When it comes to living out of a backpack, keeping it light and only packing what you need is a good rule of thumb. The last thing you want to do is haul around (on your shoulders) a bunch of frivolous crap you don’t really need, and what you need starts to get real clear as you’re piling it all into such a small place.
But there are exceptions to every rule and here are mine, the things I don’t need (in the most rigorous sense of the word) but I sure like to have on occasion!
1. Blue Nail Polish – I’m not really a do my nails kind of girl. But I stumbled across this color in the make up store last year and I LOVE it! Every once in awhile (like every two months) I get the urge to paint my nails and I pull out my tiny bottle of blue nail polish. It makes me happy and it takes up hardly any space so it’s easy to justify carrying around.
2. Essential Oils – A combination of calm and refreshing smells and aromas. I douse on the lavender as perfume, put drops of the lemon into our drinking water and mix the others in a spray-bottle so that I can freshen up the air of a dingy room. Simple pleasures, really.
3. Incense – Super lightweight, these burning sticks of smell are subtle reminders of places we’ve been and the memories made while there. Lighting one up always turns a seemingly ordinary afternoon into something a tad more special.
4. Blue Jeans (skinny ones) – When I originally packed for this trip I followed the advice of most travelers who said leave your jeans behind. Points being that they are heavy, they don’t dry very easily and in tropical regions you just won’t have much occasion to wear them. It’s true. There are few times when wearing them makes sense, it’s just too hot. Besides I’ve gotten used to running around in pajama like comfort so why would I want something that fitted? I’ll tell you why! Because every so often I start to feel like a total ragamuffin (that’s a cute word for slob) and I just want to slip into my blue jeans and feel, dare I say it, sexy. So when we were living in Chiang Mai I went shopping at the Tesco Lotus (like Walmart) and bought me a pair. I’ve only worn them half a dozen times. We recently sent another box of stuff home (souvenirs and trekking clothes) and I had my chance to throw them in, knowing that I might only wear them a few more times before we go home but I couldn’t do it. That once or twice more will be worth hauling them around!
5. Colored Pencils & A Coloring Book – This is my latest frivolous addition. Do I need art supplies? Now, with several hours of coloring under my belt, I would say yes. Everyone needs to play and this is such an easy and fun way for me to do it.
What little pleasures do you indulge in? What seemingly frivolous things would you pack along for the ride?
