Thank goodness for my shoulder bag!
>> Friday, August 20, 2010
Most girls might be able to sympathize with me when I say trying to pack "light" for trips, sucks. I spent the summer abroad and I just knew that I would somehow come home with twice as much stuff as when I left, even though I didn't plan on buying much. Turns out, that most of my packing for "what ifs" paid off. I quickly became the dispenser for sunscreen, airbourne, bandaids or aspirin. That was perfectly fine with me, because for once I was being thanked for packing all that nonsense stuff. But I will tell you that there were a few things that I COULD NOT live without on our weekend trips, and once again :) I became a savor of sorts to some.
(ranked in order of importance course)
#1 Sanitizer
This one may sound obvious to some, but let me tell you, it is a life saver. What with walking the streets all day, napping on the grass by the Eiffel Tower, riding the metro and the city bus, handling old books, antiques or shoes, a squirt of sanitizer was about as good as a full body shower.
#2 Passes
Perhaps it was supposed to happen, or maybe it was just a coincidence, but I found I had a lot of time on the night train due to the lack of adequate sleeping quarters (it was a 1970 Harry Potter train that hadn't been cleaned since... 1970). It was our first weekend and we were on our way to Rome :) or Roma for those Italians in the audience. So in the early morning hours I got a little bored since I was the only one who somehow couldn't contort their body in a way to make myself comfortable or ignore the heat, sweat, smell and neck pain to fall asleep. I pulled out my travel book, the thing I insisted on taking even though it literally weighed my weekend bag down, and started flipping through the pages. I skipped to a section I found interesting and read about the Roma Pass. I got just enough information to get the gist: unlimited metro, bus and train rides for three days, two free entries into a museum or historical site for one flat fee (25 euro). Those travel books sometimes do have relevant information and money saving tips because no one else in our 16 person group knew about it and it saved us all a ton of money!
#3 Tissues
Not only are they good for allergies, but in many public places in big cities the bathrooms do not provide tissue paper. Get the travel kind of course...
#4 Questions
No, questions are not something you can physically pack, but you should certainly use them if you have them. Once you get over the fact that you might face an occasional rude person, becoming confident and respectful when asking a question will most likely not only get you an answer but probably some added bonus information. A LOT of people speak English, but if they don't, use your resources to get your point across (map, hand gestures, street name, landmark, etc). Oh and if you are worried about looking like a tourist by stopping people and asking questions... don't worry... the natives already know. Trust me.
