Packing clothing is the easy part. I am not a fashion diva. I live by the philosophy that you can go almost everywhere in jeans or khakis and T-shirts during the day and a button down at night. If I am wrong, don't tell me now. So, I have the jeans and the shirts in a pile ready to put in the backpack. Oh, I don't like suitcases either. They are kind of a stuffy way to travel.
The more important packing is the "other" stuff. These are the things that separate an OK trip from a great trip. The other consideration is to travel as lightly as possible. I am lazy and don't want to carry or keep up with a bunch of extraneous stuff. So, where to begin.
- The camera - it always goes. Unfortunately, it is like traveling with a baby. The paraphernalia (lenses, flash, portable drive to download pictures) takes up more room than the camera itself.
- Computer - This may count as camera paraphernalia. But also, I want to be able to blog while I am gone. You guys do want to see pictures of the Big Apple, right?
- Knitting - I am definitely taking the yarn that the Accidental Knitter brought me a few weeks ago. It will be a pair of socks when I return. I will probably take another skein of sock yarn, which one is yet to be determined. Knitting socks requires few tools so they are great traveling projects. If I run out of yarn, I guess I will have to find a yarn shop. That sucks, but hey, the sacrifices we make for our art.
- A book - I have a shelf full of stuff that I bought during the school year and have not had the opportunity to read. I will probably choose something that falls into the category of brain candy since reading is likely to happen in short bits here and there.
- A Crossword puzzle book - If I going to read brain candy, I need to take something that will keep the brain agile. Oh, we are going to New York. I bet I can find the New York Times crossword puzzle in the paper. Scratch puzzle book.
- My Ipod - I am as bad as the teenagers. I can't leave home without it. Besides, if the plane crashes, I want to leave someone with a great sociological study about the screwed up person who has everything from Bowling for Soup to Brahms and Jack Kornfield on their Ipod.
Does that sound like too much? If so, I am willing to leave some of the clothes, but this stuff has to go. I could borrow Brooke's T-shirt that says "same shirt different day". I am not proud. This sounds like a lot of amenities; the truth is I could be happy for a very long time with these things.
I am looking forward to knitting in Central Park, taking pictures of Ground Zero and the surrounding area, listening to show tunes in and out of the theatre, and having a little down time.
Wow! A real vacation. Stay tuned for the travelogue beginning Tuesday.
