The Zipper Game

My bags-within-bags exploded on the bed

A fun game my mother taught me:

Buy cute luggage that has many convenient zippered pockets to organize your stuff. Further organize your stuff by first putting it all into convenient zippered bags, before stuffing those bags into the convenient zippered built-in pockets. Then, see how many zippers you have to open to find the thing you need RIGHT NOW! Bystanders can enjoy it too!

I wrote the above during my June voyage aboard Pride II. I was embarrassed as I tried to lay out my clothes for my 4 am watch while trying not to disturb my roommate in the upper bunk. Aboard the ship, all of my stuff has to live in my bunk with me, which means I’m constantly moving stacks of convenient zippered bags around trying to find the one I need. 

After a couple of days, I figured out which bag and/or compartment held what, and so my average numbers of zippers per clothes change went way down. I further refined things on my car trip to Maine. Now, I think I’ve got it down. 

I am hyper about packing light but also about having everything I actually need, and a few things I want to make life more pleasant. I know from my previous trip that folks on the ship wear the same clothes for several days in a row. I cut back on some quantities (tshirts, pants) but held the line on types of stuff: long sleeved shirts as well as tshirts, shorts as well as pants. Also one each of rain gear and swim suit. My use of toiletries was at a minimum on the last trip, so that got cut back as well. 

It’s really important that I be able to lug all my stuff myself. On this kind of a trip, I can’t ask my peers to carry my stuff for me. I remember reading an adventure travel book some years ago, about a woman doing white water kayaking in Indonesia. She was miffed that no-one offered assistance in lugging her boat - she had always depended on guys helping her out. She wondered in the book if it was a sign she had become less attractive to men. My mind was blown away by this. Wait, guys help you out? You expect it? When ;you sign up for an exotic outdoor adventure, you are not expecting to pull your own weight? And, this is your due because you are cute? This is not an expectation I ever had. 

On all my travel, this year and before, I expect to lug my own stuff through airports, train stations, up and down escalators. Wheels help, of course, but no wheeled bags on the Pride, no space to store them. Collapsable duffles or packs, that are soft for sharing bunk space with, is the best bet. So my current favorite bag is a pack that is carry-on sized, where all the straps can be secured inside so the multiple handles allow it to be treated as a duffle. 

I was pleased to see that the total amount of walking for Amtrak was much less than getting to and from airport gates (especially at Dulles, where I had booked my Boston flight). Still, metro to Union Station, off to the Amtrak platforms, through Boston’s South Station and the Silver Line T to the hotel, I was glad of the shoulder straps. 

Now, I’m taking a break in my tour of Boston before heading to the ship via Uber (because of the hurricane, they changed docks to Charlestown).  This morning, I walked from the hotel to Faneuil Hall via the Harbor Walk - following each pier out to the end and back in again. The area where my hotel is, Seaport, is undergoing a tremendous amount of development and construction. It’s noisy, and the still active fish market smells. Planes taking off from Logan are low as they pass overhead. The convention center is here, and last night there were groups of people with tags around their necks searching for places to eat. This neighborhood is very much a work in progress. But it’s got a similar vibe to DC’s waterfront and the new Wharf development. But gotta go - late checkout at the hotel is nearly up, and there is likely to be ice cream in my near future.