Tuesday 26 May 2015

Conversations with a Suitcase

I love an empty suitcase - it holds so much promise. You pack your expectations and excitement. You can be something completely different, for a little while. It's not intentional, it just seems to be that way. You pack for an exciting time, an adventure, an event, to explore.

We are 5, when we travel, and I have got packing for this family down to a case and a half. We have done many trips with hand luggage only. This is a great exercise if you want to learn how to travel light. We've done it so many times now, that I've managed to reduce what we take when we have the whopping 20 kilos a case.

I select four outfits, and a couple of evening ones. Those evening ones signify planning dinners out, romantic locations or a need to be more glamorous for some reason. I have clothes that I only ever seem to wear on holidays, backless shirts, maxidresses and dresses perfect for wearing into restaurants over swimmers.

When travelling to cold climates, I live in boots. I seem to be more formal in foreign cities. Just in case.

I pack games. We don't sit at home playing board games that often, but we never hit the road without a pack of Uno and the banangrams.

A suitcase is an empty vessel, waiting to hold your desired lifestyle. It seems odd, that after happily living this new way for a weekend or a few weeks, we just unpack it. We dismantle the dream and put it aside for a later date. When really, we should unpack it into our everyday life. It's all here, just waiting for us to embrace it.

Do you dress differently when you travel? Do you behave differently? Why do you think we save it for too small a part of our life?

Linking with #Convocoffee for Conversations with a suitcase

12 comments:

  1. Oh I love this!! I'm usually really bad at minimising what I take away but when we travelled around Europe I had to get good at it!! I remember living in thongs on hot days and my boots on cold days... no other shoes lol!

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  2. I fail miserably when it comes to packing light. I suppose I just don't have enough practice. I attempted just carry on for my 3 day trip to Melbourne recently but failed because my handbag weighed 21 kg for starters.

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  3. I love packing light! I miss the days traveling and wearing the same two outfits for weeks! Five in one and a half suitcases is pretty good. We've previously done the hand luggage only thing but have changed to pay for one checked in bag between us. Makes hanging around airports easier keeping track of bags!

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  4. I am impressed that you can pack for a family of five in a suitcase and a half. I tend to pack a little more casual when we go travelling, but I think that's simply the influence of my husband and the locations we go. If we were to go to Europe again, I think I'd definitely pack a few classy numbers, just in case.

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  5. We rarely go far and there are 6 of us- usually at least 2 suitcases full! Lovely piece Lydia!

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  6. I love an empty suitcase.
    I love that!
    I pack differently for holidays. Usually because I am going somewhere warm and very different to wear I live. So I have a set of "resort wear" style clothes that only come out when the suitcases come out.
    Which is happening next week!
    Weeeeeeeeeee

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  7. Oh I love the sense of anticipation with this post. I'm just packing my suitcase for a weekend yoga retreat and I can feel the warmth of the fire, smell the mountain air and feel the sense of space and time that I know this weekend will bring. I'm getting a lot better at packing lighter these days, although you should have tried packing to live in Canada for a year with a baby and a 7 year old!

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  8. Oh I struggle with shoes ... I can't pick just a couple .. More like 10

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  9. Oh the opportunities an empty suitcase holds!!! Love it. #FYBF

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  10. I am super impressed with your packing ability!!! I am slowly getting better the more I travel but still manage to take too much. I do seem to dress a little differently whilst overseas. I tend to take daggier stuff overseas because I like to take stuff that I don't mind throwing in the bin at the end of the trip! Especially if I have to make room for purchases made along the way!! lol..

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  11. Isn't it wonderful what potential an empty suitcase holds??? I definitely dress differently when I travel - I'm a complete dag.
    Very impressed with your packing skills, though! Enjoy Canberra! Rug up! x

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  12. LOVE! I dress differently, I think differently, I even feel differently. Maybe that is why I love travelling so much! And wow for packing so light for a family of 5! Even if we manage to pack light, we come home overloaded with stuff - I can't seem to every help it! Thank you so much for always linking up to #convocoffee

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