In the run-up to a potentially year-long stint away from home, it’s fair to say you need to put some thought into what you’re going to take with you. One of the worst things you can do is wait until the night before your flight to pack (especially when you’re still recovering from a beer, gin and wine induced hangover).
One major travellers myth is that pack what you think you need and then half it. I have met many travellers who have done just that, and although they can parade their sparse backpacks in the runways of the bus terminals, there’s actually a couple of downsides to being so damn organised. Firstly, acclimatising to the heat of a country like Brazil involves sweating out buckets of salty water. We all have to deal with this, but if you only own a couple of shirts you’re going to be shouting ‘laundry service’ quicker than a tourist jumps in terror of scorching hot sand. You may be armed with a pot of travel wash and the jealousy-inducing universal sink plug, but there’s nothing like freshly washed clothes from the beloved washing machine. The places I have stayed so far charge between 18 and 25 Reals for this honour, around £6-9, which is often equivalent to a night’s accommodation.
The other inconvenience about packing lightly is that you end up spending more money on things you already own at home…. cue getting back home and owning two of everything.
I, on the other hand, decided that being away for so long warranted me bringing all my favourite impractical going-out clothes, big bag of make-up, toiletries, woolly jumpers, skinny jeans… you name it and I’ve brought it. I have lost count of the times a Brazilian bus or ferry worker has lifted my backpack and nearly bucked under the weight of my home-from-home.
Worst of all, instead of buying one of those teeny weeny sleeping bags that ALL backpackers should own, I’ve brought a mammoth sized-one that I felt warranted its own wheeled holdall. Well, after a couple of weeks of trapping poor Brazilian pedestrian’s toes in said holdall, that had to go. (If you ever picked up a deserted Tous holdall in Nova Rio Bus terminal please let me know that it has a new long home).
I am only three weeks in and I have also shed a pair of denim long shorts (otherwise known as toddler-length jeans), a scarf, a pair of flip flops, (unwittingly) a towel, and goodness knows what else.
The motto of the story is not to pack when you are hungover and not to pack less than 24 hours before your flight. Hindsight is a bitch I must say.
