Travelling Light: part one

After my second baby was born I needed to carry a lot more stuff around with me, or so I thought.  I went and bought a nice big handbag to fit all this extra stuff.  It was a beautiful handbag.  Black leather, big internal pockets. I loved it as soon as I saw it and bought it on impulse, even though I had been looking carefully for the right bag and this bag was a lot more expensive than I was planning to pay.  I justified the price by saying I would use this bag for the next five years.

Three months later I ditched the bag and bought one less than a quarter of the size, that wasn’t quite so big and bulky.  I am rarely away from the house for more than three or four hours, so there aren’t many things I can’t cope not having in that time.  What I do carry is:

- Wallet

- Keys

- Mobile phone

- Prescription sunglasses/glasses (these are in my bag so that when I walk inside with my sunglasses still on I can swap them without going back to the car). 

- Fold up shopping bag

- Spare disposable nappy.  Just one, and it only gets used once or twice a month.  I keep two more spares and spare clothes in the car, but in 15 months have used those spares twice.  

- Small plastic bag for a dirty nappy.

- Tube of Pure Wipes.  Travel sized baby wipes seem to dry out quicker than I go through them.

- All my rewards cards in a rubber band (this means I can carry a smaller wallet)

- Lip gloss (not really necessary, but I like having it)

- Lip balm

- Pen

- Comb (though I don’t recall having ever used this!)

Occasionally I will also have a camera, a water bottle, a snack, a toy, an iPod, my Keep Cup, an extra nappy, or a book, depending on where we are going and how long will be gone.  But I don’t carry all of those things everywhere, all of the time.  Just what I’m likely to need.  

The list of what other people will need on their person each day will look different to mine.  I would love to be able to carry less with me, but I haven’t worked out how to get it down any smaller.   Some people walk around with just their mobile phone, some cash and a house key in their pocket.  How wonderful would that be!    

What about you?  Do you lug a lot around with you each day? Or do you carry just the absolute bare minimum?  What things are essential for you to carry with you?