I have written several times about the art of packing. I am neither an over-packer not an under-packer. My problem is weather-related. I tend to travel to areas where the weather can change and I do then end up with too many or too few warm clothes. I also never know when I will be able to do laundry so I tend to pack an extra outfit or two ‘in case’ whereas my husband does not mind rewearing something or buying something at destination. The weather and accommodations also affects your ability to wash and dry items overnight.
I thus read New Yorker article with great interest. It is called Why Can’t You Pack a Bag?, and contains such gems as:
- Travel is symbolic, and bad packing undermines the sense of freedom it ideally brings.
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My own stuff was working against me, and I couldn’t help but take it personally. (this really resonated with me because I grow to HATE my luggage as I drag it through giant airport terminals and pack and repack at each stop on a trip)
- A packer faces three obstacles. There’s contingency: a variety of possible futures must somehow be tamed. There’s consumerism: the junk you own needs to be winnowed into a useful curation. And there’s comfort: we want to be cushioned against transit’s sharp points. Staring down these monsters can be unpleasant. It’s embarrassing to realize that you live in uncertainty despite your hoard of objects, and to admit that you need your blanket. Maybe, if you were someone who could roll with the punches, and who lived a tougher, less acquisitive life, packing would be easier. So there’s actually a fourth obstacle: you.
- I found that a willingness to be uncomfortable made even ordinary travel—and ordinary life—easier and in many respects better.
- Overpacking has the effect of deferring decisions, shifting them from your house to your hotel room. When you understand this, you become more motivated in your packing: it’s senseless to add not just to your physical load but to your mental one.
One thing that did resonate with me in the article was:
Packing, for me, has turned out to be like staying fit, or being well read, or cooking a decent weeknight dinner for a family of four, in that it requires a surprising amount of consistent work over time.
I noticed this very much with my husband before and after COVID. Before COVID, he travelled two weeks of the month. He could throw what he needed into a backpack and go. After COVID, he had forgotten how and what to pack. The first trip after things got going again, he actually took a small suitcase because he couldn’t decide what he needed or not. And this is very true. The more you travel and the more familiar the places, the easier it is to pack.
I do pack well when travelling on the back of the bike though. We have a small dry bag and the saddle boxes. I cannot go bigger than that. I still end up with not enough of one thing and too many of another due to weather, but the number of things I can take is very small. The trips are also never more than a week though, so that does make a difference.