Weekend Assignment: The Art of Packing
Fresh when it gets here from
Julie Barrett
Thursday, February 10, 2011
When you go on a trip, do you travel light, or try to make sure you have everything you might conceivably need? Specifically, what do you bring along by way of electronics?
We learned our lesson about packing the first time we went to the UK and ended up dragging several bags from Victoria Station to our hotel just a few blocks away. Never again, we said. We haven't gone so far as to pack everything for a week in a small shoulder bag, but we have learned to take less and be more efficient with what we do take.
Generally, my electronic gear consists of my backpack with DSLR gear and laptop, plus a cellphone and charger. If I know I'm not going to have time to shoot then I'll take a different laptop bag, or try to cram everything into a wheeled carry on bag we bought last year that has room for a laptop and a change of clothes or two. Or, I may just get radical and only take the cell phone or replace the laptop with my tablet. Generally I do take the laptop because I end up writing and doing business while on the road.
Extra credit: What's the most important thing you ever lost, broke, or forgot to bring on your trip?
Well, there are two, and I forgot them both the same trip. Back in 1992 (you'll remember this, Karen!) I went out to LA for Dean Stockwell's Hollywood Star ceremony and the first ever Quantum Leap convention. I walked away leaving behind the kid, my camera gear, and my asthma inhaler. I only meant to leave the kid behind. Before you get any terrible ideas, I should mention that I left Chris in the care of my parents. (Paul was on a business trip. I think he was supposed to have been home by the time I left, but that's another story.) I stopped at a Target and bought an OTC inhaler, and stopped at a shop on Hollywood Blvd. and picked up a point and shoot camera and many rolls of film. When I went the next year, I had the camera and inhaler. Two years after that I did take the kid - and the husband. We made a family vacation out of it. And yes, I also remembered the camera and meds. ;-)
I should mention that this is #357 in the Weekend Assignment series. That's a long time. Please visit the site (linked in the first graf) and consider writing your own entry.
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Karen Funk Blocher said:
Heh. I remember Chris at the later convention, encountering whatshisname who played Jimmy. Yes, I'm going to Gallifrey, but my laptop has died the death! Good luck with your own con.
Date: 2/11/2011 10:11:20 PM
Date: 2/11/2011 10:11:20 PM
Karen Funk Blocher said:
Heh. I remember Chris at the later convention, encountering whatshisname who played Jimmy. Yes, I'm going to Gallifrey, but my laptop has died the death! Good luck with your own con.
Date: 2/11/2011 10:11:20 PM
Date: 2/11/2011 10:11:20 PM
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