Travel Geometry

In The Only Travel Guide You'll Ever Need By Dave Barry the author (Dave Barry) has an interesting observation about luggage, travel magazines, and the frequent traveler. In the section he talks about the kind of person who reads those in-flight magazines you see on airplanes and how their credulity is displayed in all its glory as the reader is convinced that luggage is somehow dimensionally transcendental to use Dr. Who's term for it.

He talks about how the traveler comes across the ad for the new miracle luggage which has the ability to pack for a three-week excursion with enough room to store your entire wardrobe in the space that would not accommodate the average piccolo case.

His point which he is making is that luggage is, on the whole, just a box or a bag with a handle. (…unless, that is, a certain airline has already gotten their hands on it in which case, the presence of a handle is no longer certain, but I digress…)

I thought of this passage as I so often do when I am packing, because I am prone no matter how many times I promise myself that I will pack light, to setting out about twice what I can actually fit into whatever bag I am planning on taking with me. This trip will be no exception, I am sure!

My first week at the new job has been a really good week! My colleagues are helpful and are trying to get me a basic knowledge of the system. On Wednesday, I went into overdrive when my boss asked how quickly I could present myself in the Wembley office for training. I knew that the trip would be forthcoming sooner rather than later, but I was not aware it would be this quickly. Each evening after work I have been doing a little bit toward getting ready to pack and as of last evening I had almost all the laundry done and most of the stuff on my packing list is laid out on the sofa table and the coffee table ready to pack.

This evening after work I have to get the bag out of the store room, make one last review of my list for completeness, my items for accuracy against the list, and then pack my bags. I can see already that I am going to have a problem. I think I have over-planned the number of shirts and slacks that will fit in the bag (and I have to remember that there are weight limits so no matter how much I can fit in the bag, it still has to be less than 24 kilos), I am going to have to review my list and rethink my packing strategy.

But that will have to wait until I get back from the office today. It's time to walk the dog and head into the office.

Wherever you are today, I hope that your plans are all falling into place!

Don Bergquist - August 06, 2010 - Lakewood, Colorado, USA