People, it’s like the calls are coming from INSIDE THE HOUSE.

Fish,
I’m a horrible… HORRIBLE.. packer. I studied abroad for 6 months in Cape Town and I brought 15 pairs of shoes.( I told you so!) I did some traveling in Africa and I’m still alive and I also lived in Denmark for a year and traveled while I was there. My point in telling you this is that I’m not a super experienced traveler but I know whats going on. It’s because of this that I realized I needed professional help with packing.

I’m leaving in two weeks to do my first ‘backpacking’ trip. I’m going to New York, London, Copenhagen, Athens, Santorini, Barcelona and Alicante over a period of three weeks in May. I’m staying with friends everywhere but in Greece… so I naturally want to bring tons of cool clothes to show my friends how cool I am. I also have an urge to pack all of my high heels… even though I know I can’t!

I’ve read your blog entry on packing but I might need more direction. If you have a chance do you think you could help me out!? Let me know if you have any questions!

- Susie G., AKA bad packer

I’m going to give you the answer that my mom would give you:Your friends don’t love you for your shoes.

Moms and their wisdom can irritate the heck out of me, but they’re dead right. Mostly. When you’re carrying all of your belongings on your back for an extended period of time, I promise you will care less and less about impressing folks with your footwear, and care more and more about holy mother of bob, my BACK is KILLING me. Which it will.

Here’s what you do. You wear your biggest shoes on the plane. Sneakers? Fine. Wear those. Pack clothes that work for every occasion. You know, like a low cut shirt or sweater that can be layered for warmth and modesty. Mine is a flimsy, translucent black sweater that I un-layer for going out to bars. Then, take one thing that is entirely for looks alone. Skimpy black dress is my go-to item. And one (ONE! Do you HEAR ME?) pair of sexy, non-functional shoes. If it’s warm enough, you’ll be padding around in flip-flops anyway, and those are plenty stylish for your friends.

Your friends will love you for being stylish, down to earth and awesome and not complainy about how much your back hurts from lugging all that stuff from country to country.

Friday, May 2, 2008 | advice, packing