How to pack light and love it
Dear Answer Angel Ellen:
I’m going on a long-planned three-week vacation trip abroad, and I am not a good packer. I always haul around a huge suitcase and regret it. This time I am
determined to pack only what will fit in a suitcase I can carry on and stow on the plane.
I’m tired of worrying how I’m going to manage my luggage at the airport and even more tired of worrying that the airline will lose my suitcase. Since I’m going to five different countries, if the suitcase doesn’t make it to my destination, I know it will never catch up with me, which will wreck my holiday as I scramble to buy the basics and fight with the airline about paying for them.
If you think I am paranoid, I’m not. Too many times, a trip has been ruined by the airline losing my luggage. — Never Again
Dear Never Again: Hooray for your determination to change the way you pack. I know from experience that it’s not easy to pare down to the basics, but it sure makes travel easier.
At the recommendation of a frequent traveler friend, I recently bought some packing cubes, and they’ve made a huge difference. These are pliable cloth (and often mesh) zip bags that help you organize your belongings and eliminate the need to paw through your entire suitcase when looking for that other sock. They also let you squish down your belongings and more easily find empty spaces to stow more stuff. I bought Amazon Basics cubes (amazon.com, set of four $19.99 and up). I’ve found the most useful are the medium and large. (Buy one cube just for your dirty laundry.)
Beware that non-U.S. airlines have a wide array of maximum size and weight carry-on rules, and you could wind up having to check your suitcase anyhow.
But there’s some good news on the lost luggage front. I’ll grant you that it is maddening to pay money to check your luggage and then have the airline lose it. But U.S. Transportation Department statistics show a steady decline of lost baggage over the past 10 years from 4.32 reports of lost luggage per 1,000 passengers in 2007 to 2.8 per 1,000 passengers in 2017. Happy travels!
Dear Answer Angel
Ellen: I feel as if the only pants I wear are my black jeans. Is it OK to wear just one pair of pants? And, if not, any suggestions on what I should be wearing? —Derek C.
Dear Derek: If those jeans are working for you, stick with a winner and keep wearing them — although I’d urge you to buy a second pair of the same pants, so you can rotate them. Maybe buy two more pairs, since it’s been my experience that once you find something you really love, it’s discontinued.
As to the question you didn’t ask: Are people talking behind your back, as in, “Derek wears the same pants every day! Do you think he ever washes them?” The answer is no, they’re not. A while back, as a test for a column I was writing, I wore the same pair of gray pants to work for 10 straight days, and nobody noticed. Nobody. If you do what I did — change what I wore on top — nobody will be the wiser about those pants.
Dear Answer Angel: I don’t like to iron. And one reason is that I cannot get the ironing board to close, so I just leave it up as an eyesore in my small apartment. The cheap, cheesy metal closing lever is frustrating and never seems to work. Why are we still using 1890s “technology” on ironing boards anyhow? Doesn’t anyone make a decent ironing board that collapses easily? It’s clear I have lots of company with this complaint. There are hundreds of people online who are looking for an alternative to throwing their new boards away. Why is this industry still in the dark ages?
— Peeved Paula S.
Dear Paula: Boy do I agree. Ironing boards typically are made so cheaply that the levers bend, fall out or freeze up. There are at least 10 YouTube videos on how to fix this problem, but they’re nearly impossible to follow.
One of them is hysterical, as Mr. Fixit, Darwin Reyes, actually cuts his pinkie finger and bleeds on the board as his wife or female partner laughs off camera and points out the blood for the video audience. After a few false starts, Darwin finally gets it closed. “So we just leave it closed now,” the wife sagely concludes.
So, is there a better ironing board? Does anyone have experience with a well-constructed board? I’ve tried the mini ones that you set up on a table or kitchen counter, but they are too small for my needs. Maybe the magnetic pad you put atop your washerdryer is the answer? Thewirecutter.com does extensive testing and is usually reliable for choosing your best options. Its top choices: Brabantia B (amazon.com, about $185, user comment says it’s easy to open and close); Minky Hot Spot, (amazon.com, $51.42, one buyer complained about the openclose mechanism); Homz Durabilt Premium Steel Top (walmart.com, $77.25, advertises that “a large release lever and whisperglide technology make opening and closing the board a breeze,” but one user complained of it sticking in the open position). Hey readers, as a public service, tell me if you’ve found the ideal board that doesn’t cost a fortune.