19.6.05

Travellin' light

I'm not much of a girly girl, but one thing that's been bugging me lately is the amount of crap I carry around with me. At any given moment, I'm likely to have the following in my bag:
  • Wallet --- cash, coins, two credit cards, two bank cards, ez-link card, Kinokuniya discount card, and whatever receipts and business cards I haven't emptied out yet.
  • Two cellphones
  • iPod
  • Keys to our flat
  • PDA --- and stuffed in its case are a Frodo ez-link card and a wad of business cards.
  • Tissue paper
  • Wet wipes (absolutely indispensable in this scorching middle-of-the-year tropical weather)
  • Lip balm
  • Lipstick
  • Eyedrops
  • Panadol
  • On weekdays: security access pass for work and keys to my workstation
This isn't much of a problem if I'm carrying one of my messenger bags, but things get a little tight and fiddly when I try to fit everything into one of my smaller purses.

So on Friday and Saturday, when I had to meet people at work for about half an hour each time , I decided to travel light for a change. All I really needed was a little cash (not the full wallet), my keys, a cellphone, the ez-link card for the bus ride, and the iPod to while away the travel time.

As it is, the stuff completely filled my jeans pockets and the iPod had to be toted in my left hand. And it felt a little strange to show up at work with so little on me.

But it was fairly liberating to walk out of the apartment with just that. And then I realised that this is what guys feel like all the time. They've got a wallet --- or maybe just cash and change stuffed into their pockets (and guys' pants always have pockets) --- a cellphone and their keys, and that's probably it. Guys of the iPod- or tissue paper-carrying variety probably have those items stashed down the side of their backpacks/messenger bags; even if they're not carrying a bag, their pants pockets are usually generous enough to accommodate them comfortably.

No wonder Terz doesn't understand why it sometimes takes me ten minutes to shuffle my stuff from one bag to another before we go out.

9 Comments:

At 6/19/2005 3:46 am , Anonymous Anonymous said...

yep. we rock.

^_^

 
At 6/19/2005 10:58 am , Blogger SilverBullet said...

Now I know I carry too much stuff on me. I used to have a wallet, cellphone, lipbalm, lipgloss and car/housekeys stuffed into my little handbag. Now it's 3 diapers, baby wipes, changing pad, bottles of ready to drink milk, breastpump, change of clothes for both me and the baby plus the aforementioned handbag all stuffed into a kate spade diaper bag. It all weighs a ton. Add the baby bjorn with 13 lb baby and it weighs more than a ton.

I'm envious... I wanna travel light too!!!!

 
At 6/19/2005 11:29 am , Blogger ampulets said...

hehe, you probably don't know enough guys who carry the "man-purse" (usually a tote bag). J does - his bag has more stuff than mine...hmm, he also switches bags more often than i do! :>

 
At 6/19/2005 11:38 am , Blogger Agagooga said...

... women

Eh school also need security pass. Do students have those too?

 
At 6/19/2005 1:31 pm , Blogger  said...

eh, you never go out with me before meh? i use my dice pouch - money, cell phone, keys and cigs. (thats why i buy soft pack - the more i smoke, the smaller the pack gets!) and i clip my mini ipod to my skirt/jeans/shorts, or even better, (as you pointed out that day - "geeky"!) hang the ipod shuffle round my neck!

sometimes, just have the stuff in my pockets, no dice pouch.

or even better, when husband is with you, put your stuff in his pockets! (which NAB hates!) :-)

 
At 6/20/2005 4:15 am , Blogger wahj said...

I've tried for years to travel light, and still end up carrying a bag wherever I go. I suspect it's a security blanket thing - I may not actually need my iBook, camerea, torchlight, book, etc, but it's reassuring to know that if I did, they'd be with me.

 
At 6/20/2005 9:33 am , Blogger Tym said...

A-ha, so boys are susceptible too!

Agagooga --- No, none for students. Their rooms are all free-access.

Ru --- Terz puts his stuff in my bag! So I can't stuff his pockets.

 
At 6/23/2005 2:16 pm , Blogger Olorin said...

Well yeah, that's how guys feel all the time. :)

In light mode, I manage with just keys, wallet (which has all my credit and ezlink, etc, cards) and mobile phone. In serious mode, add PDA. My keypass is kept in my 'work bag' and I then wear it about my neck once I step into the office.

Whatever else I may or may not need goes into some bag I may or may not carry.

But hey, wet wipes are a good idea.

Especially since I sweat all the time! heh

Cheers!

 
At 10/06/2005 2:30 am , Blogger seekingasylum said...

big jeans...big pockets.

need i say more?

hell yeah i'm glad i don't carry a handbag

 

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