Travel Light...

Your James comes up to you, that twinkle in his eyes – he has somehow won a trip to Paris, and you’re off in an hour!

Are you going?

Before you say “gee that sounds great, but…” I want you to think about it – to think about your life.

What is cluttering up your life? Whether it’s just too many commitments, no one to feed the dog, or not knowing what you could throw into a carry-on in 10 minutes, I want you to take a good long look at your life and how you fit into it.

The most important thing in your life, as a Bond grrl, is actually your relationship to your James. You are there to make things happen for him. Yes, in the other big percentage of your life, you’re running your Circus, or your Flying Air Show, or reading the encyclopedia starting at A, like Honey Ryder in Dr No, to “find out all there is to know.”

But what I’m here to tell you right now is that, whereas some scheduling “hiccups” are unavoidable, it’s time to do some serious de-cluttering; it’s time to, as the Boy Scouts might say, “Be Prepared.” I have a few suggestions, but this really is something that you need to take some time to think about, because if you are prepared to be “whisked away to Paris” (or just an overnight in the next town!), it’s more likely that you will be!

If you have young kids and don’t have a contingency “sleep over” trading plan with other parents (or close grandparents), some of this might seem impossible to you. But in actuality, you can either (a) get your kids to have the same sort of “adventurous sense” and ability to pick up and go (so the family goes to Paris!), or (b) you can start thinking about making some of those “sleep over” arrangements, so you’re prepared for later.

Around the house, there are some things that you need to have organized – it will take a while, but will be well worth the effort. I think you’ll find out as this goes on that I’m always telling you to do things that are on your priority list, just not very high on it. But in actuality, the more of these things you get checked off on your list, the more likely it is that you’ll get whisked away. Honest. I truly believe that if you start focusing your efforts in a fun direction, “dreaming” about how this is preparing you for that great adventurous eventuality, you draw it closer and closer toward you.

So I want you to go room to room in your living areas and outside, to see what would need to be “taken care of” if you were to be whisked away. Some things can take care of themselves for up to 4 days – some need care every day. Some examples might be:

1. Plants. Getting all your plants – including plants that you have on your porch that need to be watered – on a self-watering system or timer. These are available at home stores like Home Depot, and with a bit of effort you can set something up that will keep you from having to water those plants constantly, or turning on the sprinklers by hand, etc. I realize that this is going to mean laying out some $, or, if you’re not that handy, it might mean negotiating a bit with your James to get this done. Remember – I said negotiating. This means that you need to give up an equal amount of energy specifically aimed at pleasing your James, for the amount of energy that he’s going to be expending pleasing you. Remember – what you’re ultimately doing here is making it easier to spend time together. The time you spend each week watering and “worrying” about plants can now be spent on other things.

2. Animals. Cats, in general, can be left for about 3-4 days if you have a big enough cat box, a self-feeder, and a self-waterer with clean water. Dogs are harder – you will need to have a boarding facility ready to go, or a dog walker/pet sitter already interviewed. The key here is to actually BE ready. Like I said – your James shows up, eyes twinkling, and says “Darling, you’re not going to BELIEVE this, but we’re leaving for Paris in an hour! Scoot – pack – or, get your passport I will buy you everything you need when we get there!” Are you suddenly trying to figure out how to care for Spot and Fluffy – or is there a number at your fingertips?

3. Light timers. I actually have 2 lights that remain on light timers at all times – one upstairs, one downstairs, on a “randomized” schedule. That way these lights come on and off while we’re home – but also when we’re not. I don’t have to worry about “putting them on” when I get whisked away – they’re all set.

4. Mail/newspapers. You should have a form filled out and ready, under a magnet on the fridge, that will tell the post office to hold your mail at the Sort until you get home – you should also have the number of your newspaper service to be able to tell them to hold the paper. Just going to the post office to get a few of these forms and fill them out to be “ready” is going to make you smile. Don’t put the dates in – you won’t know when that Paris weekend is coming up, but you’re sure going to be ready for it! Just drop the notification in your box on the way to the airport.

5. If you and your James have a special CD that captures music that you Love to Love to, get another copy, and keep it in your carry-on luggage. I know that sounds silly – but if you wind up in a hotel with a CD player, your James is going to be amazed that you have Your Music right at your fingertips. What a Bond grrl you are! The same goes for items such as any lubricant or “fun things” you might love to use. Get a spare – and keep it in your bag.

Now for the bigger issues – clothes, makeup, purse, packing.

Clothes.

Later, we’re going to talk about going through your closet, and liberated you from clothing that doesn’t fit your Bond grrl persona. We will also talk about organizing your closet in a fashion so that you don’t spend a lot of time figuring out “what to wear” – that just wastes your valuable Bond grrl time! When we get around to that (this is a bit of a preview), I’m going to make you seriously think about keeping your “base clothes” to one color (black or brown). Because when you are packing your Paris case, you are going to choose whether you’re going to go with the black base, or the brown base – and that’s what it’s going to be. No mixing and matching. I know it’s hard – you want to bring “this” jacket but also “that” pair of slacks. But you know what? That means double the shoes, grrls. And that’s always where we get in trouble. If I’m going for my “brown-based” clothes (which include a lot of orange – I LOVE orange), I am not going to bring my fabulous red shirt as well. (It goes with my “black” stuff.) But I also know this means I’m bringing my brown coat in case it gets cold – not the black one. You really have to think about style here – and be ruthless. I am going to give you some suggestions with respect to what you should have in your case – but you are going to know what works best for you. The key here, though, is that you start with that black or brown base, and stick with it – so that you only have the black or brown coat, and then some walking shoes and some dressy shoes, in the base color. If you mix, you’re going to suddenly be checking bags – and that is what we want to avoid at all costs!

Makeup.

Later, we’ree also going to go through your makeup (OH NO – yes, we are, be brave). I’m going to suggest you make up a “toiletries essentials” kit. I know that you still have some lotions and potions that are special and that you use when you want to feel luxurious, want to do a protein pack on your hair, or the like. But your toiletries kit should be set up so that you are COMPLETELY ready to be whisked away to Paris. This kit (which I will discuss more later) contains:
a. Your makeup
b. A travel-sized hairspray; conditioner; shampoo. Try not to use these if you have been taking your makeup bag out with you to the gym, etc. – or if you do, be sure that you fill them up at least once a week. You want that bag to always be 100% ready! Paris! Paris!c. Contact lens fluid and container, plus an extra pair of lenses. If you get a travel version of your contact lens fluid, it’s important to know how many days a full bottle can “last for” (and to keep the bottle that you have in your satchel full or to have one you can quickly switch out to). What I did was to buy a travel size, and just put marks on it each day I used it, until it was gone, to be sure I knew. You’d be amazed at how long travel sizes last – I would actually suggest you do this “test” on all of your travel-sized items, to really assure yourself that it WILL last you for however many days the trip will last. Those bottles always look so little – but they are almost always very surprising!
d. Eyeglasses.
e. All your prescription medications (if there aren’t many, you can keep these in your makeup “satchel” at all times – this is what I do)
f. Deodorant
g. 2 tampons and a few of the “travel-pack” pantyliners. You can purchase feminine essentials at just about any airport, and certainly in Paris. Just be ready to take care of yourself for about a day. (You can also fill a ziplock with about a week’s worth of feminine “essentials” and keep it in your carryon suitcase at all times – this is what I do. Then I know I don’t need to worry about it.) You also might want to put a few small Woolite packs – you can get travel packs, not the small bottles – in your carryon as well, so you can wash out undies if you will be going for longer than a week. If shorter – live a little, bring laundry home!

Purse.

Is your purse a black hole, containing everything for every eventuality? You have to knock that off. You should be carrying a purse that’s as small as possible – not a bag that looks like you could kill someone with it if you whacked them. Bond grrls very rarely even carry purses. I know this isn’t going to be possible in your day-to-day life – or is it? What do you REALLY need in your purse? I think that we often wind up being “contingency planners,” but in reality, we never use the things we carry. How many of you have pulled that nasty, unwrapped, bent tampon out of the bottom of your purse saying “ohhhh, now THAT would be pleasant to use!” Your purse has to be minimalist – it should just have the BARE essentials in it. This is what I suggest:

1. Get rid of the giant wallet with all the credit cards, coin purse, photos of your kids, etc. Yes, I mean it. You should carry one, possibly two, credit cards, your driver’s license, and your health insurance card (and AAA card if you have one), and then neatly folded paper money in a small “wallet-type” container. I have one that I adore – it’s leather, and has a key ring on one side of it, so that I can clip my car keys to it, and that is all I carry. It also has my business cards in it. As an aside, it’s important not to have this “hanging from” you car ignition when you are driving, as it pulls on the ignition and can damage it – that’s why your car keys should always be separate from other heavy keys as well.

2. Back to your black hole purse. You should take all change that you get and keep it in your car, to use for parking meters or to actually take home and keep in a “wish jar.” If you pay for items with cash, pushing around for exact change just annoys the people behind you in line, and has a “penny-pinching” air to it. You want to take the change that you get from breaking bills, and as I mentioned, keep it in your car if (like me) you are constantly using parking meters – if not, you want to bring it home and keep it in a “dream” jar. You’d be amazed how quickly that jar fills up – and out of this “extra” money, you can pay things like kids’ allowances, etc. Banks will take this money and for a small fee put it through a coin counter and then put it in your bank account – I recently heard that there are machines at some drugstores that will also do this for you. Again, the idea here is to not hold onto your money too tightly – of course not to be profligate, but know that there is “plenty” for you and you don’t want to be the “exact change woman” at the Safeway line.

3. Your purse should contain one lipstick, your “new” wallet, a nice pen (that works!), a small notebook if you do not have a PDA (a PDA if you do have one), your cell phone, a travel-encased pantiliner, a small vial of re-wetting fluid if you wear contacts, and that’s it. Maybe a comb, though you should NEVER be combing your hair (or putting on lipstick) in public. What else is in your black hole purse? If it’s something you use every single day – keep it. If not, put it in your glove box in your car. If you have a cold, you might put some Kleenex in there – but not all the time. I’m serious – the idea here is to have as little as you can, because the less you carry in your purse, the more sophisticated you look, and the better it is for your back anyway (carrying around a bag full of junk on your shoulder isn’t good for you).

In the next post, I will talk a bit about makeups, lotions and potions…it’s too much for me right now. Just think – Paris! Paris!