Rosie and The Operator are back on the road again in 2019! Starting out at the end of March we are very excited about where said road is going to take us this year! We have solid plans for the next three months and ideas for the rest of the year that are a little more fluid at this stage.
As we prepare to leave, Rosie still manages to over pack her suitcase….planning for every eventuality. Lengths of clothesline and pegs go unused in Rosie’s case and are being thrown out. Rosie’s bottle of stain remover has never had the tape removed from the cap to stop it from leaking in transit like it did the first time around. I must be getting a more civilized eater in my old age…there seems to be less oily food stains to erase on clothing, which is a good thing. Lucky I did pack two scoops of washing powder in a wee plastic baggie….an emergency knicker wash in the apartment sink was required once on the go, so bravo for Rosie’s forward thinking!
Rosie has dumped her Lonely Planet guidebooks…they are still my go to Holy Grail for planning and for holiday information, but you know how big, thick and heavy they are? Plus Rosie normally has about three on the go during a multi stop three month holiday.
Rosie is not going without the info, just the weight, and has sacrilegiously defaced the printed books by ripping out the pages of the areas Rosie needs on the road and making her own mini guides. Theoretically, she is not going to visit these places again….so what the heck.
Rosie has however, reluctantly relinquished the stationery pack she carries. Highlighters, mini stapler, paperclips, sellotape, rubber bands an assortment of envelopes I have picked up doing my holiday postings. You know, all the things that Rosie may need during some planning or posting process…
….all things, The Operator grumbles, you can buy if you need them from a $1 shop, and not have to take home with you. True. Rosie will remember that for the future….but the wee mini Japanese stapler was so cool and cute.
Rosie is so proud when she lays her meager shoes and clothing pile on the bed all ready to go in the case. This pile has totally halved since last year! Add in the small travel hairdryer and my well traveled hair straighteners plus the Kathmandu toilet bag that I have lived continuously out of for the last 12 months. I didn’t even unpack it when I was at home! I just hung it straight up in the bathroom and everything was at my fingertips! Toothbrush, makeup, contact lenses, makeup remover, moisturizer plus hair products. This toilet bag is amazing and Rosie wishes she was getting paid to endorse it…..cause everyone should have one of those bags ‘where everything a lady needs is in one place’, quote from Rosie. It really doesn’t seem that much in the packing pile. Smug smiles all around from Rosie.
So how the hell is Rosies case 23kgs in weight! Oh yeah, add on the laptop and all the cords, multi boards, international plugs, chargers, portable speaker and mobile battery. Add in all Rosie’s medication and the huge space eating refrigerated bag to house it. Add on the fact that The Operator opted for a smaller, backpack style roll bag thingy that he can actually fit hardly anything in….but hey, he’s back packing and reckons his hands are free to hump my bag….which he will need to, because of the huge weight disparity.
All in all, I suppose it is a combined weight reduction of about 14kgs between us since last year, that’s got to be good right?
Rosie longs for the day she can travel like her favorite fictional hero and hop on a plane with just a toothbrush and passport….Rosie is sure that if he was a woman he would carry a lippy as well, because lets face it, the world is a much better place and you are ready for anything with lippy on. Lets go!
