How to pack for business and leisure – my Asian adventures

 

Packing for both business and pleasure is often seen as difficult – I solve the problem by using different packing cells for the 2 different parts. One for business, one for leisure.

One or 2 items may belong both bags, in this instance, it’s a white T-shirt that, once the 5-day business meeting is over, it will be moved into my leisure cell for the month-long exploration in SE Asia at cheap and cheerful destinations and accommodations.

My travel is in Southeast Asia, so will have the extreme heat of July and August, and I suspect, the over-cold meeting rooms in the hotel. This just seems to be what they do in Asia – overcompensating for the heat.

I’m taking 2 pieces of luggage, my trusty red suitcase in the hold, and a daypack no. The suitcase will be left behind in Hong Kong with all my business stuff in it, while the backpack will be my luggage for Taiwan, Cambodia, and Vietnam. My red suitcase will be about 10kg max. (22 lb) while my backpack will be under the regulation 7kg. (15lb). What

carry-on luggage

It’s always a treat to just have carry-on luggage when travelling – no waiting at the luggage carousel for my red case to appear. I will also use my backpack as my carry-on luggage when I leave New Zealand for Hong Kong. It will contain vital business papers, my camera and tablet, as well as medication, Kobo e-reader and phone.

So what are in those cells? Two trouser suits – a white one with 2 tops to wear with it, and a yellow one with the white T-shirt. So over the 5 days of work, I have 3 different outfits, so one will be repeated, and if I decide to, I could wear my black travel trousers with one of the tops. One pair of black shoes will accompany them all :-).

business clothes cell

All these will remain in HK storage when I leave for Vietnam, Cambodia then onto Taiwan, before returning to Hong Kong for a couple of days and pick up my red suitcase, and go home to New Zealand’s late winter weather – and where my daughter will meet me at the airport with a warm coat 🙂

My red leisure cell contains a long sundress, a loose pair of trousers, 3 tops and my trusty Teva’s while the blue one has underwear, swimming costume, and nightwear. So that’s how I pack for a combined trip that is both official and laid-back – very different needs clothes-wise

I hope this helps you keep your clothes to the minimum -after all, we don’t have to dress to impress when we’re on holiday, you will, mostly, see a person only once, so even if you are in the same clothes daily, most of them would not even notice. We, humans, are pretty self-centred and concentrate on ourselves.

plane travel including a long warm cardi

toiletries, medication, first aid, electronics

leisure clothes cell

 

I’m given a very small umbrella for sun protection

ready for the airport

How to pack, and what to take, for six weeks travel?

I’m off to India shortly, so, once again I wonder (and others asked me) how to pack and what do you take for six weeks travel? If I didn’t need my electronic gear I’d be taking carry-on only – and I obey the airline rules re carry on weight: like AirNZ, Singapore Airlines – which I’m using this trip – have a 7 kg (about 15 lb) limit.

It’s the ‘other stuff’, not clothes that take the most room: electronic gear in particular! We all will have different needs – mine are; batteries and chargers and selfie stick and tablet and camera and power plug adapters, for instance. It pays to put them in a pile and consider what’s missing? And what don’t I need? I carry that mostly in my carry-on bag as they’re essential for travel writers. As ‘they say’ no photos, no story.

Then of course there’s the toiletries and first aid and medications. I also take a bag of ‘curiously strong’ peppermints or other sweets for midnight snacks!

As well as the travel clothes and shoes I’ll wear, I’ll also take a pair of jandels (that’s kiwi english for flip-flops or thongs in other forms or variations of English) and a my trusty can-walk-anywhere Teva sandals.

I’ll also have an umbrella for sun or rain and these clothes.

I’m off to India so taking my Indian clothes back to India😀

Add a pair of ‘western’ pants and top, and a long lounging dress for either nightwear, or pool wear, or just lounging and writing in my room – or under a tree :). And, of course, underwear, and togs/swimming gear – as always, that will be about 10/12 kg

‘western’ top and pants

My carry-on (7 kg max) will have my electronics and camera plus tablet, e-reader and paper book and my medications – plus for the first time a mask for smog!

missing from this photo is my tablet!

It will also have, tissues, sox for on the plane, headphones, notebook and pen, travel docs, water bottle, inflight snack, sleep mask and compression socks – to be put on at airport. Plus of course things security want to see like batteries and any liquid, like my moisturiser.

Do you, should you, travel after a terrorist threat?

The KiwiTravelWriter in Sabah

Are you thinking about travel in areas that have had various forms of trouble or terrorism recently? If so I offer this quote from one of my books, subtitled Can this travel writer be green? See here on Amazon  

“It’s providing this familiar food and experiences which Rooksana Hossenally talks about in the Huff Post article, Sustainable Tourism: barking up the wrong tree ‘In wanting to adapt themselves completely to the lay western tourist, but as the recession bites and trends change, the countries are slowly losing their visitors who prefer to go somewhere that offers better quality holidays comprised of a more authentic experience at a destination closer to home. But already ruined by the Parador model, it is too late to overturn these countries’ initial short-sightedness. When money is lacking, why pay significantly more to travel halfway across the world when exactly the same infrastructure and weather is available a two-hour flight away?’

I agree, it’s the differences most people travel for, and although hotels need to provide for the person who is unwell and needs, or wants, familiar food, it should be a tiny part of the menu. Tourists who want the same services everywhere will always go to the closest place, the fashionable destination, the place with the best bang for their buck.

As soon as trouble breaks out (dengue fever, quake, tsunami, or civil unrest) it’s the tourists who cancel their bookings, and the travellers, looking for the differences, the culture and the food of another place, who continue with their travel plans. It’s their differences that all countries need to cultivate and celebrate. Uniqueness attracts real travellers and provides the steady tourist dollar. Activities like the Batang Ai treetop walk nature walk, and our quirky guide, could not be replicated.”

So, would I travel to London, UK; or France right now? Of course I would and so would all other travellers -the chances of being affected by such events are small, and the chance of being killed – even smaller.  I guess I’m a traveller not a tourist – what would you do travel or change your destination?

Nevertheless, I’m not going to London, or Pakistan, or Afghanistan, or France – as, in 3 weeks I’m off to Mongolia, for 10 days, and after that down to Malaysian Borneo, (Sabah & Sarawak) then over to Penang on Malaysia’s Peninsula. After that who knows! Of course am always open to suggestions or invitations. :):):)

 

Packing for out-of-season holidays and vacations

sorting my carry-on bag on a previous trip

Taking a break, vacation or holiday – whatever you may call it – in the opposite hemisphere to your home can be an advantage when packing. Out-of-season sorting can also be a pain. For me it’s a mix of both.

Living in an apartment, and with too many clothes, means twice a year I either store, or unpack, my winter or summer clothes. The disadvantage of this is that in our New Zealand winter it’s those thicker clothes that are hanging in my wardrobe (or closet as Americans call them) and I’m needing some summer clothes for travelling in the northern hemisphere – in their summer.

I’m in the middle of this process now, and as I begin to put some light clothes aside, now that it’s mid-autumn, (fall) I’m also considering what I need for 5 weeks of travel in Mongolia and Malaysia – Penang, Sabah, KL, and Sarawak.

This means a shelf in my wardrobe for possibles and/or essentials and, at the end of one railing, coat hangers of the same – possibles, probable, or definite. The advantage for this sorting – about 3 months before my travels – is that, when the time comes to pack my bag, I have fewer options to consider. And, as it will be close to travelling time it will be easier to make quick decisions and of course, not overpack.

On the shelf, along with ‘must take’ items like aqua shoes, swimming gear and sarong, will be a list that I can add to as I think of things. Once again it means my packing will be considered, rather than rushed, and therefore lighter, rather than heavier. As I have said in other blogs about packing, take anything out that has been put in your bag for ‘just in case’.

As always, my travels will be a mix of conditions. Business meetings, a rainforest music festival, Mongolia’s National festival, hiking in national parks, snorkelling at a resort and, exploring city streets and restaurants: my clothes need to be suitable for a range of activities. They also need to be, for me, easily washable in my room. I also expect my check in luggage – on my outward journey – to be 15kgs (about 33lb) or under.

My carry-on bag will have my electronic gear, and e-reader and eye mask, travel docs etc for on the plane, and a few items in case of an unexpected stopover, or for me in this case, a 13-hour layover in Beijing.

So, while Wellington airport is closed because of fog, on this dull day I’m sorting summer clothes for winter travel. Just checked the calendar – it’s exactly 13 weeks today that I fly out, and most of my gear is sorted!

Time to apply for my visa.

 

 

 

Wellington sanctuary has 500 year vision to save species

Zealandia is a sanctuary  with a difference:  it has a vision for 500 years – its goal,  to restore  this Wellington valley to its pre- human state. It’s twenty years into the plan!

Only minutes  from the centre of New Zealand’s capital,  and parliament buildings,  it’s a great place  to spend a few hours,  a day  or, take an evening guided walk to check out New Zealand  wildlife  flora and fauna.  I spent a couple of hours there  2 days ago  and here just a few of the many photos I took. (search in this blog for other Zealandia posts I’ve written)

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A travel writer confesses to breaking her own rules and tips

Confessions from a travel writer: I’m not as perfect as my blogs may imply!

No doubt with a book called Naked in Budapest you could assume my confessions will be racy – sorry to disappoint you but these confessions are about packing and any ‘racy confessions’ will stay in my travel memoir – not this blog.

So, confession #1

Despite having written a few really popular and helpful blogs about packing for travel and another about carry-on luggage, or for cruising,  I occasionally fail by not reading my own words of wisdom, and if i do, not heeding that voice in my head that says “Heather, I hope you are listening (in this case via reading’) to yourself”.

My recent trip to the USA saw me break my cardinal rule of don’t take anything for ‘just in case.’ and although I think I wore everything once, there was too much in my bag.

I guess swimming gear doesn’t really count – its hard to use  what we Kiwi call ‘togs’ for anything else but in the water or poolside. (mine were only worn twice, once swimming with the Florida manatee and a very quick dip in the Pacific, despite the heat)

A soiree in Atlanta – at the Coca Cola site

Confession #2

I’m now gathering things together for my trip to the Rainforest World Music Festival (#RWMF) and already I know I have way too much to even choose from.  So I’m taking myself in hand by writing this confession and hopefully shaming myself into taking what I need – not what I want, or think I want. I will also, this time, reread my helpful packing tips!

One of the issues around packing decisions is the variety of activities we often have to do in one trip.

The USA trip saw me attending a convention, a couple of parties, shopping, hiking, exploring tourist places and checking out restaurants.

My August trip to the music festival, in Malaysian Borneo, also has its challenges: a fancy dinner reception, surviving the photographers mosh-pit, planting a tree as part of ‘greening the festival’ – possibly in a mangrove area, attending performers’ interviews, meetings with tourism officials, exploring Kuching, AND spending part of my significant birthday in a drumming circle.

So, once again, many occasions, and very hot weather, meaning I need to think layers and interchangeable tops and bottoms and colours that mix and match.

Now to choose what makes the last cut! ( and my next blog will be from the annual Rainforest World Music Festival)

Now to choose from too many items!

 

Photo of the end result for boarding tomorrow … red bag for checked luggage, plus my carry-on and personal handbag (combined they weigh just under the 7kg rules – and the ‘handbag’ could be put into the grey carry-on which is mostly my electronic gear: of course NONE of which I needed when I first started travelling :):)