Packing – Field Trip Notebook

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The first section of our nomadic lives was driving around the US. We had our streamlined nomadic luggage, but we also had stuff in the car–food, extra clothes, spare shoes, all kinds of this and that.

So the real test has been these last two weeks in Sofia and Plovdiv, Bulgaria, when we each have a carry-on suitcase and a backpack and that’s it.

The Slow Art of Letting Stuff Go

We’re giving away our things, and it’s taking time.

So much time.

*Regarding having no possessions, this sloth is way ahead of me.*

Beliefs About Stuff that I’m Letting Go

Many thanks to No Side Bar for publishing my piece today on the beliefs I’m uncovering (and letting go) as I unload possessions.

You can read it here.

And, let’s admire this lovely empty closet. Beautiful, right?

Thanks for reading, and by the way, I love comments. Bookmark fieldtripnotebook.com for more on travel, minimalism, books, public transportation, and hikes. For daily postcards from, well, wherever we are, subscribe to launaatlarge.substack.com.

On the Gravitational Pull of Things

The plan is to travel. Our children are grown, and we’re coming up to our last day of working full time. To get out there, we’re renting out this house and unloading its contents, ready to step into the next season of our lives with lighter luggage.

So, we must deal with things.

I walk through the rooms of our suburban house and inventory the objects, organize them into stacks, plot their disbursement. Sometimes, in a burst, I’ll unload a great deal at once. Sometimes, objects persist.

For example, this gargoyle.

Last Hack You’ll Ever Need for Dangling Backpack Straps

Fellow traveler, there can be a lot of small nuisances on our journeys, but dangling straps from your backpack does not have to be one of them. Travelers trade home comforts for the joy of the journey, so the things in that bag–and the bag itself–take on outsized importance.

This shirt is good enough.

“How we spend our days is of course how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour and that one is what we are doing.” – Annie Dillard, The Writing Life

I’m not buying new things. My husband and I are deliberately sloughing off possessions. This task is hard enough without bringing in anything new.

But awesome travel stuff has its own siren song.

Dopp Kit

I’m carrying less these days.

My dad used to travel with a leather case for toiletries. The case itself was handsome and sturdy, but perhaps its greatest appeal was that it wasn’t big. What would fit in there? Just a few things. The essentials. He called it his Dopp kit.