One of the greatest discoveries as you enter into retirement is that now you have the time to travel. Possibly you have traveled during your work life. But much of this travel may have been work-related, and what was not travel for work, may have been rushed and stressful, or worse, an “on the bus, off the bus” group trip. None of these forms of travel would have given you much of an idea of how glorious and engaging travel can be when it is not work-related, rushed and stressful, or tethered to a group.
Now, as you enter a period when your travels may be more extensive, your questions may become more pressing. You have your bucket lists of travels to accomplish, and you know that it is essential to undertake your travel adventures while you are still energetic and agile. Of course your questions will likely start with: “Where shall I go?” Next you may ask: “Shall I travel independently or in a group?” Then you will inquire: “How shall I plan my trip so it will be an enjoyable and memorable experience?” And probably your next query will be: “What shall I take with me?”
Each of these questions leads to its own set of issues and considerations, all worthy of discussion. This article will focus on what to take along with you on the road. Although what to take with you may seem to be a relatively minor concern compared to the others, it actually will have a high degree of impact on the ultimate enjoyment and success of your trip. Becoming expert at preparing well for travel will yield high benefits and ensure that you enjoy your trip fully while you are taking it. Determine to become expert at this, and you will become a happy traveler. If travel is about to become an important part of your way of life, you need to get really excellent at doing it.
A good way to think about what to take with you on a trip is to enlist your own well-developed expertise about how to live a comfortable life in your own home. It is typical to tripsite.co.uk a home in terms of functions, establishing an orderly and comfortable environment where you have a way to meet needs and accomplish the basic tasks that you encounter in your day-to-day life.
At home, you have readily available not only clothes for getting dressed in the morning, but also outfits that serve you in other important functions– taking a vigorous walk, dressing up to go to the theater, staying warm when you take a boat ride on a chilly evening. If you need to clear your head from congestion, you have only to walk to your medicine cabinet to find your antihistamines. When you are thirsty, you head to the refrigerator door for ice water to stay hydrated. On days that are too pretty to eat inside, you pull out a table cloth and your picnic gear, and head to a park or out to the table in your backyard.
At home, not only do you have everything that you need, when you need it, but you also know exactly where to find it. Shirts are hanging in the closet and pants are on the shelf. Socks and underwear are in the drawer and shoes are on your shoe rack. Plates are in cabinets, utensils are in drawers, antihistamines are in the medicine cabinet. A place for everything, and everything in its place.
If everything seems so easy at home because you have gathered together and organized your belongings based on function, the same is also true for traveling comfortably. Start with what you will want to be able to do, listing the functions you will need to carry out over the course of your trip. Then tripsite.co.uk what you need to take with you to support each function, and where you will keep it so you will know exactly where to find it when you need it. Think function, not packing list, and you will find that you already know very well how to do this.
Functions you will need to carry out as you travel include being prepared to:
- Dress comfortably, for cool and warm days, sunny and rainy weather.
- Walk many miles a day, including up and down hills, and possibly across cobblestones.
- Navigate your trip, with maps, essential information, and a detailed trip plan.
- Manage your money, credit cards and passports safely.
- Access critical trip documents, including passports, plane and train tickets, confirmations, addresses and phone numbers, taxis and drivers, and dinner reservations.
- Communicate and stay connected.
- Use and recharge electronics, converting to the power system in the country you will be visiting.
- Stay healthy for the duration of your trip, ready to handle a variety of possible physical challenges without lost days.
Taking each of these functions individually, here are some guidelines about what should earn a place in your suitcases, keeping in mind that everything you take along you will need to carry or drag, on and off trains, up and down stairs, and sometimes across cobblestones. If your destination happens to be Costa Rica, you may even find yourself hauling your bags down steep muddy banks to board boats that take you up a river or across a lake.
Be prepared to dress comfortably for cool and warm, sunny and rainy weather
Avoid taking either too many or too few clothes. While on your trip, you will want to feel good about how you look. So take some of your favorites. Don’t bother to stick with neutrals unless these are your personal taste and style. Take along the colors you like, but have in mind multiple ways they can be worn together and layered with each other.
A good rule of thumb is to divide the number of days you will be traveling by three, and take that many outfits, all ones that you like to wear. Of course, you can consolidate further by counting a skirt or a pair of pants as part of multiple outfits. For women, take along a few scarves and necklaces to mix it up a bit. Or, even better, plan to purchase these during your trip.
Put blouses and shirts in a packing envelope so you can transfer them to a drawer or closet shelf as a unit, and disturb only those items that you actually wear. This way part of your repacking will already be out of the way when it comes time to move on to the next stop. Roll skirts and pants and pack them to they form a single clearly displayed layer in your suitcase. This will enable you to locate and remove your selections while leaving the rest undisturbed, again saving you repacking time.
Take along any additional pieces you will need to dress in layers and be comfortable in both warm and cool weather. Certainly, carry along a sun hat and an umbrella. Every day on a trip is precious time. You will not want to be sidelined by sun or rain. Select clothing that does not wrinkle or that will not show wrinkles, with a preference for textured or blended cottons, not synthetics.
Pack enough underwear for a week, in a zippered pouch of course, and plan to do a mid-trip wash. Even if you do not have a washing machine in any of your accommodations, it is a simple task to fill the bathtub with water and liquid soap or shampoo, and wash your clothes that way, hanging them to dry around your room. To be prepared for this function of doing the wash, take along a small container of liquid soap and a stretchable clothes line designed to be used without clothes pins. Keep these laundry items together in their own zip-lock bag so you can readily put your hands on them.