I really love packing. It combines the anticipation of adventure with a technical challenge. I most enjoy packing for warm climates and trying to pack light; I’m much less confident when attempting (relatively) light packing for skiing, for example. For my upcoming Turkey trip, I bought some golf shirts and pants from Target; they seem to be quick dry without dressing like a British safari adventurer c. 1910. Indeed, try searching for “quick-dry button down” – it’s tough to get one that is long-sleeved but does not have zippers, flaps and the logo prominantly displayed. I’ve ordered a Patagonia shirt that looks from the photos like it will pass for a normal white button-down shirt.

One area that I have historically been heavy on is technology. I bring my 17″ laptop with me everywhere on a daily basis, so going without it on a longer trip has often seemed too risky. On this upcoming trip, however, I will be taking only my iPad and a newly purchased Zaggfolio Bluetooth keyboard. I’ve read about this solution for some time; let’s hope it works! I’m writing this post with it; so far so good, though I can’t see how to upload a photo to my blog (correction – found it!) I have also bought the iPad “camera connection kit” so I can download my photos to the iPad and then upload them to Flickr, etc. I’ll be practicing this move also before I go.