Decalogue so that packing is not torture
Romantics claim that packing is part of the allure of travel. Romantics may have someone to pack their bags for them; or time to do it. But we are going to break a spear in favor of that much-maligned task.
We will not fall into its mythologizing, but neither does it have to be what we postpone grumbling until we hear the train whistle. Ah, the trains don't whistle anymore... It doesn't matter, we understand each other. Here are tips full of wisdom that mark a before and after of any traveling life.
1. TEMPO, TEMPO, TEMPO
This was sung by Caetano Veloso and we have to repeat this to ourselves. Take time to prepare your luggage. Do not resist. Unless you are a Beijing Express contestant or your idea is to become a Buddhist monk before traveling you have to carry a full suitcase.
That's why, reserve a couple of hours and let yourself be carried away by an act that has been around for a couple of centuries . In fact, do not hesitate to leave it prepared a day before. It won't make you neurotic. Anything is better than leaving it for last: that does not make you a crazy person, only in someone who will forget the underwear and the liquid of the contact lenses.
two. SUITCASE
With the suitcase we have run into. It is not that object that we bring down from the attic every so often. she is our friend . That is why it is advisable to choose it and take good care of it.
A suitcase is a statement of intent. It is the fuchsia animal print trolley (relax, nobody is going to steal it), or a Damier set from Louis Vuitton. If we are going to travel with a computer, we will choose one with an exterior pocket and light, like the Lite-Biz from Samsonite; if we want to be the most stylish on the luggage belt, we will want an aluminum Topas from Rimowa.
It is useful to have at least two (one cabin and one larger) and a backpack. The backpack is useful to cross, for example, Lake Atitlán in a boat. There the four wheels are of little use. Every trip demands a suitcase.
The backpack is useful if you want to travel all over America.
3. THE CONCEPT
This is the most controversial point. and the most snobbish . You have to choose the concept that presides over that suitcase. We are going to Paris, but there are many ways to travel there; it could be: “cross between Ines de la Fressange and Instagramer at a sweet moment” or “Crocodile Dundee on the Rive Gauche” or “Californian who sets foot in Old Europe for the first time”. Okay, we can skip this step and go to the next point.
Four. SPOTIFY
He is a great ally. A good suitcase, conscientious, dear, it is done with music . make yourself one special luggage list It may or may not be related to fate. Turn up the volume on the speakers and don't get overwhelmed if between t-shirt and t-shirt you dance . That's when the flow arrives.
The concept is the key.
5. THE MENTAL SUITCASE
It is said of the act of thinking what will contain that suitcase and that is specified in list format . Then you just have to remove, fold and store. That other act, later in time, would be “the physical suitcase”. First you think and then you act , in the suitcase and in life.
6. USE TRICKS
It's comforting, it makes us feel practical and functional beings . Place everything you are going to take on a surface, the bed or a large table, so you will have a complete view of everything and you won't wear ten striped shirts (although if your concept is "Picasso on vacation" it might fit).
Uses cloth bags (yes, you steal them in all the hotels) to save shoes, swimsuits, cables, accessories… It will help you locate and order them. The vacuum storage bags , like Guijuelo ham, are also useful. They sell them at The Container Store and they are the next thing we are going to order from that friend who travels to the United States (well, they already ship to Spain).
7. THOSE LITTLE THINGS
Serrat, always wise, he knows. Those little things are responsible for our happiness everyday. It's not a dress It is the mobile charger. It's not the fourth pair of shoes, it's the 600 grams of ibuprofen.
These things, small in size but great in importance, must be paid attention to. Are the hair ties, the North American plug, antibacterial soap... But, in parallel, remember something: do not fall into obsession, almost everything can be bought all over the world , although you will not feel like going out to look for an iPhone charger in a town in Cappadocia.
8. FORGET THE "JUST IN CASE"
Don't bring a suit you wore to your sister's wedding if you go to Glastonbury, don't bring a Rocio gown if you don't go to Rocío. Do not put yoga clothes if you do not know what the triangle is , the cobra or the inverted dog; neither nor white tuxedo (you're not the Great Gatsby), neither sportswear if you only ran once and for being modern. We live in the was Inditex : we insist, everything can be bought.
Forget the "just in case".
9. LET HER SLEEP
Packing your suitcase in time allows you to correct it. And in the corrections the suitcase is refined until it becomes a concentration of oneself. Edit that suitcase, finish it off, tell what you want. It is in rest and reflection that a suitcase reaches perfection: contained but versatile.
10. AND THE LAST TIP...
Before you leave, take something . Coco Chanel always said “when in doubt, take something off” . Do the same, when you go to close it take something out, a piece of clothing, a pair of shoes... She will spare you. Take something out and you'll be right. But not the mobile charger.
Before leaving, take something out.
*This article was originally published on June 9, 2015.
Audrey was also slow to pack.