Back in the mid 80’s The A Team was a popular TV series. The show featured four, ex military, “good guys” wrongly accused of a crime and pursued by the military police. While evading capture they became mercenaries, helping the disadvantaged, oppressed and preyed upon get justice. One of the characters was Hannibal Smith (played by George Peppard) whose catch phrase “I love it when a plan comes together” featured in virtually all episodes.
I always think of it when travel plans begin to take shape and the day of departure draws closer. Our up and coming trip to New Zealand and Australia has been in the planning (on and off) for almost eleven months. I’ve read the guide books, travel blogs, searched the web and made copious lists and notes. The planning is almost as good as the travel itself. Almost, but not quite!
Planning is so much easier today with with so much information available at just the touch of a button and some very knowledgeable independent travel agents. I wonder just for how long the traditional travel guide will survive in its current form. It would certainly help the packing if I moved to electronic versions instead but old habits die hard.
Of all the activities associated with travelling I think packing is my least favourite. I even enjoy the airport experience much more. The trouble with packing is that there are too many decisions to make. As a result I always end up taking stuff that I never use. Perhaps the lesson is to take less but then I’d worry that the stuff I left behind was the stuff that I actually needed. As for using packing Apps – they’re horrendous for me. The lists are enormous, the possibilities endless. So much choice equals too much stress.
Then there are the passports. No packed item gets checked as many times as the passports. They have a remarkable capacity to hide in the deepest recesses of my carry on bag only to suddenly reappear as the stress level reaches glass of wine level.
Even so its all worth it in the end. The plans are made, bags are packed, currency bought, electronic devices charged and the taxi booked. Now, where did I put the passports?
