Traveling...

By the time you read this, I will have spent nine days and eight nights traveling to and visiting the sights of San Antonio, Texas, for a trip that I have looked forward to for quite a while. Generally five days away from home and I start longing for my people and my own bed and surroundings. Nevertheless, I do like traveling and San Antonio has been on my bucket list for a while.

Preparation for travel, for me, is an exercise in extreme organization. You see, I tend to overpack a bit (ahem). I can be fairly high-maintenance in certain aspects of my life, so I take full ownership in this particular personality quirk!

If my trip is to last four days, I pack for ten. A nine-day adventure such as this, therefore, requires at least three weeks’ worth of clothing and absolute essentials in order to survive being out of my normal routine, right? Or so my intellect tells me. Please don’t judge me. Pity, perhaps, but no judgment!

I do know how to pack, though, so all my “stuff” will easily (?!) fit in the requisite two bags allowed on the bus. One bag is the overnight bag and is packed with only those items necessary to traveling and stopping at hotels each night. Another, larger bag holds all the extra clothes and accoutrements needed in my home-away-from home in Texas. Those are the rules – two suitcases.

So, decision time: what to go in the overnight bag, and what to go the in full-time bag? Obviously toiletries go with me at all stops. Enough clothing to get me through those two nights on the road. Four or five articles of clothing should be about right. Hair dryer. Curling iron. And a lot of things you really don’t want to hear about, I’m sure. Both of these bags are stowed under the bus, only to be accessed when we stop for the night at the hotels. So pack carefully, Beth, lest you need something in the other bag.

Then there is a carry-on bag for all those various and sundry items that I might need quick access to: charging cords, books, food, knitting/crocheting, journals, pen and paper, food, sweater, light, Kindle, food, blanket, and pillows. Yep, I travel with my own pillows. Since sleep and I have a love-hate relationship, the steady presence of my trusted feather pillow and a flat pillow greatly increases my chances of sleeping enough to feel like a real human being and to be civil to my fellow travelers.

And, an empty bag or suitcase must be stashed in one of the other bags. What if I find some rare gems while shopping? I can’t just shove those in some empty corner of my two bags. So, a spare bag it is. This bag, when/if filled, will ride with me in my seat on the bus, close enough for me to check out my treasures, but separate from the rest of my belongings safely tucked into the basement of the bus. I most likely won’t make any purchases that need a separate residence. My souvenirs are usually books or Christmas ornaments, items that pack quite easily in the luggage at hand or in my carry-on bag.

I’m second guessing my choices as I pack. What if the weather changes? What if I need another something or anything? What if, what if, what if. . .

We can wear ourselves trying to make all the decisions, right or wrong. But being prepared is what I call all this over-packing, and it works for me. So, be as prepared as you can and want to be. Enjoy the journey. Isn’t that all that matters?