#living from a suitcase

[thevagabondsbride-blog]

Part one - Packing for the long trip

How do you pack for a trip that will take you through different climates and keep you away from home for months? As lightly as possible.

First, go through any old vacation photos and note what you wore the most. Make a list. Was there anything you took, but didn’t use? If you didn’t use or wear it last time, you probably won’t this time, leave it home. Grab all the clothes you want to take and lay them out somewhere where you can see everything. What goes together? If you do it right, you can come up with several different outfits from a few coordinating pieces of clothing. Think layers.

Obviously I am not a model, or a fashionista. I like to be comfortable and I want my Vagabond to think I’m cute. If you look, you see that everything goes together so I can mix and match. This trip took us from Kenya to New York, Paris, Ireland, Amsterdam, Venice, Florence, Rome and back to New York. We were gone from mid July to Early October. We each carried one suitcase with a matching backpack carry on (the light blue backpack shown folds flat and goes in the suitcase). Usually I wear the Gortex or tie it around my waist when we are flying.

In my Suitcase:

4 light weight t-shirts

2 long sleeve t-shirts (only one shown)

3 pair of pants (2 would have been fine)

Skort

5 sets of underwear, bras and socks

Down vest

Light Gortex jacket

(Extra jacket cause I love it and it’s light)

Sandles

My trusty smash able hat

Portable clothesline (yup, it’s a necessity)

I don’t carry a ton of cosmetics, mascara, Burt’s Bees lip stuff, lotion, spare deodorant, travel sized shampoo and conditioner for places that don’t have it (refillable is nice). Hairbrush and pick. I do carry bead stuff (always have a project going) and a few pieces of jewelry, usually things I made and a tiny portable sewing kit. That’s pretty much it.

In my backpack/carryon:

A pashmina (shawl, not shown in pictures but adds a dressy touch and warmth in the evening)

Electronics ( that will be another post)

One of the 4 t-shirts (I’ll be wearing one as well as one pair of pants

One change of underthings and socks

Meds/vitamins (I’m a nurse, I carry extra stuff, maybe that should be a post too).

Tooth stuff and deodorant

My travel coffee mug and instant coffee packets (I only carry what I need😜)

A refillable water bottle (fits in one side pocket of the backpack)

Mini umbrella (fits in the other side pocket)

Some people might want to pack a dress, I had a summer dress with me that we bought along the way, only wore it once. This list is by a girl, so it has girl stuff, guys can adapt from this.

Any questions or suggestions? (Thanks for reading this far)

#travel #2 old traveling freaks #outdoors #travel tips #what to pack for long trips #versatile packing #living from a suitcase #world traveler #what to wear in Kenya Paris Ireland Italy NewYork #travel photography #full time traveling #airline travel #packing light #my suitcase 🧳 is always packed

[novelconcepts]

Honestly, I made that joke about Van’s ancient desktop, but it probably works better than new computers. And it made me think: god, Van must HATE planned obsolescence. Stuff that’s built to die? Stuff that’s built to fall apart in a matter of years just to force you to buy more? For a person whose whole deal is gripping tight to the past, to old technology that still works perfectly fine, to the idea of survival threaded through everything from the stories she tells to the machines she rents out? Yeah, dude. No wonder she hates her cell phone. Not only does it force the illusion of connection without actually granting intimacy, but it’s doomed from the minute you take the thing out of the box. For Van, the very idea has got to be offensive.

#yellowjackets #yellowjackets spoilers #yj meta #van palmer #like you grow up in the 90s in a home that probably doesn’t have a high tax bracket situation #you’re gonna learn to value things for their longevity to begin with #but then you get stranded in the woods with maybe two suitcases you gotta make last for two years? #repurposing and recycling every little thing just to keep warm and alive? #yeah the whole of Van’s adult life is a nostalgia bubble for a host of reasons #but one is almost definitely that the 2021 reality of fast fashion and temporary tech must feel heinous. antithetical to survival. #better to buy old jeans that’ll last 50 years and wear boots passed down from your grandfather #and stock your shelves with machines you know how to fix and tapes you know how to wind back together if they get eaten #Van couldn’t escape the woods in her heart so she just built her entire aesthetic around leaning into the old like it was by choice #right down to living in the ‘attic’ above the place that sustains her existence #I cannot imagine her with a brand new MacBook she knows she’ll have to replace in three years #of course she’s got a desktop from the mid-90s

[soldier-poet-king]

I miss the cat ALREADY

#the duality of fran #like yeah im glad to not be living out of my suitcase anymore #with my pc and full wardrobe #but . back with my family :( far away from everything:( not walking or subway distance #commute now doubled again. cat gone. privacy gone. #im kinda about to cry and idk #alao sunday scaries fuck that #i REALLY dont want to go to work #im exhausted with it. and still stressed about last weeks bullshit

[lock-my-feelings-in-a-jar]

#badfinger #suitcase #bbc in concert #1972 #1973 #okay i love instrumental parts like this #this part of this song i swear is so different every single time they do it #you never know what it'll sound like #also look i threw a little video thing together #a simple one #i learned how to do some things #but anyway everyone listen to this #the audio was from a concert #the full thing is on youtube #it's titled #badfinger bbc in concert 1972-3 #i love it #i used one of the straight up pictures because that's the album suitcase is on(and because i love that picture) #the live versions of the song are my favorite versions

[ugisfeelings]

searching for housing is so stressful and so is job-searching for your third gig and so is trying to get your laptop fixed and so is trying to perform well at your unstructured pt-time research job in hopes your professor will forgive you for being a failure and so is trying not to get consumed by the loneliness of it all... #clownery

#qq #i toured a rlly cheap apartment today and i was so optimistic abt it but then it hit me id have a 1.5hr commute to work #it'd be at least an hr distance from my 2.3 friends in this city... and the room was tiny... #ik i can't afford being picky but like. i spent half of my senior year sleeping in empty classrooms student centers and... more couches. #i've been living out of my suitcase for more than 2 months slept on a couch for almost half of this month across three diff apartments #i just want a place to like. inhabit.

[peculiar--princess]

Can I please have some kind words or pictures of your stuffies/animals?

#not to be vague but I know things are going to be okay and work out but rn I’m sad #I have to move & be separated from my kitty :( #the move is for my benefit but still rly hard leaving everything behind & essentially living out of suitcases #Ed recovery

[chaseprice]

today is TERRIBLE :(

#wake up exhausted and depressed #classes were half cancelled and the ones i had the teacher was missing so i had to lead an activity i didn’t have a clue about #then i get insane cramps and start my period while teaching #then i get home and the wind is so strong it blows out my brand new earring and i retrace all my steps for 30 mins and can’t find it #ones i adore and are from an untraceable stall in a market that has already finished on an island i don’t live on #try not to cry in front of the person ringing up my coke zero and tampons #now i’m home and my house is a mess and i have to pack a giant suitcase to go home on Friday and I do not have the energy #what if I eat instant noodles and play video game instead

[gideonisms]

probably my reading of tlt is always going to be filtered through the fact that I think sometimes, if your belief system has really made you miserable for your entire life, there's a lot to unpack there but you should just throw away the whole suitcase

#you could go find something different to worship that same way. or you could simply not! #what if you discovered you don't actually need a reason to cling to life anymore because it's enough to just be here? what then? #harrow throw away the suitcase challenge #i think it's different if there was ever a positive aside from the desperate need to cling to anything so you don't drown #but like. for harrow there wasn't. let's be real she's using the body to justify her own existence #at least her devotion to gideon makes her worse/better in a new fun way #devotion to john & devotion to alecto are different in that alecto probably like. cares a little bit u know? #like yeah that is a better deity because she gives a fuck about you #but on harrow's end i don't think there's that much difference between #living for her duty to john and living for her love for the body #idk if tamsyn actually agrees with me on that one tho so we will see! #i think she could maybe convince me there's a difference in alecto but ntn did not do that

[icewindandboringhorror]

is this actually that uncommon? I don’t even unpack just the DAY I return from somewhere, but it’s literally the first thing I do. I do nothing else until I’m unpacked, I have everything organized back in it’s proper place in the house within an hour of getting home lol.. I thought this was typical??? What’s the cultural norm?

#same with groceries or anything else I;m bringing home from outside - i put it away or d o soemthing with it immediately #I just don't like looming tasks in the background taking up my mental space like 'oh i still have to do that later' etc. #I can't relax until everything is taken care of. If i try to relax or rest when I just got home from a trip there's just always the nagging #sense that I'm going to have to get up and do something else LATER (put the stuff away) so why not just do it now #It's the whole principle of 'be more uncomfortable in the present in order to help yourself in the future' #Samme thing with covid like. Follow the social distancting tules and wear masks and do everything extremely dillignently NOW no matter how #annoying or inconvenient it is at the MOMENT because the future pay off will save you more discomfort later (more vairants coming out - long #er lockdowsn because of wider spread - you or your family getting sick - etc.) #I am ALWAYS willing to inconvenence myself and ''suffer'' temporarily in the present if it will help my future self or get me a larger #benefit down the line. etc. etc. But to me that just seems like.. literally the only rational thing to do #what's more important? my temporary emotional satisfaction or my long term wellbeing ? always the long term #it might feel good to just come home and flop onto the floor and shove the suitcases aside but is that like hour or so of rest worth #the annoyance later when you realize you've still got to put everyhting up and now you REALLY don't feel like it and etc. etc. ? #just save your future self the trouble and get it out of the way #But again I just thought it's like... everyone would also do that??? If not then when do you unpack? days later??? #Kind of like how in childhood I still had a lot of issues (hadn't developed cognitive empathy really at all - no affective empathy - don't u #nderstand social cues well or people at all - etc.. which is a recipe for frustration when Living In A Society since people are always #doing things you don't understand and you struggle to communicate properly or be understood like everyone's just speaking a different langua #ge than you) and worse anger problems and there were a few times I would come home from shcool or something and just freak out and #knock my shelves in my room over and break things or etc - and it's like OKAY that feels fine in the moment but.. consider the aftermath! #now I have to spend like a whole fucking hour cleaning my room and putting everyhting back together and etc. etc. and it's like a negative #feeling on top of a negative feeling. not only am I still kind of mad but now I have EXTRA work to do when I just want to go to sleep #So in a more minor way it's the same thing like.. If I feel shitty from traveling I don't want to DOUBLE the shitty by having extra stuff to #do later and some task looming over my head. I want to get all the bad out of the way first so I can just have uninterrupted peace later lol #if that makes sense? idk lol #The one exception is once recently I had been somewhere and got legit heat exhaustion and was throwing up by the time I got home so #I didn't unpack everything then. But after cooling off and having pedilyte and stuff I still shakily unpacked before I went to bed lol

[mysticalalleycat]

I'm about to identify as a fucking problem

#delta give me my stuff #i dont need to list everything in the suitcase i lived out of for a month i can tell you that it is sitting in france #you just have to put it on the plane #i dont KNOW when my rock hammer was purchased i borrowed it from my school #you dpnt need to know exactly when everything i packed was purchased to just go find it!!! and then tell me!!!

[markrothkono61]

I carried a metric ton of luggage up three flights of stairs. Do I win something. Surely there is some sort of prize

#prize = exhaustion + waking up sore tomorrow #i know it’s a bit pointless to liveblog my whole day but i am soooo tired from the trip i will go insane without my silly posts #i also have to go to the supermarket to get uhh #water and food and other stuff people need in their daily lives #and honestly if i could fall to the ground and drag myself to the supermarket like an overgrown worm instead of walking there #i would do that #i walked so much already #so so much #okay it wasn’t that much but to my defense #i was carrying my baby elephant-sized suitcases #so it Felt like a Lot #mine

[girlwithfish]

im so tired😭😭

#i did not eat dinner sry cringe fail flop etc i was too scared to leave the bedroom bc #the rest of my apt is rly stressing me out im normal 👍👍 #so i didnt want to leave the comfort of my room bc even tho its not that clean or nice or tidy its the most tidiest place in here #my living room is cluttered w my suitcase and bags i need to unpack and i dont put them in my room bc the room is too small nd itd like #clutter it so its all just in mg living room #plus all the stuff in my closet i had to take out cuz scared the water nd moisture from leak will spread to rest of wall and get everything #wet nd my sister made me paranoid abt bugs gstting attracted to all fhe moisture and or breeding 👍 #so i tried to be preventative and took everything out plus when maintenance comes on wednesday #i need to have the space cleared anyway when they hopefully fix the wall #and this big ass fan maintenance gave me is in the hallway outside my room pointed toward the ceiling nd #its so loud i got used to it but its louder when im outside my bedroom and kind of over stimulating #but im trying not to be affected and also just staying in my room where its still loud and audible but less if i was outside i guess #and my bathroom needs to be cleaned but the leak above my shower is grossing me out etc #and idk i havent eben checked if everything has stopped leaking i rly hope so😭😭 #so anyway im just hiding in my room bc its the least stressful place for me rn but i also didnt eat dinnerso i feel delirious rn👍

[rotturn]

every day on this trip is worse

#i can not stand my sister at all i truly can't #she's been yelling and arguing for 10 minutes because she has her hair straightner but mum doesnt have a plug converter #and she keeps yelling ab how her fringe is fucked when it looks literally the same as it has this entire trip #and is yelling ab how its mums fault as if she couldn't have bought this shit herself before we left #i am just. so over this #any fun that would come from being on an international trip is immediately taken away by my mum and sister constantly getting angry #and either yelling or getting passive aggressive and making me feel horrible its just so tiring #bc i feel like such a fucking asshole for not enjoying an international trip that i will never get the opportunity for again #like this cost so much money and it feels awful to say i dont want it or that its not fun or whatever #but i am constantly dissociating and trying not to cry and ive had meltdowns and panic attacks almost every day but im not allowed to show #them bc my sister tells me to calm down and not be so dramatic and everything is a sensory nightmare #and i have a very specific diet at home and its not available outside of nz and there arent really any worthy substitutes and even if there #are i wont know bc i dont speak the languages so im just living on shitty little protien drinks and hot chocolate which makes me feel worse #and on top of it all im sick and i havent had any chance to rest bc my sister wont stop ab going places and doing thingd #and gets pissy if i dont want to #and its just so fucking difficult i knew that being stuck w them for 2 months would suck but its been 1 week and i cant do this anymore #i have no other option but i seriously don't know what to do i don't know how to handle this im at my limit #travelling is stressful and anxiety inducing and its hard enough doing it once on my own #let alone every 2 or 3 days w family that rushes and runs late and has 10000 bags that never fucking fit on the trains #and its always me left standing in the aisle blocking peoples path with nowhere to go bc my sisters giant suitcase wont fit anywhere #i hate this so much and its making me hate all the cities and countries we go to bc i dont get to experience the places i only get #to experience fucking breakdowns and im constantly drinking water bc im constantly dehydrated from either crying or panicked breathing #its a mess and i hate it and i want to go home I haven't felt comfortable or safe since i left home and i wont feel either until i go back #but that isnt until the last couple days of january so i just have to keep dealing with things getting worse by the day #negative cw #rant cw #ask to tag cw

[so-you-melted-22]

i've seen posts where people talk about how if they could time travel they would go to all these important historical events and what not, but nobody ever mentions the fall of the berlin wall and i just wanted to say that if i could time travel i would go to november 9th 1989 in berlin and see it for myself

#but ooooohhh noooo we have school tomorrow!! #its like one of the only positive historical events i can come up with #i am fully aware that the entire reunification process of the two germanys into one was really srewy and fucked all of east germany over #in the most concernig ways and it still hay MAJOR consequences today #but im not talking about the reunification #im talking about the opening of the borders #specifically in berlin #because thats the divided capital and also a lot of my family lived/lives there #and you could just cross the border when hours earleir they would have shot you for even attempting #like thats hysterical right? #after people got shot and bled to death in the deathstrip and crawled through sewers and dug tunnels and hid in cars and suitcases and #camped in the gardens of embassys and got arrested and tortured and killed #you could just go over there #and be welcomey by the people on the other side #and climb onto the wall and watch fireworks #like thats so insane #people literally started tearing down the wall right then and there #every time i see videos or pictures from that night and also the days and weeks after i feel a little feral #i will also never forgive my mom and her boring ass friends for not going there that night #other people did it #they had my grandpas car and he had given them gas money #and they could have lived with my greatgrandma in west berlin #they could have very well done it #fuck off who cares about school when history is happening eight car hours away!?!?!? #stuff #text #sorry for my random rant in the tags but it had to be said #berlin #history #1980s

[ylajali]

im like. in a weird situation where i don’t really have access to a lot of my hobbies for like two months and it’s driving me a little nuts

#living out of a suitcase will do that to you ig #i miss you big bertha (sourdough starter) #i miss you cassette player #i miss you sewing machine #i miss you state park three minutes from the house #i am having the experience of a lifetime but whenever i have a little downtime its like okay. let me bake some fucking bread

[sub-urbanwitch]

I read a shocking amount of Harry Potter fanfiction for someone who has never opened a Harry Potter book in his life.

#cameronposting #sometimes I stumble across one with a really funny premise and I just gotta #my knowledge of Harry Potter canon is patched together from fanfiction and the one movie I saw in 4th grade #Ron’s got a sister Ginevra who might be in love with Harry #Draco Malfoy is actually a clone of his father #Harry lives in a magic suitcase during the summer #one of Voldemort’s minions is in love with him #Hermoine brainwashes her parents into forgetting she exists #also she’s the descendant of some important lady who moved to Australia