The great suitcase dilemma...

Packing…again

It feels a bit like ground-hog day because here I am, once more living out of a suitcase.

I’ve blogged about packing for away trips before, but I am undertaking a fair bit of travel over the next few months, mostly domestic trips with an overseas jaunt thrown in for good measure.  However, I still can’t seem to master minimalism when it comes to what goes in my suitcases.  So how, how, HOW is it that some people can pack of whole weeks’ worth of clothes into a teeny, tiny bag and still manage to look fabulous for the entire time they are away.  Whereas I, with my “big beast” of a bag, barely manage to string a decent look together for every other day.  How is that? 

My suitcases comprise of my weekend casual (wheelie) bag, my over-night (wheelie) suitcase and one that needs a forklift to get into the back of my car (wheelie) behemoth.  Thank goodness for wheels, I often tell myself while struggling with handbag, laptop bag and various other bits of paraphernalia that are wrapped around, strapped around, hanging off me, falling off me, and smashing into other people as I dash through the airport dragging “the beast” behind me.

"How much does your bag weigh"?  the eagle eyed airline employee asks me as I tip-toe past and try and sneak "the beast" onto the conveyor belt.  "I know it's under the allowance" I lie sweetly, tongue in cheek, and try not to give myself a hernia as I nonchalantly pick  "the beast" up, pretending it weighs no more than a feather, and place it gently on the belt, smiling like an idiot all the while to try and disguise the grunt of pain and the broken blood vessels that have surely burst in my eyes. Meanwhile, tendons and muscles have separated in my arms, and I'm sure I felt an internal organ rupture with the effort.  You see...big suitcase..must fill to capacity.  That's my motto and one that I live by.  Because who knows when you might need the three extra pair of shoes or those 20 pair of knickers for that five day trip.  Because....just in case!  Of what? I have no idea.

Let's cram in as much as possible

So I know I should have a “middie” bag…and I did…once.  But there was that one time…when grabbing the bag off the carousal and trying to lift handle, and wheel bag in the direction of the exit in one fluid moment – trying to look cool and like I'm a well seasoned traveller - I noticed said bag was not inclined to let me lift handle and wheel it in the direction of the exit…as handle was busted and wheels were no longer in existence.  It appears the sticky out bits of your bag are prone to massive damage when bag is dropped from great heights or thrown across cargo bays at the airport.  

And when claiming for a replacement bag on my travel insurance, it appears that sticky out bits are not covered.  What the….why else would anyone be claiming for damage to a suitcase???  Makes the whole travel insurance thing a bit of a joke!  Except for when everything goes missing…and while that hasn’t happened yet, I am sure it is only a matter of time...because this is me...and that's the kind of luck I have.  The most shocking part of the whole episode was that I had to carry….yes, carry...my bag through the terminal, and as I am not the most proficient of packers, that was quite a bit of weight to lug to the waiting car.

Years ago, a friend and I were waiting for our luggage at an overseas port, when out on a carousal came a guitar.. in two pieces.  And I'm pretty sure this wasn't a planned design of some new-fangled guitar.  I have to admit that we laughed a lot at that and wondered who the poor so-and-so was because I'm sure that passenger had checked in a guitar that was in its entirety.  It always pays to make sure you aren't standing next to the rather upset owner of the guitar before you start mocking the sad state of affairs of a mangled musical instrument.  For some reason, he didn't find it as funny as we did.

When I started travelling more for work, I promised myself a fancy suitcase - then I went shopping, and that fancy suitcase was suddenly not so appealing.  Because I couldn't really afford the "fancy" unless I sold a kidney or two.  So here is the question I pose to you. Should I set myself back a grand, or sidle on back to the budget store?  Should I lay-by myself a well know luxury brand?  Or think in terms such as "generic" and "cheap import"?

There is one important thing to factor into the equation. Whether your suitcase is expensive or a cheapo number, there are some things I know to be true.  When it comes to luggage, the chances of it being dropped from great heights, and being flung around are not, I believe, directly connected to the value of a suitcase.  Give the baggage handlers their due….I don’t think they discriminate when it comes to disdain or lack of care for a suitcase.  I think they are an equal opportunity workforce when it comes to inflicting damage, and it is kinda nice that luggage has no class system…as long as it isn’t your bag coming home to you without its sticky out bits.

So for now "the beast" remains in play, until the sticky out bits come to an untimely, sticky end!

Throwing a party in a very small space

...or how to play Sardines!

Hope you get to start the day with amazing people

Who bring amazing pressies!!

Hope for great weather – but if your party is in the middle of winter– that might be wishful thinking

Hope your tailor doesn’t tell you that the dress you took in to be altered is going to look “dumb” (yes, that word was used…among others) if she does what you ask her to do...

Hope you have a spare dress in the wardrobe!

At least it meant I kept with the pink theme!

Hope your family and friends like arts and crafts – because that skill is going to come in handy for decorating

Hope they more than like it...and can actually do it...otherwise your results will not look like the YouTube channel you googled...

But which ones were ours - hard to spot the difference...I know!

Hope that only four people RSVP – because quite frankly that’s all you can fit around your teeny tiny table, or comfortably seat on your two sofas…and when I say sofas….I mean a slightly larger version of an arm chair

Hope you win the lottery at least the week before, so you can walk in, cash in hand, and buy that big, gorgeous house with the separate formal lounge so you can breathe a sigh of relief if more than four turn up

Hope more than four people turn up - otherwise sobbing in corner of room may commence

Hope you purchased enough alcohol for more than four people

We had enough...phew

Hope you remember friend's warning and don't imbibe too much before guests arrive

Hope your friends and family aren’t claustrophobic, are very comfortable in confined spaces and love playing games like “how many people can we fit into the mini” or “how many people can we fit into a telephone box”…you get the gist!

Hope your friends and family don’t mind leaning against the fridge, the stove, the kitchen cupboards, the walls, the….(insert any available space here)

Hope no-one has an injury and can easily perch on arms of chairs, cushions or survive standing for hours on end

Hope everyone likes to mingle – because in this case, they won’t have much choice or say in the matter

Hope your friends will come to the rescue with ideas on how to increase your space and warm the outdoor area so people can spill out of the cramped quarters and finally move arms that had been pinned to their sides for the last couple of hours…

Outdoor Diesel Heater provided heat later in the night

Hope the people you invite can take better pictures than you…

Apparently Not!

Hope you don't attempt a selfie after a couple of cocktails

Hope that if you did attempt selfie after a couple of cocktails, the results were stunning...

Apparently Not

Hope you serve plenty of food and drinks to your guests and hope that they have come to see you and each other, and won’t care that they are inadvertently playing sardines….

Hope you remember to serve said food and drinks before you knock back your sixth cocktail

Hope your family and friends can fend for themselves when it comes to food and drink because you failed to heed the warnings...

Hope you end the day with amazing people

Amazing friend made amazing cake...

And hope that turning 50 will be made all the more bearable by having incredible family and friends in your life

Warm and inviting doesn't have to cost a lot...

Unloved Spare Room to Guest Room!

While tidying my spare room for up-coming guests, I got to thinking about how little it takes to make a modest space more warm and inviting.  Nothing like a little elbow grease and a fresh bunch of flowers to do the trick. Cripes...did I sound like my great grandmother there for a moment? Not that we're living through the Great Depression...I haven't succumbed to dripping sandwiches just yet...but there is some truth to it. You don't have to spend a lot, or anything at all, to show family and friends that you've made an effort.

When I have friends over, it's always a good excuse to get in a spring clean, if I have time, on a room that sometimes gets a little forgotten.  Otherwise a rapid fire, tidy up session will usually do the job.  This only involves a quick dust of the surfaces and window sills, a fluff of the pillows and a general tidying away of the laundry that somehow seems to migrate there without too much effort from me.  

I have a laundry at the back of my garage, like many small flats.  However as I don’t have internal access to said garage, it can be a right pain in the proverbial to get to it.  And as such, my ironing board lives in the spare room, along with the iron…and the washing basket, usually full of clean items that need folding and putting away.

As for my suitcases, which I usually unpack straight away, these sometimes (nearly always) end up in that room, waiting for me to get the energy to unload the last bits and pieces and put the suitcases away.  I’m great at getting the clothing and the majority of my toiletries out…but as for the rest of the stuff…a stray pair of shoes, power cords, gloves and scarves, the shower cap and body lotion I nicked (hey…it comes with the price of the hotel room), those items just seem to linger on and on until…behold!  It’s time for my next trip away, and I’m chucking those items back into the bag.  So is this a sign of laziness…or me being really, really organized?  Don’t answer that!

And don’t get me started on the wardrobe (where non-seasonable/too tight/never been worn/should part with it because it’s old and shabby or out of date…but love it for some stupid reason...clothing hangs).  If my guests need some closet space, well, that does take a bit of effort to compact the items in there to one end…but I can usually manage to clear a few inches.  At least I can shut the wardrobe doors and virtuously pretend it is a clutter free zone, not Monica’s hall cupboard from Friends.  

So while my spare-room may occasionally look a little messy, it doesn’t take too much work to get it back to a functioning space when friends or family come to stay.

Some fresh flowers and a water bottle is all it takes to add that extra special touch

Now comes the question of guest towels.  I made the bold statement a few blogs ago about treating ourselves, and using the guest towels.  I guess I told a bit of a fib…because try as I may, I just can’t. You see, I hate buying new towels, and truly, some of mine are pretty sad looking.  But I’m okay with sad – because well, it is just for me, and no matter what detergent I use (and I don’t use bleach in my washing machine) over time they all end up looking like something from the peroxide family has got at ‘em.  So those guest towels have remained guest towels only – and I’m going to live with that. Because it’s one less thing to think about if people are coming to stay, and in this crazy, busy world, sometimes it’s nice having to think about one less thing.

Guest vs Everyday (really need to throw out and replace) Towels

That being said, one thing I am always prepared for is the unexpected guest.  As soon as one guest leaves, the bed is remade up in fresh sheets.  Nothing like having to deal with that at midnight, when someone might have imbibed a little too much, and shouldn’t drive home.  I can easily shove the unfolded towels away, but putting on fresh sheets when I too (as hard as it may be to believe) have imbibed a little, is just…well… too much to bear thinking about.

Putting it all together

However, what I have come to learn is that this might not be the case with all folks.  (Not the imbibing…but the clean sheet thing!)

I was driving into work the other morning, and a discussion (heated argument) erupted on the radio station I was tuned into about clean sheet protocol.  Should this even be up for debate, I pondered?  Seriously, do people not replace a set of sheets after one guest has left? Well…that would be only one or two callers with this point of view, surely.  What?  Okay! Hmmm…apparently not.

I have heard the argument before – that it’s only for one night, and what’s the issue.  The way I look at it, would I wear someone else’s unwashed clothes if they had only worn them for one day?  Let me think about that for a minuscule amount of time…and the answer would be a resounding “NO”.  I am curious about what other people think about this one…because if I’m staying at your place for the night, and you have the rather laissez-faire attitude toward sheet protocol – let me know.  I’m more than happy to bring my own sleeping bag, otherwise I will be having bad thoughts about what may lie beneath the duvet!  (I was going to list all sorts of unmentionables here…but suddenly I felt a little queasy!)  

Am I being fair...or a bit of a prig and a 'pain in the bottom'? Am I the norm...or some whiny house-guest who may never get another invite again? And have I just got myself banned from other people's guest rooms for the rest of my life?

I would love to hear your opinions on the clean sheet debate.