I have a new mantra for travel packing, my friends: pack to please myself. Period. That sounds so obvious, doesn't it? But since last week when I decided on my wardrobe plan for this trip, I've been waffling. Suffering from middle of the night second guessing precipitated by way too much time on Pinterest, and way too many of those bossy blog posts of the "how to pack" variety. Still, despite all this doubt, I've decided to stick to my original colour palette of black and white basics. For twenty-one days in Italy, I'm packing only outfits that are comfortable, reasonably polished, and in which I feel well and truly myself.
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| Black and black and blue. Not exciting, but comfortable and covered. |
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| After the bomb, before the sorting. |
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| My new Uniqlo down vest with Paige jeans, and a navy striped Massimo Dutti sweater. |
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| The kid from the farm goes to Italy. |
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| All laundered, pressed, folded and ready to pack. |
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| Despite my casual stance, I'm anything but chill. |
But before I go I wanted to say a few words about all those oh-so-confident articles and posts, the ones that purport to tell us how to do things, like pack for travel. I'm always suspicious of people who have all the answers. I'm reminded of that scene from Pride and Prejudice when poor, flustered Maria Lucas insists she has to repack her case because the inimitable, and all-knowing, Lady Catherine de Bourgh has told her how to do it properly. Poor Lady Catherine, she ends up thwarted in every way. Her daughter does NOT marry Darcy, Elizabeth Bennet does, and, with a little encouragement from Elizabeth, Maria Lucas packs her bags to please herself. Ha. That's what comes from trying to tell people what to do.
That's kind of rich, you might be saying, from someone who worked as a teacher for thirty years. But telling people what to do has never been my style, in or out of the classroom. I'm more of a "let's have a conversation about this" kind of gal.
Now it's time for the part of the conversation where you talk, my friends. What's your take on those bossy articles and posts that tell us the five, or ten, or fifteen things we absolutely need to do, or have, or whatever? Or tell us how you spend the last couple of nights before a big trip, when the decisions about what to pack are made, and everything is almost ready to go. Are you able to keep excitement tamped down to a reasonable level?
P.S. My blog post schedule will be sketchy for the next while. But you can follow me here on Instagram. I'm sure I'll be posting lots of photos.
P.P.S. When I refer to "bossy blog posts" I am not talking about the truly helpful packing posts which simply discuss the travellers own experiences with packing. Like the ones at Une Femme d'Une Certain Âge or Materfamilias Writes. I love those ones.