I’m going to toss in a plug here for Pareto’s Principle which basically states that a disproportionately small number of inputs is responsible for a disproportionate number of outputs in pretty much any arena of life. In this application, we would pay attention to the likelihood that, in general, we only use approximately 20% of the stuff we drag around through life, to cover 80% of our needs. It’s imperative that we assess everything on our motorcycle riding travel packing list from this perspective, simply because we have so little space for our stuff.
I’ve been working on traveling lighter and lighter for years now. It started with trips overseas – I didn’t want to be lugging around 50# worth of stuff over cobblestone streets. I didn’t want to be trying to stuff some gargantuan suitcase into a micro rental car. And, I definately didn’t want to be hauling that much crap up and down 7 flights of ancient circular staircase at an AirBnB. Pareto’s Principle had helped me really dial in the things I really use when I travel.
And, I had lived with my super-pared-back travel items for a few days, tweaked out a few things, and then typed up the list of what I would take on my first overnight excursion. This serves two purposes – it makes packing every subsequent time approximately 95% easier!! Because of my various packing lists, I can take the opportunities that come my way, say a last minute “yes” to them, print off my packing list, start ticking things off of that list and chucking them into a bag, and be out the door in under an hour. And, it also allows me to continuously improve my list, and therefore my traveling experience, by refining it through trial and error out in the real world. I come back home and make edits to that list so it more closely reflects the way I actually travel.
Given motorcycle riding is a whole different level of traveling light and that there had been some frustrations to having been living as if I had only had available to me the things I was planning to take with me, I was forced to take things one step further. I’d gotten sick of digging through my gallon ziplock bag, rooting around to find everything I needed, or root through my bag of clothes to find a pair of socks or undies – it was surprisingly exhausting. “omg, where the HELL is my lip goo??” after a long day out can almost bring you down, mentally, emotionally.
So, I took the list I’d already typed up and reorganized it during my few trial period days. I created subheadings according to the way that I use things. (See the attached list as an example of how I’ve organized everything)
I asked myself:
-What do I absolutely have to have in my little wallet that goes in the top pocket of my backpack that I always carry with me?
-What do I absolutely need access to frequently in the top pocket of my backpack?
-What do I use frequently, but less often, that I want access to in my backpack main compartment?
-What meds do I want to have that will cover the main travel complaints, not every possible scenario under the sun, that will also go in the main compartment of my backpack, easily within reach?
Then, I moved on to toiletries. This was a big area where I could make things a whole lot easier on myself. I asked myself how and when I use the various products, and separated them off into use categories. Then each group went into their own sandwich sized plastic Ziplock bag that I could just grab and use for each activity.
I examined:
-What things do I do when I’m putting on makeup, in the morning? That all went into an individual baggie
-Dental was taken care of two times a day, so everything related went into its own Ziplock baggie
-Everything that happens in the shower, no matter what time of day, went together
-What do I do at bedtime. All that goes into its own separate baggie, so I can pull it out and throw it on my bedside table, and I have all the things I need and don’t have to crawl out of bed 10 times
-Miscellaneous items then were then grouped together in their own bag
All these were then corralled by a gallon Ziplock. I could pluck out whatever individual baggies I needed for whatever I was doing next related to health and beauty.
Clothing was grouped as follows:
-What I put on my body, in the order in which I put it on my body, so I can develop a routine of suiting up – nothing drives me crazier than how many times I’ve put on my boots before I’ve realized I don’t have my riding pants on and need to peel them back off and put them back on again!! Argh!!
-The extra set of clothing that gets packed, along with my swimsuit (never leave home without it!!), and my pjs
The plan is to wear one set while washing the grubby other set.
All this is followed by my get-out-of-Dodge to-do list and my walking-out-the-door, don’t-forget-to-grab-the-things-you-used-up-until-the-bitter-end list.
A little bit of prep work, spending the time to “do it once well” pays massive dividends in time saved and frustration eliminated!
The benefits: you use EVERYTHING you take with you. Every subsequent trip is easier because you’ve really taken the time to evaluate how you use everything in your daily life. And, you don’t have to feel like a pack mule, carting along everything, including the proverbial kitchen cutting board, with you.
You feel light, and free, and isn’t that what this is all about?? The freedom to navigate comfortably, confidently through the great big, mind-blowingly extraordinary world?!?!
Smarter-Not-Harder U 