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Packing for the Road

© Anne Paxton

Summer is here once again, and if you are like me then you like to travel. Whether it be a quick weekend jaunt or a luxurious two week vacation I love summer travel. I've always had this kind of whimsical, Holly Golightly fantasy about myself where I impulsively decide to take a road trip. In my daydream I go to my bedroom, grab a small overnight bag throw in articles of clothing, grab my keys, put on my sunglasses and out I go into the great adventure waiting for me...

This, as I mentioned earlier, was a fantasy. Not the impulsive road trip part (Vegas and the California beach are very close to where I live) but easy packing part. I have never just "thrown a few articles into an overnight bag" and quite frankly, what is the use of an overnight bag? Where do you put your extra pair of shoes and hairdryer? And as much as I enjoy being a girl there is a part of me that wishes I could break the male gene code that makes it possible for a guy to throw a bottle of aftershave, socks, and a Maxim magazine into a backpack and be set for a whole weekend. Once again I say, where is his extra pair of shoes?

I have some travel coming up so I looked up some traveling websites and books that would help lessen my load, literally.

Be Realistic About Your Time Away If you are only going for a weekend trip to a friend's house or to the beach you definitely don't need bring along those strappy heels and black cocktail dress. I think most women are like me where I'll think, "Well, Bob and Ida didn't say they'd be having a formal dinner party at their tiny one bed-room apartment, but I guess I'd better bring these just in case!" It is the "just in case" thing that gets us. Bring extra band-aids and aspirin as a just in case. If the clothes don't match the planned vacation then keep the debutante gown at home.

Rolling Not Folding I have found this to be very useful. By carefully rolling the clothes up into almost like a log prevents the unsightly creases that typically occur when folded. For a shirt or blouse I will normally tuck in the sleeves like I'm about to fold it and then just lay it down on a flat surface and roll it from collar to the shirt hem. One obvious note, which pertains to the paragraph above, is that this technique won't work if you crammed eight shirts into a small bag. Know what you are taking first and then roll them up before putting them in the bag.