Today I realised just how excited I get whenever there is a trip in the offing. (For those into useless information the offing was the part of the sea visible from land but too deep for ships to anchor.  Ships about to go on a journey would to ‘stand off’ while waiting for the captain to board, rather than anchor and ‘stand to’.  Herman Melville told me that.)

In Woolworths my eyes lit up when mini-sized, roll-on deodorant bottles, tiny bottles of Listerine and micro-tubes of toothpaste were sighted.  Who else would get turned on by packing-cubes or by airline anti-DVT socks?  What about a suitcase that has all the ticks?  It’s lightweight, not black (easier to spot on conveyor belts), has two wheels not four (better for cobblestones). AND it has compression straps!

A 10 week trip to Europe and a Northern hemisphere Summer for under 20kg stretches the packing skills.  I will get totally sick of the sight of my zip off pants – both the same colour and brand, (an unfortunate decision in retrospect.) I will have a love/hate relationship with my boots.   And I will have packed some stuff that I will carry with me all around Europe and beyond without ever knowing what on earth I was thinking when the decision was made to include them.

Why would anyone possibly want to take a light-weight document scanner in their luggage to Turkey and back?  Who would pack a first aid kit that could serve as a third-world hospital, when all you really need is four bandaids and a packet of panadol? I will want to either dump them or hide them in Linda’s suitcase, but won’t do either out of stinginess or fear.  I can’t even pretend they’re presents for the kids when I get home (“Surprise Mitch!! – It’s a document scanner!!!!  Nat – I bought you a REALLY good first aid kit!!!”)      The joys of packing.