The Art of UN-Packing

You would think that after 30 some odd trips I would have packing down to a fine art. As soon as we book a trip I vow to myself that I will take only the bare essentials. About two to three weeks before the trip the suitcase comes upstairs and stays open on a table in the back room. First to go in is the snorkel equipment. After that it’s a free-for-all and all hell breaks loose. The minute I think of something that I may need, into the suitcase it goes. You see, I am a very low maintenance traveler. I don’t need a ton of shoes or products for my hair and body. I am basically a capris and t-shirt type and my idea of dressing up for dinner is throwing on a dressy top with the capris. I own, minimum, four pairs of black capris and they all come with me. I also never wear everything I pack on holidays but heaven forbid I get the urge to wear something and I don’t have it with me. Never mind that it is something I dragged out of the back of my closet.

Anybody that knows me knows I don’t do pretty colors. At least fifty percent of my wardrobe is black with the remaining fifty percent devoted to earth tones. Yet come holiday time something overcomes me and the urge to wear orange, hot pink and turquoise overwhelms me. I walk into a store, and like a moth to a flame, I am drawn to all the pretty colors. These are the clothes that end up relegated to the back of the closet and are pulled out and tossed into the suitcase for each upcoming trip. These are also the same clothes that never get worn on said trip.

So this time I have two choices – just pack those clothes that I know I will definitely wear or embrace my inner tacky tourist.