and provigil. You never know when you are going to need sedation or caffiene free wakefullness. Everything else can be had at local stores, at least the places I go.