Pack mules, smelly haulers & wandering launderers

A traveler has two choices: light or heavy.

The heavy traveler carries ten outfits for ten days. This makes him, first of all, a pack mule lugging 40 or more pounds of gear. It also makes him someone who, by the end of the journey, is carrying a large quantity of dirty, smelly clothes.

The light traveler carries only a few outfits, hauling maybe 12-20 pounds, but must rely on some form of laundry. If staying in one fairly civilized place a real, reliable laundry may be found. It will cost something. The more flexible and far-traveling type will be his own laundry, having chosen clothes that can be easily sink-washed and line-dried. This costs only a little time and convenience, but may be most convenient of all in the long run.

You decide: smelly mule or sink-washing laundryman. Neither is easy, but remember that travel and travail come from the same root word. The traveler’s skill, planning, and resourcefulness determine how apt this word lineage will seem. Traveler or Travailer? What’s in your bag, and how much, may decide which modern word best describes you.