Don’t stress too much. That’s our last packing tip. If it is one thing years of packing WRONG have taught me, it’s that it’s not the end of the world if it happens. Yes, inconvenient…. obviously. Yes, sometimes you have to scramble around trying to buy a shirt. Sometimes you aren’t thrilled about what you are wearing. Sometimes you even have to wash your underwear out in the sink and dry it in the bathroom overnight (uhhhhhh, not that I’ve ever done that—more than twice anyway.)
Yes, all of the above are a pain, but packing advice should closely follow general travel advice since obviously you aren’t packing unless you traveling,. You’ve got to expect things to not always be perfect. You need to expect them to not be smooth…and you need to not stress about it too much. I think I might be highlighting the fact I’ve had a lot of therapy by saying this again, but “I had a therapist once” who said---“set your bar lower”. What she was trying to say was, don’t expect it to be “all that”---go into it thinking it’ll be hard, and not perfect…..and most likely you’ll be pleasantly surprised. At the very least, you’ll be prepared for the state of things.
It’s pretty good advice. Most of the time I’m traveling, it’s with my kids. That advice is never more apt. We want everything to be great with our kids, we want every vacation and experience to be A-MAZ-ing. Well, it is, even when it’s not., and I’m always happier when I expect it to be a sh*t show because then I really enjoy any and all peaceful or perfect moments (there are usually one or two in there among all the crazy moments).
Plus, you learn from your mistakes, and you go into it with that attitude and come out of it with tips for next time. I was pretty bummed when I didn’t pack a sweatshirt for Romeo in his carry-on backpack; he got cold and I forfeited my amazing cashmere wrap….and then he spilled sticky orange juice on it. Note to self for next time….bring a sweatshirt for the kids in their carry-on even if they say they aren’t cold. Not the end of the world, and I muscled thru it as a teachable moment for myself.
I love to travel. It’s one of my favorite things in the world. It’s probably the single most unifying thing between John and I in terms of activities that we both bond over and focus on. He skis, I don’t. He loves swimming . I don’t. He’s not into art. I am. We have crazy huge political arguments on a regular basis (because we both love a good debate). We argue about parenting, religion, and whether it’s ok to bring ink pens into bed (I vote no since there are now red ink marks on my white duvet). The one thing we don’t argue about…that always connects us? Travel. It’s consistently fresh too, and interesting….and that’s not easy to come by after 25 years of being together.
Travel is highly stressful, even for people that love it. Stressful doesn’t mean “not fun”, it means that you are bombarded with “stressors”….new environment, things you didn’t expect, weird food, cancelled flights, long lay-overs, missing underwear, kids that spill orange juice 10 minutes into a 9 hour flight. You get the picture. So, the final advice of the week….pack, AND travel, with the goal of not taking it too seriously, or getting too stressed. You do your best, expect it won’t be perfect, and you roll with whatever unknown stressors/monkey wrenches cross your path along your adventure.
The winner of our $50 gift certificate for best packing advice, by way of a vote here at Melange, gave this simple advice: Bring a white tee and white button front shirt, plus white and black cardigans. We have to agree on this one. There isn’t much a white tee or button down can’t fix….or a black cardigan for that matter. They always match everything, and they are easy. You can end up overthinking everything, but in the end jeans and a white button down is just a darn good go-to.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Signed, ME {lv}
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