Travel Challenges: Packing

There are several challenges that can arise when you're planning on being mobile for months at a time. A constant one we face is packing and "stuff management". It turns out, striking a balance between what we need to bring with us and what comfort items we want is quite difficult. Here are three categories that we've struggled with the most and some takeaways we've learned along the way:

#1: Clothes

When we were getting ready to leave Austin, it was easy to imagine a hundred different scenarios in which we would need various pairs of shoes, shorts, pants, shirts, sweatshirts, etc. For example, what if we had the opportunity to go hiking but there was snow? Better bring along my waterproof snow boots. Well, what if I wanted to go for a trail run; the snow boots would be too big! I guess I'll pack my trail running shoes too. But what if we decide to eat somewhere fancy or we need to celebrate something? Hmm, in that case I suppose I should also bring along a button-up shirt, a nice pair of shorts in case it's warm, a nice pair of pants in case it's cold, and a nicer looking pair of shoes. Just like that, I've imagined and justified needing at least three pairs of shoes and an entire outfit I'll probably never wear.

My takeaway from this is to try and be more realistic when packing clothes. Chances are, we're never going to go someplace fancy to eat because we've had the goal of saving money. It turns out, I also didn't need a pair of underwear, socks, shirts, and pants for every day of the week either. We intentionally booked Airbnb locations that had a washer and dryer. In fact, I've been wearing the same four outfits nearly every day and have used less than half of the clothes I brought along in my suitcase.

#2: Food

We have several gray totes that we have been traveling with and all of them are used to carry food and ingredients. There are some definite pros and cons to this. On the one hand, we have access to things like olive oil, salt and pepper, and various other spices so we can cook good food at home and avoid wasting money at restaurants. Additionally, some canned and dry goods like tuna, beans, and rice can easily be transported to the next location if we don't eat it all before we travel again. This also helps us save money. Since I have Celiac Disease, there is always a risk of contaminated cookware at each new location and so we brought along our own cutting boards and knives. These things are all good to have, but they also take up significant room in the car. A quarter of our backseat space is easily taken up by the gray totes and they're a pain to pack in and out each time we change locations.

Some of these seem like essential items but I think there's room to improve in the future. For example, we have several knives and cutting boards packed: we could probably shave that down to just one of each. Additionally, our spice bag is enormous. Seeing as I don't have a sense of smell, most spices are completely bland and undetectable to me. Brigitte enjoys tastier food, but I think there's room to downsize the number of spices we take with us. We've also brought along our electric kettle which is fairly lightweight but very large and cumbersome. Perhaps, we could downsize to a portable unit that would take up less space.

#3: Comfort Items

Personally, I like to be comfortable and I enjoy my routines. There are several items that we've brought with us that serve no other function other than to make us cozy. For example, we brought our sound machine. It probably weighs about two pounds and takes up substantial room in my suitcase. We both enjoy sleeping with the sound machine on and struggle when it's not available. Additionally, I'm a side-sleeper and have been sleeping with a pillow between my knees for years. It sounds like an old guy thing to do but I swear it makes my back feel better; so, of course, I brought along my leg pillow. It's small and meant to fit directly between my knees and it isn't very heavy. That being said, it doesn't fit in my suitcase and ends up floating around the car until we reach our next destination. Finally, I knew that we would have some time to kill, and I brought along a few books to read through while we travel. I quickly finished the first three and have since bought three more in downtown Boulder, CO.

There are some easy ways to reduce these items down to a more manageable level. First off, the sound machine is old, and I know for a fact that they make pocket-sized versions of this now. Will it cost money? Yes. Will it immediately make my suitcase lighter? Also, yes. The leg pillow is a nice luxury but in reality, we have not slept at a single Airbnb or hotel that didn't have extra pillows available. That's essentially what I was using before I got this smaller one and they all worked fine before that. In the future, we should ditch it altogether and save some room in the car. The book problem I have more or less solved for now. At each of the Airbnb's, they typically have a bookshelf with a random assortment on display. As I finish my books, I simply donate them to the bookshelf and leave them there for future travelers to enjoy. This means that I'm continuously lightening the load of my suitcase and giving myself an extra incentive to spend more time reading.

Are there other packing and "stuff management" issues that you face? Drop a comment letting us know what you struggle with and I'm sure we can reach a collective solution!