Packing

Tom: This is my suitcase, it seems plenty big enough, perhaps a bit too big, who can tell at this juncture. In any event, it is not going to Burning Man with me. I am going to leave anything critical for the South America trip at home and safe. I do not want to risk losing my carefully chosen clothing and gear to the vagaries of the desert and the airline baggage system. When I say carefully chosen I mean that these items have been through a long and difficult committee review process. We spent hours, as a family, in the living room, reviewing the contents of one another´s luggage for items that were unneccessary, frivolous, heavy or better than what I had. In the end we all came away lighter and better equipped. I still assert that I might have occasion to use my scuba gear, although I have never used it previously.


Diane: Although my first impulse was to be fairly autocratic and limit what each of us would bring, I knew this would only bring rebellion. As a group we needed to decide what was most important to have along and how much we were willing to watch over. Individually, each of us needed to fill an empty bag that we would have to schlep around with us for the better part of a year.


We opted for "Show And Tell" with feedback.


show-and-tell: I'm bringing 3 pairs of quick-dry underwear.
feedback: I don't want to live with wet, soggy underwear hanging in our hotel room every other day. Bring a few more pairs.
show-and-tell: I'm bringing 5 pairs of hiking socks.
feedback: You can get away with less than that. Besides I like the smell of your feet.
show-and-tell: In that case, maybe we could share our hiking socks and you wouldn't have to bring any.
feedback: Good idea!


This worked very well.

Tom: This is my suitcase, again. It seemed to have shrunk on contact with my neccesaries like vitamins, sunblock, hiking boots, wood carving gear, scuba tank and wet suit. During the committee review process I had to elimimnate the scuba gear. This seems a shame given the broad range of opportunities to scuba dive throughout the Andes.