Elements of light travel

William Strunk, Jr., author of the writing manual The Elements of Style, used to tell his students “Omit needless words! Omit needless words!” Strunk stressed economy of language; he said every word and phrase must pull its weight, pay its way. Similarly, the light traveler is well advised to “Omit needless stuff! Omit needless stuff!”

Need - now there’s a weighty word.  What do we need? What can we edit? What can we leave behind? Packing stuff we need is not the same thing as packing everything we might need. We may live out of one suitcase, but we shouldn’t try to pack our entire life into that suitcase. Leave room for chance. Heck, get crazy — discover a new shampoo! Buy an umbrella in another country. Run out of underwear…just for fun.

(repost form 06-07)