Departure minus 1 week

Departure minus 1 week
New Norfolk, Australia

New Norfolk, Australia


Ok, so this is getting real now. We have all the documents from the travel agent. Everything is booked. All we have to do is pack our bags and get on the plane. Hahaha! It sounds easy. It’s hard to believe that this time next week we’ll be in the air en route to Dubai. So I have less than a week to decide what bag I’m going to take. Sometimes I think my life is one long search for the perfect bag. I’ve never found one with everything I want. Some have come close and I’ve even gone so far as designing (on paper) something even closer. I’ve never made it because it’s rather complicated, and I wouldn’t know what to make it out of, and I have no sewing skills.

So the best bag ever (apologies to the writers of Outrageous Fortune) remains tantalisingly out of reach.

This is unhelpful when trying to decide what bag to take with me for days out when I’m away.

Most of the days will involve travelling on buses or trains or both, as well as a fair bit of walking around inside buildings and out on the street.

In my previous day adventures I’ve carried a backpack around for the whole day. Backpacks are big enough to carry everything I need, but . . .

The thing about backpacks is that they’re awkward, especially on public transport.

And I hate having to take it off my back to get anything out that I need easy access to, like my wallet or my camera.

Last time I was in Melbourne I got fed up with pulling the backpack off every 10 minutes. I bought a little sling bag that just fits my notebook, wallet and camera so I could grab those things when I needed them, and still have the backpack to carry things.

Getting those 3 things into this bag results in a fit that is more than a little snug, so I thought why not take a bigger sling bag, carry everything in that and ditch the backpack altogether.

I have two options.

First a little Hedgren bag that has like a million pockets. Apparently this is good for travelling because you can stash important things like passports in hidden pockets and never find them again.

See, pockets everywhere! I love pockets.

Pockets means a place for everything and less fumbling around for stuff in an undivided bag. As long as you can remember which pocket things are in.

It’s a nice size for a walk to work, but when I packed it with the essential things I thought I’d need to be able to get to easily during a long day out, it ended up being so snugly packed I had to take everything out to get one thing out. And if I wanted to carry a rain coat or umbrella there was no way they’d fit.

Enter this not-so-little number.

Fewer pockets, but a couple of sneaky ones. Basically one big bag with heaps of space for things to get lost. Fumbling is necessary.

I tried it out for a few days and it really wasn’t much better. Once it had my essentials in it, it started to feel a bit cumbersome and I had the same problem as with the Hedgren – I had to take everything out to find anything.

Yeah I know, take some stuff out. But what? I need my notebook, wallet, camera, spare batteries, sunglasses, phone and keys. As I’m going to England, I’m pretty sure a raincoat of some sort will be essential, and then what if I want to carry a book and/or tablet to have something to do on long train trips, a water bottle and have space for any tacky souvenirs I pick up along the way. This will not all fit in either of these bags.

I’d need a huge sling bag, which would get heavy and become really annoying and awkward.

So after all of this, I think I’ve come full circle. I’ve decided to take a small backpack for things I only need occasionally during the day and a small sling bag for the things I need to be able to grab quickly.

What a lot of drama that’s been. Almost on par with the phone drama.

No, I won’t go there.

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