When planning for a round the world trip (RTW), you must seriously consider “stuff management.” There are two options for managing your “stuff.” Store everything, or get rid of everything. In our case, we are choosing to store our most sentimental possessions (photo albums, collectibles, etc) and get rid of everything else, including our house. Even though we are not leaving for our trip until next year, we have been busy trying to de-clutter our house and minimize our “stuff.”
And this brings us to a little problem we faced this year; Christmas. Christmas is that time of year where you get all kinds of “stuff.” I love Christmas and I love to get “stuff.” But I am also practical and did not want our family wasting their money on us if we were to just get rid of their gift next year. So this year I came up with a solution that would both help us with our RTW trip and not offend a family member by getting rid of their thoughtful gift (don’t worry, Terry, we are keeping the beautiful sailboat tapestry you made for us). My solution was to list items on my Amazon Wish List that we are planning to take with us on our trip, but have yet to buy.
When we leave for our trip we will only have one bag for each of us to hold our “stuff” in. Since our storage space is limited the “stuff” that we will be lugging with us around the world must be multi-purpose, high quality, and preferably quick drying. The available options that fit these categories are often expensive, but invaluable when traveling and washing your clothing in the sink.
So this year’s practical Christmas list included ExOfficio Give-N-Go quick drying underwear, a quick dry travel towel, a sleep sack, and Smartwool socks. And I was ecstatic when I opened my presents on Christmas morning and found those items. Normally, I would not be excited about receiving a pair of underwear or socks for Christmas. But when the ExOfficio underwear costs $25 for one pair and Smartwool socks are around $18 for a pair, those are pretty nice gifts.
And the other great thing about getting items from our RTW list before we go is it gives us a chance to test them while traveling now. This real world experience will help us decide if we really like an item, or not. Product reviews are great, but trying it for yourself is better.