"What Would You Pack For A Weekend Away?" #blog4trek

I've already mentioned what kind of luggage to consider when going travelling, whether it be a suitcase or a backpack. The next thing to think about is what to actually put into your luggage of choice. The excellent road trip style travel company TrekAmerica have asked "What Would You Pack For A Weekend Away?". Assuming you've already packed your essentials like a camera, toiletries and general clothing, here is my list of things I'd suggest packing and feel can be applied to any weekend away, whether you're being whisked off to New York City or enjoying a weekend exploring the English countryside.

• Sensible Shoes - regardless of where you're going, you're going to need to walk at some point. It may just be from the taxi to the hotel or it might be from the farm gate to the end of a 10 mile route but anything could happen and it's good to pack shoes that are comfortable. You might develop a killer blister or you could snap the strap on your favourite pair of heels. You may get soaked in a sudden shower of rain or you might simply realise your shoes of choice are rubbing. Even if it's just a pair of Converse to sling on,  it means for a weekend away you can take one pair of not so sensible shoes knowing you'll always have a backup. Pack a spare pair of socks whilst you're at it. 

• A Good Book - To make the travel time feel like minutes instead of hours. It can be a guide book or the latest Nicholas Sparks love story but a good book is the best way to take your mind off traffic/delays/the general stress that comes with travelling. If you're in a car, you may want to spend your time gazing out the window (especially on a Trek across the USA!) but if it's a couple hours on the train or in the air, bury your nose into a book and lose yourself.

•  Light Jacket/Cardigan - Going along the sensible route again...take a light jacket or cardigan, even if its mid summer. The weather can take you by surprise (Mother Nature - temperamental lady) and there's nothing worse than shivering in a sudden breeze and having to head inside sooner rather than later. Don't ruin your evening by wishing you were warmer.  

• A Travel Journal - When I went on my travels, my brother gave me the best going away present ever. He bought a really nice hardback travel diary and stuck a photo of the two of us on the front page. I used to write down funny events,  new friends' details, draw out maps, remember quotes and stuck in tickets, mementos and postcards. Take a travel journal along on your weekend and even if you don't actually write in it, you can still use it to stick your memories and postcards in, keeping them in a safe place. It was also a good place to keep addresses of friends, old and new. You never know who you'll want to get in touch with or think of whilst you're away. You may also want to blog about your weekend but only have time once you're back, so can write down your ideas and thoughts in there too.

• The word "YES" - Make sure you pack your PMA (positive mental attitude) and the best three letters in the world - Y-E-S. You may have your whole weekend planned out but always be prepared to explore in case you stumble across an unknown area of town you weren't planning on visiting or bump into someone on their way to what could be an amazing festival or event you hadn't heard of. Especially if you're  in a hostel or busy hotel, the potential is there to turn a simple weekend into a weekend of anything and everything possible. A weekend may only be a couple days but it can turn into the trip of a life time - make it happen.

CBx

The first big decision...

Posted Dec 2013 

Once my plans were confirmed, partially paid for and officially in my mothers diary, my first hurdle was a decision that may not seem serious in the grand scheme of things but caused quite a debate between myself and others. The dilemma...should I buy a backpack or drag around a suitcase?!

As a general rule, suitcases are for trips with one destination, where you can dump it in a room and not have to worry about being tidy, and backpacks are for multistop trips where there might not be stable pathways, space to unpack or the opportunity to overpack since you'll carry it on your back. Pretty straightforward and sensible. However - I did take my suitcase to the USA last year and it survived the dust of the Grand Canyon to the streets of NYC in a downpour.  So, do I be a sensible traveller and buy a backpack so I can actually take a sensible amount of clothing and be an official "backpacker" or do I be silly but enjoy my comfort and tidiness of my suitcase? Do I go for the heavy-on-my-shoulders-rolled-clothes-everything-good-is-at-the-bottom approach or for the wheeled-and-organised-but-rural-area-travelling-unsuitable-massive-pull-along-closet that is a suitcase?  

Backpack Pros

• Keeps your hands free.
• Easier to carry up stairs and steps when there is no elevator.
• Usually comes with a detachable day bag.
• Cobblestones? Mud? No pathway? No problem!
• You can hang/attach anything from hiking shoes to yoga mats (seen it).
• Probably more durable than a suitcase.
• Not as big as a suitcase so helps limits how much you pack.
• You'll be labelled a "real backpacker".

Backpack Cons

• You have to actually carry it, all the time, as there are no wheels to rely on. 
• Usually smaller than a suitcase - harder to organise/find things.
• You'll worry about the straps getting damaged during flights. 
• Involves heavy lifting and sore shoulders.
• You'll probably need assistance to put it on.
• You'll get a sweaty back.
• Manoeuvring on public transport can be difficult, especially when crowded.
• You will hit people with it when trying to turn around. 
• You will feel unbalanced most of the time.
• You'll be labelled a "real backpacker".

So I think you can tell from my tone that I was leaning towards the comfort and space of a suitcase. However, I read a lot of stories online and was convinced that at every single place on my list, I would at some point encounter muddy, cobbled pathways that frequently involved impossible amounts of stairs and obstacles that would require my hands free at all times and would not be suitcase friendly. I also worried about how others would judge me, turning up with a suitcase if they were all kitted out with backpacks.

I suffered with that 75lt backpack all over the London Underground, around the harbours of Hong Kong, up and down too many hills and in a lot of elevators in Australia. I needed a ledge to balance it on in order to shimmy the straps onto my back without falling over, my shoulders ached for days and I simply felt like an unbalanced, ungraceful haunch back (Not very lady like should be added to the cons list). I also spent a considerable amount of time unpacking and re-packing every time I moved on to a new destination, trying to keep my dirty clothes from disappearing into my clean clothes, ensuring my pyjamas were near the top for when I arrived somewhere in the dark, and trying to find that elusive sock that always seems to be non-existent when you need a pair (I do accept that this could happen in a suitcase too).

I eventually gave in after a particularly stressful, lonely flight from Sydney to Auckland where a strap from my backpack got caught in the luggage conveyor belt and they had to stop it so I could yank it out. I ditched my backpack in the hostel, bought a bright purple suitcase on impulse whilst in Target and spent my first evening in New Zealand happily emptying my backpacks contents into the neatly arranged compartments of my suitcase.

Lesson learnt - backpacks are good if you're a strong, organised, light packer with a good sense of balance who doesn't mind sweat and isn't phased by steering yourself through the general public whilst carrying your own body weight on your back. I accept that there are great backpacks that zip all the way around like the suitcase as well as backpacks with handy zips at the bottom meaning you don't have to dig around from the top.

Hey, maybe 75lt was too big and I'm being too prissy about it but I donated my backpack to the hostel and saw someone claiming it about 25 minutes later.

CBx