This is a guest post by Nikki Hodgson. Don’t forget to stop by and check out her blog. Enjoy:
How NOT to Pack Drunk
A few years ago while studying abroad in Europe, I found myself sitting around a table knocking back a few drinks with some of my fellow students.
With a ticket for a 5:00 a.m. train the following morning, I wasn’t intending to make it a late night, but at 3:30 a.m. I realized that not only was I completely drunk, I still needed to pack.
Bursting through my apartment door at 4:00 a.m. I grabbed a plastic shopping bag and began filling it with everything I thought I would need for a week of traveling through Luxembourg and Belgium in the dead of winter.
With everything shoved into my reusable grocery bag, I dashed for the station making it just in time to stagger onto the train and into my seat. I spent the next few hours in a drunken haze watching Germany slip past me one Fachwerkhaus at a time.
By the time I was sober enough to realize that packing drunk is a terrible idea, I was well situated in my hostel in Luxembourg and pulling items out of my plastic bag for safe stowage in my locker. With every item I pulled out, the expression of horror became more fixated on my face and the hysterics of my traveling partner became increasingly uncontrollable.
To spare my fellow travelers the same painful experience, I have compiled a list which I hope you will find useful should you ever find yourself intoxicated and in front of a suitcase.
- A bikini is not appropriate attire for Luxembourg in February. This goes for you too, gentlemen.
mmm beer - A German/English dictionary is best utilized in German-speaking countries.
- The Lonely Planet Guide for Turkey is not particularly useful outside of Turkey.
- Pants are very practical. I highly recommend packing at least one pair.
- Do not pack your roommate’s box of cookies and carton of milk.
- Having one outfit and only one outfit makes doing laundry a delicate matter. Nudity in public laundromats is generally frowned upon.
- A plastic shopping bag is never an acceptable substitute for a suitcase.
- It’s unlikely that you will need a desk lamp. Or an alarm clock. Or any other item sitting on your desk, nightstand or bookshelf. The same applies for kitchen cupboards.
- Flip flops and running shoes do not qualify as haute couture. Particularly when you’re wearing one of each.
- Always pack before drinking.
