For the Journey

Today’s illustrative moment of Zen.

 

Flyweight Travels II

Apparently there’s more, and it’s minimal!

 

It’s waterproof, featherweight and “ten times stronger than steel, yet light enough to float on water, and versatile enough to stuff into a pocket.” Click through the photo for details.

Flyweight Travels

For those who don’t know me I’m 5 foot nothing and weigh between 86-90 pounds. Now, other than making people, with what I’d consider a healthier, more sensible shapes, coo ‘take some of my fat, you’re so thin!’ this presents a host of problems. Firstly, nothing fits. Except spangly tights from Gap kids. Its not a good look for your mid-30s. And living in the ever expanding Western world means that dress sizes are going up, and a size 0 today was the size 6 of yesterday. Secondly, the winters hit hard, there is no protective layer on me. And when you sit on the pavement, as we all need to do from time to time, it hurts your ass bones. ‘Ass bones? What ass bones?’ <– yes, very funny. Also, carrying stuff around is a massive deal. If I have to lug a suitcase around and it weighs 40 pounds, that’s almost half my weight. But if I complain that it’s so heavy, I always get told, its not that heavy! Maybe for you, at your comfortable 180 pounds. Unfortunately I love to travel. Which means I lug a lot. So I was thrilled to see this on a friend’s Facebook feed today.

This is fantastic and I have been waiting for this for a long time. And it’s not ridiculously expensive! The rucksack I invested in years ago, the smallest I could find, is still at the bottom of the storage cupboard because filling it with say, a T-shirt, would make it a bit too heavy to be comfortable on my back (okay, a mild exaggeration there, but still!). A perfect use for it would’ve been my time in Sri Lanka, but when traveling, I swapped my lovely big rucksack for a friend’s little knapsack (and a plastic baggie for food/drink) rather than carry that monster around. See Exhibit A –>

Now all I need is a couple of flyweight suitcases and to learn to pack less stuff.