What is all that stuff?
I get annoyed with my courier bag with a couple notebooks, pens, lunch, a sunglasses case and a cellphone. Seriously, it feels like a friggin' anchor on my back and it's not really that much stuff. If I drove a car every day, I imagine I'd find more shit to bring with. I used to do things like stop for a smoothie on the way to work, which was one more thing to carry around. The trunk of the Rat-Buick, back in the day, was a veritable storage locker with every possible item I could ever need (except, you know, the thing I needed right away).
Luckily, I don't drive a car anymore, except in dire circumstances. I ride my motorcycle instead. Which kind of makes carrying superfluous items impossible. The motorcycle suits me because I prefer to travel very light. I've got a tank bag for traveling, which can be combined with my courier bag bungeed to the back seat if I feel like pretending I'm a truck. Under the seat is my tool kit and a tire repair kit. So equipped, I'm ready to conquer the world - or at least the world within a twenty-four hour riding range of home.
There have been several times in my life when I've lived out of my suitcase, essentially, for prolonged periods. The curious thing I've found is that I rarely miss the stuff I don't have with me. In fact, it's pretty liberating not having to deal with all that junk. While all the suckers with a doodad for every possible contingency are still packing, I'm having a cup of coffee and ready to roll - if I haven't already left.
So it's not that having stuff is bad, exactly. More that if you've got something, it better be something you'll really miss if you don't have it. Something you don't really mind carrying. If you look around, you'll probably notice a whole bunch of stuff you haven't even touched for years, except maybe to move it to a different spot. Seems kind of silly, doesn't it?
This is why I'm all for having a small house. And small transportation. If there's not room to stash it or carry it, then I probably don't need it. Enforced simplicity, for me, anyhow, is a good thing.
6 comments:
Rain gear. If I have my rain gear I don't dread the rain at all. My colleagues at work always fuss about me riding home in the rain, but I don't worry.
And something to read. Getting caught waiting without something to read is awful.
Pack light, travel light. Good strategy. I used to pack everything and a kitchen sink when moto-camping but now I'm learning to downsize. And when (not if, when) the zombies come, we will be prepared !
Lucky:
I'm learning, I'm learning . . . that's what I keep telling myself. I need my cell for emergencies, then there's the camera (the P&S, and the good one), and perhaps the netbook for when you are away (plus chargers). Other than that, tools for the bike, screwdriver, open end wrenches, tire repair kit, portable air compressor, rain stuff, whew . . . there's hardly any room for clothes
bob
bobskoot: wet coast scootin
I travel light as far as baggage goes. However, I always carry clean underwear in the tank bag. Just in case I ever get in an accident.
You know how it will go. The police will call Grandma. She will say, "Yes, but did he have clean underwear?"
They will say, "Yes, Mrs. Fetterley, we found it in the tank bag!"
I like travelling light as well...every morning I get upset with the number of things I have to put under the Scooter's seat...Camera, wallet, gps, lunch bag, keys, and my netbook...I wish there was a way all this could be automated or made redundant.
oh..then there is a pair of gloves and an extra pair of sun glasses
I agree with you totally...
excellent. yes, i also travel very light. i just had a dilemma regarding stowage for longer travel (i tend to enjoy long disappearing acts). i had to break down and get a sissy bar for mount/anchor points. but generally i carry VERY little, probably too little. great post lucky.
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