Monday, March 1, 2010

Road Trip

We don't do it often enough, but a few times a year, Beloved Husband and I enjoy a 4 day weekend away. Palm Springs is a 2 1/2 hour drive East, so we pack up the car in search of rest, relaxation and sunshine.

But before we take off, there's so much work to be done. For example, the trip we just returned from started like this.....


One car, two adults, four nights away, and all this stuff-- And this picture was taken before we stopped at the outlet mall. And no, we weren't camping.

No wonder we rarely take long trips-- There wouldn't be any room left for us in the car. And for the record, I only packed three pairs of shoes. Most of this stuff belongs to my husband.

Honest!

We had a great time, napped, read, watched the Olympics, star-gazed, ate too much and just spent quality time together. I can't ask for more than that!

Now all I have to do is unpack all the stuff we just packed four days ago.

How do you travel-- light or loaded?
Welcome to The Fifty Factor - Joanna Jenkins

53 comments:

  1. What? Your husband doesn't even unpack the car? Cart all of his own stuff into the house for you to wash? Say it isn't so!

    I'm glad you had a happy, restful weekend. Everyone needs those.

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  2. That doesn't look like too much luggage! We have triple that when we go away... hell we probably need a trailer the amount of stuff we take.

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  3. Oh, that quality time sounds good! I think one of the reasons I loathe family vacations (yeah, I am the grump who prefers to stay home!) is mainly because I get traumatised because I can't ever quite fit the entire house into the car/plane..

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  4. I'm more of a medium to light packer. My husband? Funny you should ask. He packs his entire closet.

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  5. Glad you were able to get away and relax.
    We pack pretty light, although my hubby is better at that than I am!

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  6. I would say light, husband would say loaded, but it depends where I'm going.
    When I visit my parents I only bring a carry on - so definatley light. When we go to our cabin I bring quilting projects, fabric, books, crossword puzzles, computer etc so I won't get bored - so loaded.

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  7. We just got back from West Palm Beach and we had a great time. Hubby was at a conference and did a lot of reading and site seeing! Fun times!
    Got home to more cold and snow last night. Yuck!
    Glad you had a great time!
    Hugs
    SueAnn

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  8. Sounds like a wonderful break. And yes, I pack as lightly as you do by the looks of things. You just never know when you might need something and if there is room well why not?

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  9. Holy cow girl I thought we packed alot! Glad you had a wonderful relaxing time.

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  10. i travel light...necessities...a pair of jeans, a t shirt, a button up shirt, a jacket, my book...thats it. and then my wife packs the rest...

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  11. I used to overpack until I realized I didn't or wasn't going to wear 80% of what I packed.

    I hate unpacking.

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  12. I pack medium, my husband packs almost too lightly as he always forgets, underwear, pj's, toothbrush, etc. My 14yo daughter seems to get it right. go figure.

    To unpack everyone dumps their bags at the door for me to bump into and trip over.

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  13. -When hubby and I go away, we also nap, read, shop and eat. Without kids, so it is special. We have learned to pack really lightly...wear same pair of jeans and throw in clean underwear and socks. My husband is a big one for stopping at Walmart wherever we are if we have forgotten something. Limited packing makes coming up much easier...limited laundry. But gotta love those times away!!!

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  14. I haven't had a husband since the mid 70s but I do believe they're all the same when it comes to packing their entire closet for a short trip. Thank goodness I don't have to worry about that anymore; now it's my little dog that requires all the extra room while I pack very light.
    Glad you guys had a great trip!

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  15. Hi Joanna, thank you for stopping by on my blog.
    I think we tend to travel light, up until now there has been five of us going on holidays driving from England to the South of France, self catering and we manage to pack everything. But then, I count every single item of clothing down to pants!!!
    Hope you had fun and a rest!!!
    Happy blogging! xxx

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  16. I hope you have fun fun fun!
    I'm sure some of these cats travel very "loaded" indeed! ;D
    I always pack too much of the wrong things.
    And not enough of the right things.

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  17. Short trip or long trip, I always pack too much. I like to have choices. Glad you had a great getaway.

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  18. Sounds like an ideal getaway! Glad you had fun.

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  19. Wow, that's a lot of stuff Joanna! Does it all make your poor little car tilt towards the back? It's all good though, there's nothing like making someplace new your home away from home. :)

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  20. Must husband has been known to say I pack 10 lbs of sh*& in a 5 lb bag. ;)

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  21. Am so laughing at this one. You sound like us, "before the outlets mall". We've learned to travel lighter in the past few years, simply because we travel with one of our Great Danes everywhere we go and she takes up quite a bit of room.

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  22. Ah, Palm Springs and an outlet mall! Sounds divine to me. This reminds me of our trips to Glen Arbor (on Lake Michigan). We always stop at an outlet on the way up there... there's a Coach outlet, and a Polo outlet, and ... well, our car looks even more stuff than yours before we get to our destination.

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  23. It astonishes me how lightly we travel now that the kids are older--no porta-crib, no bottles, no diapers, no potty chair. We're practically backpackers now! But watch how this plays out when we go on a road trip this summer...then you can laugh at the back of OUR van!

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  24. Your getaway sounds wonderful! What I wouldn't do for a few days in a sunny, warm place!

    I tend to pack too much when we go away. I can't help but consider all the "what ifs". I'm getting a little better now that the airlines are charging you per bag.

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  25. packing and unpacking must be the worst parts of a trip. I'm the type that hates to forget anything.

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  26. I think that being able to drive from home to holiday destination encourages this kind of haphazard and grandiose packing because this is *exactly* what our car looks like when we nip over to France. If it's a plane journey on the other hand, we're getting it down to a fine art - practically passport and deodorant and we're done!

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  27. All my student travels to France taught me, "You pack it, you carry it." So I tend to travel light. Miss Chef, on the other hand...well, she's getting better. But I'm always amazed at how much STUFF two people need for less than a week!

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  28. I pack pretty light. For a weekend Hubs and I can share a duffel bag.

    I'm so happy the two of your got away for a quality weekend.

    God bless and have the best week!!!

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  29. I love road trips!

    When it was just us, we'd pack pretty light - usually for a long weekend, one suitcase and a toiletry bag...For a while, we had a lot of equipment for our daughter - pack n play, stroller, etc, but thankfully she just has her own suitcase and a whole lotta toys...I also pack a cooler these days, to help cut down on the fast food/snacking, so I guess we travel a little on the heavy side now!

    Enjoy!

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  30. Being a man, I just travel light. One change of clothing and beer money. My wife, on the other hand, takes enough luggage to fill half a Boeing 747 - and that's just for a weekend away...

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  31. We always over-pack, I'm paranoid I'll need something and not have it so I bring everything. Plus I have two kids (one still in diapers) and a clothes-horse of a husband, so yeah, we're heavy packers!

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  32. Time packing and unpacking is valuable time you and your Beloved could be snuggling. We need a plan to cut down on the packing time. Hmmmmm.Get back to you on this one.

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  33. LOL... is this really your car and was it only a 4 day trip? LOL... you crack me up that it is your love who does a mean packing. It depends sometimes I pack light and other times well let me just say I can double the load of your honey. Smile... xo

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  34. Sunny Palm Springs sounds lovely right now. I am for light, usually end up a little heavy. But, no matter how careful I am, I always take more than I need.

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  35. Hello - I'm back! I'm officially back in the blogosphere :)
    My god JJ - what on earth did you take with you for four days?! I can't imagine packing all of that for a weekend haha
    I have to admit that I'm a bit of a heavy packer but I'll have no chance of that if I'm carrying it on my back for three months! 2 weeks today :)

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  36. Oh my! That is a lot of stuff to haul for a short trip. I pack very lightly, ala "carry on" style. The less, the better! If something is missing, then I will enjoy shopping for it!

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  37. Maybe it's a guy thing. I tend to over pack too, and my wife tends to bring it to my attention.

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  38. With two kids -- we are always LOADED!

    Did I hear outlet mall -- those words are like peanut butter and chocolate -- great on their own but so much better together!
    :-)
    Traci

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  39. ah, take what you want...as long as you can fit it in lol. you can imagine how much we can take....4 changes of clothes...1 pair of shoes each, that's it. Then i have to wash usually 2 loads a day when we're away.

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  40. we had a fun time in Palm Springs many years ago. I recall the best orange juice at some restaurant. Seeing that field of wind turbines and going up the side of the mountain.
    Hmm my lack of names here has me wondering - yes it was Palm Springs because I was going to drive by Bob Hope's place - I got lost. He probably wasn't home anyway.

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  41. Sounds like fun, not the packing and unpacking.

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  42. Four nights alone with your husband? Lucky!!!

    I tend to overpack.

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  43. I camped a lot as a kid, and I was in Girl Scouts. I got "if you can't carry it, you don't need it" drilled into my head from a very young age. Now, when we travel, I can carry all my stuff to and from the car in one trip. Ben...can't. Should be interesting when we go to the beach for a week this summer...

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  44. We pack WAY too much stuff when we go away too! We're at my parents for two nights and we had like 4 bags!

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  45. It sure LOOKED like you were going camping!! We have learned to pack light, especially being gone 5-6 months out of the year and living in our RV! This being our first season of doing it, we know there are some things we will do differently next season!

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  46. Oh the unpacking.

    And the laundry.

    Makes you need a vacation from your vacation.

    But there's nothing like a well timed getaway to rejuvenate the soul. Glad you had fun.

    Now get crackin' on those suitcases, will ya?

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  47. I hate packing and unpacking!! Your packing looks just like mine but most of it is mine!!

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  48. Yeah for your getaway !

    I pack light. ( am in the process now)

    but I remember those not too long ago days with all the kidlets and their gear.

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  49. I am a crazy over-packer. My only saving grace is that hubby is, too. It might mean less leg room in the car for us, but at least I don't have anyone yelling at me for what I bring on our trips. We're mutual enablers, and we're okay with that.

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  50. funny...when we have the car space we take everything we own :)
    but when flying, we do a great job of limiting it to just small carry ons.....

    so believe me, the back of my car has looked like that before...but for a week up north with kids :)

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  51. I pack way too much stuff for a short getaway too!
    I guess that´s why is was good we went home a day earlier than planned (from our last trip) and I had the day to unpack, do the laundry and just relax. Then I don´t mind, but if I have to go to work right the next day it´s such a hassle to unpack everything again...

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