Backdate – Travel Tip #8830: Packing is irritating. Learn to use a crystal ball to know exactly what you will need.
(This post/lament was written while waiting at Bradley Airport, earlier today)
So. Here I am at Bradley, Gate 4. As far as I can tell, I arrived here just as a flight to Baltimore/Fort Meyers boarded, so I managed to score one of these ultimately plush leather arm chairs with built in power outlets. The only thing that could make this experience is working internet. A search for available wireless internet reveals two networks within range – “BDLprivate” and “BDLpublic.” Obviously, BDLpublic is the network, though as far as I can tell, the damned signal strength can’t seem to make up its mind between full and “shitty.” A minor inconvenience – that just means that this particular post will be lost somewhere in the midst of space and time.
As I sit here, in this delectably plush seat (I’m waiting for someone to come around to tell me that I’ll have to move to the back of the gate), I notice that my body temperature is somewhat higher than normal. Part of that might have something to do with a warm laptop in my lap, or the humid Connecticut air I had, moments before, been immersed in… but most likely, it has to do with my bags.
In a stroke of genius, for this leg of the trip, I relegated myself to carrying no less than three (3) backpacks simultaneously, or if you’d like to get technical, 2 backpacks and a shoulder bag. Point being, the carrying of these things in a comfortable and efficient manner would require no less than five (5) shoulders. I have two. And one of these backpacks, the largest, weighs about 40 lbs. Another, a reject bag I found rotting in the back of my closet from my uncool two-shoulder-strap backpack high school days, refuses to be held in any manner aside from the standard two-shoulder position. And of course, there’s my murderous laptop bag which I’m sure was designed by one of Atlas’s descendants, as though a streak of bitterness towards those lacking in a lifetime of worldly burden wound its way into their DNA.
Waxing poetic again.
To put it simply – carrying these three bags in simultaneity sucks. I’m beginning to wonder if I overpacked – and I probably did. Some braindead corner of my mind seemed to have it that China lacks such common things as “paper,” especially that which is suitable for drawing. This, of course, from the mindspring of someone with Sinological aspirations. Stupid, I know – but I pay for that stupidity in the form of a spare (heavy) sketchbook and two Bristol pads (to be fair – I’m not sure if they have Bristol). Actually – on closer inspection, I actually have TWO spare sketchbooks (one of which I started five years ago and, due to its unwieldy dimensions, I’ve yet to finish but refuse to let die because of some stubborn attachment to the money I paid for it) and THREE spare bristol pads. I had to have two different sizes, you must understand. Mashed between this unnecessary stacks of deadweight is my Wacom tablet, the only thing that merited bringing along on this trip. A shame.
Mind you, in my shoulder bag – marked for “active use,” I already have a sketchbook and a Bristol pad. This just proves to me that I am a paranoid moron.
Maybe I can mail some of this junk back to CT before I head off towards Alaska for my second leg. The other solution is to come up with a better bag arrangement – something that is becoming more and more urgent as I watch my smaller backpack’s precious, precious stitching slowly unravel from the top down.
Here’s my thinking – I want to ditch both of my current carry-ons. I would like a larger backpack that can hold the contents of both – you know, for planes, trains, and automobiles, when I’m on my feet – that can double as a roll thing or hand-carriable duffle when I have to wear my big camping bag. We’ll see what I can dig up at various travel stores in Chicago and/or Alaska. As it stands, I’m willing to spend the money on something decent and sturdy with the hope that it will last.
God, I hate packing. This would be much easier if I didn’t have to pack for two seasons and 7.5 months while trying to keep things as light and easy as possible. Not to mention trying to keep myself at a level of presentability for when I see Kelly’s parents over the three weeks starting next Sunday.
I did this last time I traveled too – I had an entire god damned duffle bag full of shit that I never used on top of my camping bag and shoulder bag. Stupid stupid stupid.