I was always the girl who forgot to pack something importantly girlie, like post-sun aloe lotion or lipgloss, a mildly slinky beach cover up or extra earrings. Forgetting these tiny luxuries would be entirely unfathomable to many, but for me it was completely beyond my radar. Why would I take $15 lipgloss on holiday when I have my beloved and reliable tube of cherry Chapstick? Isn't a beach cover up basically an expensive towel with shoulder straps? Extra earrings? I'll be lucky if I don't lose the ones I have on now!
Now that I am officially, ahem, a grown up woman (really, I almost wrote the word lady there just so I could avoid calling myself a woman - what's wrong with me?!), I should know how to pack a utilitarian yet feminine suitcase full of holiday necessities. As a mildly-seasoned traveler, I should be able to excise the junk in my suitcase, yet my luggage often reveals a hodgepodge of not entirely coordinating clothing items, assorted reading material (though only some of it will actually be read), and one too many pair of shoes (always). My suitcase is typically on the heavy side even if it's not perfectly packed.
Suitcase, luggage, carry on. More glamorous words for baggage, I suppose. Suitcases I am still working on, but baggage? Baggage I can do: heart baggage, brain baggage, thigh baggage - I have it all! I truck that stuff around every day! It's the sorting (what's worth carrying, what' not?), weeding (could I really just throw that out without regret?), and rehabilitating (that old plum camisole could perk up that tattered vintagey cardigan!) of baggage that I don't quite have the knack for (yet). Which jacket is both fetching and deliciously warm? What can I simply delete from my packing list? Is there some basic necessity that I am forgetting, or a minor girlie accessory that I should reclassify as a staple item? Figuring out what truly belongs in one's suitcase is a skill I assumed would magically come with age. Turns out, it's a fair amount work.
This attempt at metaphor may or may not be working for you, so permit me to reveal my intention: everyone has baggage, and at some point it's probably wise to whittle it down to the baggage you can carry without burden, allotting only the baggage that keeps you honest and sincere, ambitious and hopeful. Anything else has to be checked.
Now that I am officially, ahem, a grown up woman (really, I almost wrote the word lady there just so I could avoid calling myself a woman - what's wrong with me?!), I should know how to pack a utilitarian yet feminine suitcase full of holiday necessities. As a mildly-seasoned traveler, I should be able to excise the junk in my suitcase, yet my luggage often reveals a hodgepodge of not entirely coordinating clothing items, assorted reading material (though only some of it will actually be read), and one too many pair of shoes (always). My suitcase is typically on the heavy side even if it's not perfectly packed.
Suitcase, luggage, carry on. More glamorous words for baggage, I suppose. Suitcases I am still working on, but baggage? Baggage I can do: heart baggage, brain baggage, thigh baggage - I have it all! I truck that stuff around every day! It's the sorting (what's worth carrying, what' not?), weeding (could I really just throw that out without regret?), and rehabilitating (that old plum camisole could perk up that tattered vintagey cardigan!) of baggage that I don't quite have the knack for (yet). Which jacket is both fetching and deliciously warm? What can I simply delete from my packing list? Is there some basic necessity that I am forgetting, or a minor girlie accessory that I should reclassify as a staple item? Figuring out what truly belongs in one's suitcase is a skill I assumed would magically come with age. Turns out, it's a fair amount work.
This attempt at metaphor may or may not be working for you, so permit me to reveal my intention: everyone has baggage, and at some point it's probably wise to whittle it down to the baggage you can carry without burden, allotting only the baggage that keeps you honest and sincere, ambitious and hopeful. Anything else has to be checked.
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