I guess I should have known that I'd have to do an answer blog to Jeff's epic guest entry from a couple of days ago (he thanks you for all of the comments, by the way; feel free to read this post as usual without commenting, that's OK, no no, please do not feel guilty for never, ever commenting, I ENJOY LURKERS).
As I mentioned earlier, I like to draw everything I'm going to take with me, so yesterday morning I made my little sketch. As you can see, my clothing strategy can be summed up with one word: dresses. I'm a big believer in dresses, especially in the summer, and over the years I've amassed a pretty darn formidable collection of them.
I'm taking nine of them (one is not pictured because I was wearing it at the time). All sleeveless, all breathable, all blurry, sorry about that. This was one of those deals where the photo looks great on the camera's preview screen but cruddy on the computer. I took only one photo, and while I suppose I could unpack all of those dresses, lay them out on the floor again, and take another picture...uh, no. I can't do that.
Everything is going in my trusty Swiss Army carry-on. I bought this at Target a few years ago for 60-some dollars. Now it's $100! Go me.
After folding the dresses together according to fabric type and packing them in order of heaviness, I was thrilled to see that I had at least two vertical inches of extra room. I quickly filled the gap with:
1. Makeup bag
2. Totes umbrella which I will probably use for sun as well as rain
3. Same Marmot raincoat as Jeff's
4. Tampons, YAY I LOVE DEALING WITH THIS WHILE TRAVELING AND IT HAPPENS EVERY TIME!
(Underwear goes on the other side, and nobody needs to be seeing that.)
I found two deeply-discounted scarves in my favorite colors. I'll be able to use them to cover my offensive-to-The-Church shoulders during visits to various Caravaggio-having chapels. They fold up into small squares which I am going to stuff into a purse pocket. Also in the purse: a little sketchbook and some pens/pencils.
The Swiss Army saw fit to include a plastic pouch for this 'n' that, including:
1. Tylenol, please note the Jackson-like quantity of this drug
2. camera battery charger
3. I never travel without cortisone cream to put on bug bites and Neosporin (not shown) for the many gashes I can expect
4. headband (not shown: ponytail elastics)
5. wipes, because you can never count on anything in Europe.
The this 'n' that pouch fits nicely, and I topped it with the small, empty purse I will use when we're in Italy. I should get some free tampons for all the unintentional plugging (HA) that's going on in this blog.
Ahh, the one-quart plastic bag containing the liquids without which I cannot survive: hair gel, sunscreen, leave-in conditioner oil, conditioner, shampoo, wrinkle-release spray, and nail polish remover! This goes in the big front pocket for easy removal and inspection. I would like to take this opportunity to address the bottles: please do not explode!
This is my airport purse, chosen because it can hold more than my travel purse. My scarf, phone wallet, pens/pencil, Tic Tacs, tissues, sketchpad, and camera (not pictured!) are going in there.
Finally: a dilemma. I do not know which hat to take. The one on the left is only sort of flattering. I could crush it if I absolutely had to, but it would hold a crease, no problem. I think of the one on the right as my 50s Movie Star Hat. It has a giant brim that will keep me pale and goes with everything. It will hate being packed and will make me pay for it by looking awful and foldy for days. I could maybe just wear it while getting on the plane--but would they let me do that (obviously, nothing spells terrorist like a big sunhat)? Then could I shove it under the seat or something? Around and around I go.
Killer sunglasses by Oscar de la Renta, which Jeff found while we were waiting in line at T.J. Maxx last year. They were just sitting on the impulse-buy merchandise and I scooped them up immediately.
In completely unrelated news, I saw Chuck today! Chuck has been absent for almost two weeks, and Jeff and I figured he had packed up his little woodchuck belongings in a bandanna on a stick and hit the road. I had a side theory that maybe Chuck was "with chucks," hiding out under our deck, and tending to them. Well, I haven't seen any baby Chucks, but I held eye contact with Big Chuck for six seconds as he scurried around outside our living room window. I promptly made an offering of mulberry leaves, but he has not discovered them yet.
1. I have never taken a hat anywhere but Africa. I have never taken more than 2 dresses anywhere at all. I have never taken an extra purse anywhere either (have only rarely owned more than one purse). Wow. You are voyaging in style!
2. LOL at the shoulders joke. I hope you know that God, OTOH, positively adores your shoulders. (If you didn't, now you do. You can take this to the bank. I have it on extremely good authority.)
3. Have to disagree with "you can never count on anything in Europe." At least in my experience, Europe is where you *can* count on stuff. Including wipes.
4. INCREDIBLE that you got all that in a carry-on! Seriously.
Posted by: Beth | July 10, 2009 at 06:48 PM
YUP BETH, I'M A CLOTHESHORSE!
re: #3, I was talking more about public bathrooms. I really have never liked European bathrooms.
Posted by: Kelly | July 10, 2009 at 06:50 PM
I always thought that nothing spelled TOURIST like a big hat...
Posted by: C. Brown | July 10, 2009 at 07:35 PM
Hi Kelly. . .
I'm a longtime lurker. ahem. I've been following your achtoon babies since, oh, 2003, and followed your link here a few months ago. I'm enjoying hearing about the small things that brighten your life these days.
(I have always been amazed by your art, think it's a crime the music press hasn't contracted your services by now! Am wondering if you are seeing U2 on this trip? I can't believe this is the first time I don't know where they are playing each week...so I don't know if there is a chance you are meeting up. I have to give you so much credit for the achtoons, am now realizing I should have emailed you sooner - like when you invented the LOLcat for instance.)
Anyway, I like your dresses, though I have never owned so many. I think you could do without a few, but who am I to say? I love the scarf idea, and I have to say the packable hat is probably the one I would take - if you can stash it somewhere it is one less thing to hang on to (and unintentionally leave behind).
I am impressed by the number of liquids you are putting in that plastic bag. any chance you've forgotten the contact lens fluid? Or maybe that isn't pictured.
Have a great trip - very nice to lurk you ;-)
Posted by: Holly | July 10, 2009 at 07:47 PM
I kind of used to have a weird fondness for those hole-in-the ground bathrooms, but those are few and far between now. But yeah, the standard US take on bodily functions and their best setting is at some remove from the European one!
There is some fabulous line in... is it JD Salinger? which came to mind at your clotheshorse remark. It's a description of a marvelous woman who is committed to the importance of maintaining some personal-appearance discipline that it's highly inconvenient to keep up in the circumstances she's forced into, and her refusal to compromise it is the ultimate statement of her class. I don't know if it's hair or makeup or ironing clothes or what. I wish I could remember the reference.
Posted by: Beth | July 10, 2009 at 08:59 PM
I didn't know you wear contacts! When did that happen? Sorry to let the entire point of the blog just blow past me like a freight train, but once something unexpected nabs my attention I have a really hard time getting past it. ...Oh, look! My cel phone appears to be recouperating on the second floor of the Fisher Price Little People Hospital on the floor over there. How the hell did it end up there? When did that happen?
Happy trails, Kelly!
Posted by: Melinda | July 10, 2009 at 09:15 PM
(boosts post count)
I'm the type of packer who will have six books loaded up and then forget something important like shorts. I feel insecure without them and packing just one won't do. What if I get out of the mood for that book? I have to have a backup book. And then another book that might make me look smart on the plane. And then an old faithful book I've read many times. And then maybe a biography about a famous person from the place I am visiting. I really should get a Kindle, but until they make them smell like books it isn't happening.
You were not kidding about the dresses. I'd probably feel more comfortable wearing them across the pond than here. In Rockford I'd...stand out and not because I am so not tan that my radiate an unhealthy blue. People just don't dress up so much around here.
Posted by: Hil | July 11, 2009 at 12:07 AM
I really like the way you draw everything out rather than writing a list, it just makes it a bit more fun. I'm forever writing lists of things to do and if I had to draw them it'd be a huge mess.
I think you should go with the 50's movie star hat, it'll go with more things and if the brim is wider it'll keep more of you pale! I can't imagine that they wouldn't let you wear it on the plane, as you say it hardly cries out terrorist. Unless that was part of the genius, a new terrorist cell that dresses like they're going on vacation. Its a scary thought.
Posted by: Beth | July 11, 2009 at 02:54 AM
YES: COMMENTS! Thank you everyone. :D
Hil, I can't believe I left out my book photo. I'm taking two books, Drop City by T.C. Boyle. I'm reading him this year, and he ranges from incredible to a little bit boring. So in case this book is boring, I packed Lolita, one of my all-time favorites. I love your other book strategies and normally would take 3 or 4 more books, but there's just not enough room. I wear dresses around here and am frequently the only one doing so in any given situation, but...I just don't care. :D
Mr. Brown, to me nothing says tourist like a fanny pack and a screaming red sunburn because NO HAT.
Holly, the contacts I have (yes Melinda, contacts since 2002!) stay in a whole month, so all I need is a tiny bottle of rewetting drops.
Beth, how can you possibly have any kind of fondness for those toilets? (And thanks for liking my shoulders, God.)
Posted by: Kelly | July 11, 2009 at 06:28 AM
Italian lurker here. Your and Jeff's wardrobe scream "American tourist", you shouldn't worry about naked shoulders.
Enjoy your stay here, you'll certainly love my Country!
Francesca
Posted by: Francesca | July 11, 2009 at 10:57 AM
Hi Francesca--I guess if I dress like an American tourist, that's probably because I am one.
The clothes I'm taking were primarily chosen for comfort. I sunburn easily, and I can't handle extreme heat very well, so dresses are really the only option that makes sense to me on this trip. Also, I don't imagine that most Italians walk seven miles a day in the sun, but we will. If we want to impress Italians with our fashion sense, this is not going to be the trip for that! :)
Posted by: Kelly | July 11, 2009 at 12:29 PM
I didn't mean to be insulting, I just wanted to assure you that no one here will be offended if a tourist walk in a Church with naked shoulders or short trousers.
BTW, I like your dresses and envy your hats :)
Francesca
Posted by: Francesca | July 11, 2009 at 12:50 PM
Oh, that's OK! It's probably just a cultural thing. Americans hate to think that they could be viewed as tourists when they travel abroad. I assure you that I look like no one I know in America. :)
Posted by: Kelly | July 11, 2009 at 12:52 PM
Well, about being recognizable when abroad, I think only Japanese people can beat Italians :D Hope you have some free space in your luggage because if you like dresses you will go mad in Rome!
Just another advice: I hate to admit it but be aware that MANY of my compatriots (especially restaurant owners and cab drivers) will try to screw you over. Always ask for the price before.
Francesca
Posted by: Francesca | July 11, 2009 at 01:06 PM
Aha, a tiny vial of wetting drops. . . I have to take mine out every day. As I result, I give in, pack a giant bottle of contact fluid, and check my bag almost every trip.
Posted by: Holly | July 11, 2009 at 03:48 PM
Also upping the comment count. I do read this! Really!
I have the month-in contacts also, and I love them except for the way they seem to pull in every loose eyelash that falls out. Which, maybe it's just that my eyelashes are abnormally loose, but it happens a lot.
I've only read part of Drop City (initial verdict: better than East Is East, not as good as Talk Talk) but I think you'd like The Inner Circle, which is his fictionalization of Alfred Kinsey (the sex researcher) and the grad students and other researchers who worked with him. Especially given our, ahem, fictionalized-real-people backgrounds.
Posted by: Ally | July 11, 2009 at 08:12 PM
I'm kind of in love with you after reading this post. It made me all twitterpated and happy, and excited to pack for my trip next week!
Posted by: Maggie | September 12, 2009 at 10:52 PM