Project60: Packing for Europe

So that’s it. This afternoon I’ll set up my Out of Office, log off, change out of my work clothes and into my shorts, check out of the building, head down the hill and jump onto a train to London, and this time tomorrow I’ll be on the Eurostar to Brussels. I won’t be back home for a month; I can’t believe it’s finally here!

The last few weeks have seen me laying things out on my spare bed in preparation: clothes, gadgets, toiletries, medication and other bits and pieces besides. I’ve had a couple of abortive practice packing sessions, immediately followed by a corresponding rucksack-editing session! Some items have been discarded as being superfluous, others as unneccesary luxuries or duplicates, and others as replaceable. Some pieces have been identified as ommissions, and so I’ve had to go shopping a few times, not one of my favourite pastimes, (although I do make an exception for outdoor and hardware shops!)

As a younger man, when I went camping or backpacking, I often adopted a minimalist approach, packing the lightest possible sleeping bag, the smallest stove, the tiniest tent and freeze-dried food. Years later and then the co-owner of a caravan, I got sloppy and started taking items with me just in case I needed them, or to give myself options. Fairy lights, a ukelele, a nice big comfy chair and a flagpole all became part of my growing gear collection.

But now the challenge has returned. I clearly can’t carry all that I would normally use in a month. I need to priortise; I need to embrace that minimalist approach once again. I’ll have periodic access to a washing machine so I only really need to take enough clothes for a few days. There are shops in every city, so anything I’ve forgotten or that I run out of can be bought. I’m travelling in summer so, even allowing for geographical variations, I shoudn’t need to take heavy winter clothes with me. In place of a big coat I just have a cheap pac-a-mac. I’m blessed with a warm-blooded constitution so cool evenings won’t really bother me either.

However, I do want to enjoy myself and be reasonably comfortable, so a number of gadgets and favourite items have found their way into my pack. A ‘nice’ shirt in case I go for a (relatively) posh meal; a multi-tool for all those as yet unknown crises. A small tablet for updating this blog, planning my geocaching and managing my photos. And there’s also a selection of items that I really can’t (or shouldn’t) manage without; my CPAP device, medication, personal hygeine kit. And then there’s a few keepsakes. I’m not especially superstitious but I am taking with me a St Christopher once given to me by my students, a ladybird badge and a tiny Rainbow card from Kelly, and a tiny gnome from Wroclaw, Poland.

Then there’s my geocaching kit. Again, I’ve had to prioritise, but I have a pen, an ink stamp, some newly-crafted wood coins (thanks Andy!), a few small trackables to pass on and a few spare log sheets. No room for my beloved log book, I’ll be using postcards at Events and posting them home to myself.

I have three items of luggage which might at first seem excessive. A front-opening rucksack, a corresponding day-pack which clips to the main rucksack, and a small ‘bum bag’ for caching purposes. This should give me all the options I need for travel days, day trips and just mooching around cities. These three bags are currently stacked up by my front door, ready to go. If it’s not in one of them, then I’ll either have to manage without or buy it when I get there!

Bum Bag: 2 x pens, St Christopher, various TBs, ink stamp, woodies, spare logs, location tracker, tweezers

Day pack: CPAP and battery pack, power bank, medication, A5 tablet, printed seat reservations, phone charger, hat, earbuds, sunglasses

Rucksack: underwear x 5, socks x 3 (pairs!), sandals, t-shirts x 5, fleece, jeans, shorts x 2, pac-a-mac, toiletries, micro-fibre towel, laundry sheets, laundry bag, muti-tool, power adaptor, spare phone cable

A Wright 27/5/26