Tag: packing

Travel Light, and Write Light

25/01/2020 / Maureen / 12 Comments

If you do a lot of travelling, you’ll know the value of packing light for a trip. And the same goes for writing. Having travelled and written the hard way for too long, I now travel light, and write light.

How to pack for a trip

The nomads of the world are quick to tell us how to pack less and travel light:

Roll instead of fold – and fit everything into a backpack. Watch the YouTube Video below to see how easy it is.
Pack less – wash small items at night and hang them in the shower

Hint: Roll wet items in a towel to squeeze out excess moisture. They will dry much faster.

Okay, a small backpack might be a bit extreme, but you get the idea.

Plan to succeed!

You can certainly cut down on luggage (and weight) by careful planning.

The consistent tip from packing-gurus is the ‘half-method’. Gather up what you think you’ll need, and then eliminate half.

In my case, I may have to repeat that last step a few times before my luggage resembles ‘smart packing’. When I think back to the trips where a lot of what I packed never left the suitcase, the half method makes a lot of sense.

But, Write Light?

The more I write, the more refined my writing becomes. And it didn’t take long to realise I didn’t need a lot of the words I used. They were the ‘extra stuff’. Like taking two sets of pyjamas, where one would do.

I write, edit, and cut back. It might not be by half, but I certainly hack those extra words out of the story.

This is what I cut from one of the sentences above:

Original sentence:

And it didn’t take ~~too~~ long to realise ~~that~~ I didn’t need a lot of the words I used.

There was no change to the meaning – I just eliminated the extra words.

Some of my writing habits were formed at College. And old habits die hard.

An assignment would include a suggested word-limit. The intent was probably ‘write no more than this number of words, but get as close as you can’.

I remember one time when my word count was not exactly close to the assigned number.

So I (may have) exaggerated the number of words… a little. Who would have thought lecturers had time to count every word (I’m talking pre-technology, as in, hand-written)?

That assignment came back with a note attached:

‘My guesstimate is …. words’.

So from then on, I added all the extra words I could muster. They probably had little to do with the topic, but they made the word count look more respectable. And it kept that particular lecturer happy.

Am I there yet?

I still pack more than I need for a trip, but not as much as I used to.

And my writing still carries some ‘extra stuff’, but I keep on culling until I eliminate most of the fluff.

What are your tips for how to travel light and write light?

Seattle – The New Adventure

18/12/2017 / Maureen / 2 Comments

“I am not the same, having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.” – Mary Anne Radmacher

In an attempt to see the moon shine (not to be confused with ‘moonshine’) on the other side of the world again, I had to get ready to go, again. Leading up to the big day I seemed to lack the motivation to pack and get organised. Why? Still tired from the last big trip maybe? The thought of experiencing my third winter for the year? I really don’t know, but it seemed a huge effort and I have no idea how it all came about, but there I was on departure day, packed and sitting at Gate 82 Brisbane Airport waiting to board a flight to Seattle.

Outward Bound

Departure Day – Seattle Adventure

The day I left was interesting to say the least. I’m usually in the city of departure on the night before an International flight, but not this time. I broke all my own rules by agreeing to stay on the north side of the city. It seemed feasible at the time, but it wasn’t without its moments of absolute terror as I contemplated what could go wrong in the process of getting to the airport on time. The biggest fear was relying on others to get me there. I normally travel under my own steam, but the generosity of Ricky and Sally prevailed and I succumbed to the offer to stay the night and have them drive me to the airport the next day.

To take my mind off what could happen, I spent the morning at the local cafe with my two granddaughters, sharing girl-talk over coffee and a late breakfast. By the time we got home there were some chores to do, another attempt to know exactly what was in my backpack and more importantly, which pocket it was stowed in, and finally another shower before putting on the semi-warm clothes I’d need for my arrival into cold Seattle. Before I knew it Sally had arrived to help me load my luggage into the car and start the journey. First stop, meet Ricky at Nundah railway station; second stop, the Royal Hotel at Nundah for a superb Italian dinner; third stop, the airport. It all worked like clock-work so I needn’t have worried.

Christmas spirit at Brisbane International Airport

Luggage – Safely Delivered!

With my bags safely labelled and whisked away on the conveyor belt, I made my way to the next challenge – the part that alerts the Government to the fact that you are about to leave the country, which country(s) you are defecting to and how long you will be away.

I miss the face of Customs and Immigration – the human element that would smile as they stamped your passport with place and date of departure, but I certainly don’t miss it at the end of the journey as you made your way home. No matter how much you declared every wooden souvenir you were bringing home, you still lived in fear of having missed something that the ever-alert Customs Officer would so easily find. I worked very hard at not having that ‘guilty’ look that Custom’s Officer’s are trained so well to detect. Interacting with a piece of paper is so much easier. Fill out the form, declare everything, and smile for the camera – Welcome Home!

Departure time – Brisbane Airport

I love that you leave the Customs area via the Duty Free area, but I still can’t get used to seeing a packet of Tim Tams sell for four times as much as in the supermarket – all in the name of Duty Free – no doubt. It seems the humble Tim Tam has acquired equal status to Vegemite as the quintessential Australian icon.

Seattle, Here I Come!

But first, a two-hour stopover in Honolulu – that turned out to be a lot longer than I anticipated, but you’ll have to read about that in the Sequel to follow….

China Trip – The Beginning

06/01/2017 / Maureen

With all the tripping around I’ve done this year, my blogs are all over the place. The China trip has been fleetingly touched on in other areas but has somehow missed the dedicated space it so truly deserves. So, here it is!

In The Beginning

It all started with a conversation with Molly, the sales agent, in July 2015. Settlement on my new unit was due to happen around September – we hoped – but Molly was going to China to visit the Aveo campus in Shanghai and hoped to be back in time for settlement. She wanted to be able to hand over the keys in person when I took ownership of the place I’d call home in my retirement years. As Molly talked about China, my mind went into overdrive with thoughts of potential travel opportunities – but the idea slipped quietly onto the back burner – there were more pressing things that needed my immediate attention, not the least of which was actually buying the unit, packing up my world out in Central Queensland, and making the long haul back to civilisation. Oh, and somewhere amongst all that, actually securing a transfer with my job. Even though I was buying my retirement place, I wasn’t ready to sever my ties with paid employment just yet. I figured I had another 5 years, at least, before I needed to think about hanging up the chalk (whiteboard markers to be politically correct) and close the door on my long teaching career. After all, I still loved my job.

So, no more thoughts of China entered my head until I had moved in and was a few months into being settled in the unit. By this time I’d even committed the unthinkable and resigned from my job, but that’s another story. So when I opened the mailbox that cold day in July and found a note about a meeting to discuss a trip to China, for anyone who was interested, I was in. I put the date in my diary and when the big day arrived, armed with my trusty new camera, drove to Robina for the meeting.

It all sounded good, and I was pretty sure it was something I really wanted to do, until Suzy, the presenter, mentioned there was a Starbucks right next to where we’d be staying. That was the game-changer for me. My next question was ‘where do I sign?’. I love Starbucks, but again, that’s another chapter, for another time.

The plans slowly unfolded. There were emails back and forth between the travel agency and AVEO organiser (Suzy). There were numerous forms to complete, more dreaded passport photos for the Visa and thoughts (a few anyway) about what to pack.

Since then, the plans have unfolded, the itinerary is finalised, and the packing is about to start in earnest. With the departure now only days away, the packing is slightly overdue, but I’m confident that I’ll get there. Morning will come a little earlier on Tuesday, with the bus picking me up at 6 am. From Murwillumbah, we’ll travel to Robina to collect the Gold-Coasters, and then it’s on to Brisbane Airport. I’m guessing the day is going to be very long, as we make our way to Hong Kong to meet up with the travellers from Sydney and Melbourne. We will all then board the flight to Shanghai, where we’ll be met by our tour guide for the drive to our accommodation at the Shanghai Campus. From then on it will be full speed ahead, with every day being packed with great things to do.

So, back to the packing…