The Pitfalls of Travelling Light

I have proven beyond a shred of a doubt that travelling without at least 18 pieces of matched luggage, no matter where the destination or how short the duration of the trip, causes illness and vomiting. I will explain…

We recently trekked into deepest darkest Northland to deliver Christmas presents to our eldest daughter and her wee cherubs. It was a day trip and therefore required us to get up at the ungodly hour of 7am with the aim of being on the road by 8am. Therein lies the first problem. Just one hour to wake, eat breakfast, shower, arrange hair and make up into a state fit for public consumption AND get dressed. Yes, uncivilized I know, but I managed it. Only just. And I think it was in the mad rush to pick clothing in such stressful circumstances that the beginnings of “THE HEADACHE” took root.

Slightly traumatized by the early start, I felt candy floss was in order to settle the tummy and the head, so when we stopped for supplies at 10am I bought an industrial sized portion usually reserved for large gatherings of small children. It was practically morning tea time and therefore the PERFECT time for a pink sugar bomb guaranteed to induce a sugar coma later in the day, in my humble opinion.

We arrive at our destination and I have the beginnings of a real thumper. It was at this point that I realized I did not have bag number two which contained my dazzling array of meds, nor did I have bag number three which contains back up meds in case bag number two is running low. My sub bag in my handbag was empty of said meds and my knitting/craft bag had also been left at home. I had foolishly tried to travel with just ONE bag, and it was totally lacking in anything that resembled pharmaceutical relief.

We head off home after a few boisterous hours with our wee grandbebes, and by this time I am in a serious state. My feet were blocks of ice (I put that down to shock and lack of decent bathroom facilities anywhere enroute) and my head was about to pop. Throw in Scott trying to wrap me in a ghastly grey dog blanket to warm me up, and a winding Northland backblock goat track and BINGO. Instant large piles of bright red vomit. Most unbecoming for a Princess to be projectile vomiting on the side of the road, let me tell you. I can only be thankful we WERE in the backblocks of Northland and therefore the only person there to witness my misery was Scott.

He blames the whole episode entirely on the candy floss. I feel it was a combination of a multitude of traumas with the ugliness of the grey blanket and the scratchiness of it against my delicate skin being the final straw. We have agreed to disagree on the cause of the spectacularly large amount of red vomit, but whatever the cause, it has been a lesson well learnt. I will never travel with anything less than bags one, two and three, my knitting/craft bag, feather pillow with 600 thread count slip, small, soft and attractive travel blanket and a bag of emergency toiletries, just to be on the safe side. Anything less is just asking for trouble.