Be your own best pack man -1

SO you’re leaving. You’ve decided that you simply can’t take the heat, not to mention the pollution, traffic and those ubiquitous campaign paraphernalia. You’d rather be somewhere else, preferably far away from the madding crowd.

There is one important thing you must do before you take a trip: pack. Among other things, we are known for being "pack animals." Go to any airport, bus terminal or dockyard. Most often than not, those with several pieces of luggage and huge boxes are Filipinos.

Funny, isn’t it? We have even found a creative way to go above and beyond the "only one piece of hand-carry allowed" rule. For crying out loud, our hand-carry can easily pass for luggage that should be checked in. We simply can’t do away with the habit of bringing everything short of the refrigerator and the bed during trips.

Well, having brought only a pilot bag to a one-month trip to L.A. qualifies yours truly to give hopefully what could be considered as useful tips. Just don’t ask me how many balikbayan boxes I had with me when I arrived. You wouldn’t want to know, believe me.

Before you even start packing, bear in mind that you have to consider a couple of very important factors.

Weather and climate

Obviously, bringing a thick winter jacket to the beach or Hawaii implies that you need to spend time working on your IQ points rather than soaking up under the sun. Likewise, if you decide to bring only spaghetti straps and sando to your trip to Alaska, then you may as well be ready to dial 911. Pneumonia, my dear, can be quite fatal.

Itinerary

Okay, I used to think that making an itinerary defeats the purpose of going on a vacation. You’re leaving because you want to get away from stress and school deadlines, etc. Why should you be enslaved by a schedule, right? You’re going on vacation because you want to waste time!

But believe me when I say that you need some sort of guideline or schedule just the same so that your vacation won’t go to waste. You don’t want to end up telling yourself, "I should have gone to…" I should have bought this…" and "I should have done this…," right?

Length of stay

Don’t bring 30 pieces of tops and bottoms if you’re only staying for a couple of days. Make sure that you bring enough clothes if you plan to stay for a long time and heavy socializing is part of your itinerary. Besides, if you plan to go shopping, then you’re going to need a lot of space in your luggage.

Laundry services

Laundry services are always available anywhere, especially in the US (hold on to your quarters). But they can get quite expensive especially if you are going to stay in a hotel. Hotels usually charge by the piece and laundromats vary in rates. If you think you’re going to end up washing your clothes, then make sure you know exactly what to do with them. Check the tags: if it says dry clean, then you do not wash. Leave it to the experts, okay?