Packing trial and error

I admit to being more than a little obsessive about what I take with me on European trips. This concern, however, has fermented over nearly 25 years of travel dating back to my first venture overseas on a high school trip in 1984. At that time, I packed like I was leaving the planet for a year; I took a hair dryer, makeup, shoes for every occasion, clothes for the slightest change in weather. Later, determined to streamline, I learned the hard way that taking my father's smaller camera that I didn't know how to operate wasn't worth saving six square inches in my bag. When I took a freighter across the Atlantic in 2001, however, I reached my highest packing quotient (PQ?) ever. Because I'm older and my back is in worse shape now than it was then, I'm determined to pack as efficiently this time as I did then.

Everything that I'm taking on this trip can be washed in a sink and will dry overnight--underwear, shorts, shirts, dresses. I've been testing things out for the last week or so, taking them into the shower or tub with me at night, washing them with shampoo and hanging them over the shower curtain rod to dry. So far, so good. Most of what I'm taking is sports wear in the sense that it is made from a Tencel/poly blend that, when worn in the gym or on the athletic field, wicks sweat away from the body and dries quickly. Other items that I'm taking, if not made from a Tencel material, is purely a poly/nylon blend that would melt to my skin if I got too close to a fire. I usually prefer natural fibers, but considering man-made fabrics tend to be lighter and dry more quickly, that's where I'm casting my lot on this trip. With the help of onebag.com (see link to the left), I'm still tweaking my packing list. I'll post a final list closer to our departure.