Friday, June 24, 2011

Woman in a Suitcase

WRITING GROUP NOTE: ADM has put up the post for week four of the writing group!


As I've mentioned many times, I'm moving around a lot this trip. Here's the itinerary:
  • stage 1: 6 nights in Blerg City (rental apartment)
  • stage 2: 6 nights in research city A
  • stage 3: 3 nights in Blerg City (2 different crash pads)
  • stage 4: 7 nights in research city B
  • stage 5: 4 nights in Blerg City (1 crash pad, but different from the two from stage 3)
  • stage 6: 6 nights in research city C
  • stage 7: 3 nights in Blerg City (1 crash pad, a repeat from stage 3)

So here's the question: Which of these would you unpack your suitcase for?

Seriously, I hate living out of a suitcase, because I can never find anything. It's especially problematic this time, as everything had to fit into a carry-on suitcase and a medium-sized shoulder bag (for computer, camera, passport, wallet, and book -- there, now you know which bag to rob). So when I don't unpack, it's a holy terror trying to find anything. But some stays are just too short to consider it, or lack the space to do so. For some of those latter, I've done the halfway-unpack thing. But it's still messy.

In fact, I have to clean up said mess right now, so I'll leave you all to discuss. But here's a parting gift, for those of you who have been waiting for it since you read the title:


7 comments:

squadratomagico said...

I certainly would unpack for anything longer than 3 days, so that would be most stops except stages 3 & 7. What I probably would try to do, when leaving stages 2 & 6, would be to pack some suitable things on top, so that they were more accessible at the shorter stops. Of course, that doesn't always work, depending on what you'd need and how your bags are configured.

I *hate* fishing around in a bag, so it's definitely worth it to me to unpack when possible.

Susan said...

I more or less unpack if it's more than one night, assuming there is a place to unpack to. (I visited a friend last weekend, and there wasn't any place to put things, so my suitcase functioned as a drawer.) I think the hardest thing about crashing is if you *can't* unpack. Too much time living out of a suitcase means that I get incredibly cranky.

Belle said...

I'm with Susan. I've discovered I'm much less cranky when I can get out of the suitcase if possible. When it's not, I tend to feel... like I need to leave. Immediately. The corollary is, of course, when I have a house-sitter in. I'm having somebody come in for three weeks; do I give hir hir own space to unpack?

You betcha.

Digger said...

I don't have a history of being an unpacker at all, though this is changing as I seem to be traveling with more things-that-wrinkle. Those, I hang up usually right away upon arrival. All the rest of it though, generally stays jammed in my suitcase (duffel bag).

Part of it is a fear I will forget something. If it's all still in the bag, it's much more likely to come with! The other part... yeah, I dunno. Though I expect I'd be likely to unpack for those long stretches approaching a week.

Comrade PhysioProf said...

I never unpack when traveling, because I get the heebie jeebies about my clothes touching some fucken weird drawer that had who the fucke knows what in it.

Digger said...

Ah... CPP has identified the other reason I don't unpack. Ew factor.

Anthea said...

Oh I try to unpack since then I discover what I've got. Otherwise I'll think that I've brought something with me that I'd decided at the last moment that I'd removed at the very last moment when I realised my suitcase won't close.