"Friday" Five: "Now Boarding" Edition

While some of my RevGalBlogPals are headed for the annual Big Event, Fellow Traveler and I are planning a trip of our own later this spring, to help Daughter-in-Law celebrate her first Mother's Day...and of course to see Miss Ruby, who is growing into a real little corker. So this is a timely Friday Five.

1) Some fold, some roll and some simply fling into the bag. What's your technique for packing clothes?
Well, frankly, my favorite technique is letting Fellow Traveler do the packing. Between her military career and her other traveling experience, she has it down to an art. By contrast, I do not come from a traveling family -- we never stayed one night away from home during my entire growing-up, and even in my young adulthood I was either too poor or too cheap to travel on my own -- so I don't have the skills. FT, for instance, has the ability to roll clothes up into tiny, manageable bundles that are nonetheless ready-to-wear when unrolled. I cannot do that. So I don't. My contribution to the process is the reminder list: "Did we remember to pack __________? The _____________? How about your _____________?"


2) The tight regulations about carrying liquids on planes makes packing complicated. What might we find in your quart-size bag? Ever lose a liquid that was too big?
Our solution to the reg problem is to simply not pack liquids -- we just hit a drugstore upon arrival and buy an assortment of sample-size toiletries to last us our trip.


3) What's something you can't imagine leaving at home?
We're pretty devoted to our laptops, so they generally come with us...although when we stay at our favorite motel in the Leelanau, we give up Internet access other than our phones.  (Red Lion Motor Inn, for anyone interested -- nice, clean old-school lodging that is neat and clean; more than reasonable; pet friendly; kitchenette units available; Traverse Bay beach access across the street, complimentary charcoal grill and bonfire privileges.)
4) Do you have a bag with wheels?
Oh, yes. I can't imagine schlepping non-wheeled bags around.

5) What's your favorite reading material for a non-driving trip (plane, train, bus, ship)?
Nothing too heavy (like my pastor's attempting to get through the Koran on one of his cross-Atlantic adventures). My favorites are murder mysteries a la Nevada Barr, or lifestyle/foodie magazines. The in-flight mags? They get my germophobic self going; I tend to leave those in the seat pocket.

Bon voyage to all the Big Event attendees! Have fun!