Karen

For some reason, whenever I travel, I tend to spend way too much time obsessing over my toiletries. Somehow, I have a compulsive need to have a little bit of everything I normally use, but not too much. I hate to run out while away from the country, and I hate to lug around a pharmacy, too. <BR>Does anyone else spend way too much time thinking about some detail of their trips?

Judy

Hi Karen, I worry about my curling iron working properly. I know that seems rather frivolous to some, but not to me. Also. maybe not unimportant but still a detail, the hotel(is it nice, clean etc.) I WISH I did not worry so much.... I am a bit anal retentive. Oh well, it is good to see that I am not alone. Judy ;-)

ARTHUR

Money Belt...Checking for it constantly to see if it's still there; even sleeping with it in case someone sneaks into my hotel room to steal it. <BR>

Jayelle

I have the same problem with toiletries and always take more items than I need. Same is true of clothing. I spend way too much time trying to decide what clothing to take, always pack too much, and usually end up not even wearing some items.

Cindy

I go completely overboard about the foreign money. I think constantly about whether I have enough of the local currency, but of course, I don't want to have too much either lest I be stuck with it when I leave. I am always planning whether I should use a credit card or cash so that I can use up my foreign money at just the right moment. You can always find me at the airport buying a big bag of gum so that none of the foreign currency will go to waste. <BR> <BR>This personality quirk was evident in East Berlin many years ago. Upon entry, you had to give the authorities $25 US, and they gave you East Germany money. The catch was that you weren't allowed to bring back any East Germany money with you, and they wouldn't change it back for you. So rather than just surrender this worthless currency at the end of the day, I wandered about looking for ways to spend the money -- not an easy task as there wasn't much to buy. I spent it on strange hot dogs, a powerful, warm alcoholic drink, and several English language political books that explained just how awful the United States was and how great East Germany was. I wish I could find those books now. Maybe they'd be worth something.

Patrick

I obsess over the hotel selections. I have to study and triple check every possibility trying to convince myself that every hotel I stay in will be absolutely the best possible choice, even when it is only for one night. When choosing the 52 hotels for our 5 month European trip this summer it is a wonder I didn't drive myself completely nuts. (Actually, I guess maybe I did!)

arjay

What to pack! How not to overpack! And what to do about my hair -- is it cheaper/better to buy a converter here for my curling iron....or wait till I get overseas and just by one there? And how much will it cost? Life should be easier than this....

wendy

I was obsessed with trying to figure out how much contact solution I needed for three months, so I took a 12 oz. bottle, and I am glad I did, because the same solution I pay $3 for at Target cost $18 in the UK and was nowhere to be found in France or Italy. <BR> <BR>I also could not decide beforehand if I should have taken liquid soap (much neater) or bar (lighter). I finally took a bar because that was all the room I had left.

bob

I obsess about how much extra baggage Im gong to have to hump around because my girlfriend cant pack correctly, and doesnt quite grasp the concept of packing light. Do you really need 5 pairs of shoes for a week trip?

Kavey

Patrick, I am the same, the thing I obsess the most about is the accomodation, as is evidenced by my recent efforts booking accom for Normandy and my current traumas booking for San Francisco. I have to find every alternative before narrowing it down, which of course makes it very hard to narrow it down. I worry about the budget for the hotels. Should I go $10 a night lower and spend the savings on food or should I go $10 higher and get that extra special room? <BR> <BR>But it does give me an excuse for coming on Fodor's more... <BR> <BR>I also tend to buy too many guidebooks for a place, as I buy them from discount shops even when I am not planning a trip there (if it is somewhere I am interested in) just to read them, and then invariably want a more updated one by the time I get to go there. I have 3 old ones on California and 2 new SF ones on the way, plus a eating guide to SF...

Maira

I worry about food. I am always planning two meals ahead (no, I am not overweight, only by the grace of God!). I need to have a grocery/supermarket near me. A clean bed and bathroom is also a biggie.

Tony Hughes

I suppose, if pressed, I am a little obsessed with time and timings. I hate being late for something, hate not knowing where I'm going and watching the sun set at the same time. Driving along the same street three times on the hope that I've merely overlooked the large neon sign. <BR> <BR>Also checking the cups in the room for ginger beard hairs or other nasties. <BR>

Judy

Bob, Packing light? What is that? 5 pairs of shoes? My kind of girl....schlepping around suitcasess, is why God created men! ;-) Just kidding, of course.....Judy

dan woodlief

Whether my photos will be good when I return. Will some x-ray machine have unexpectedly damaged the film, will the camera have developed some unknown problem, will the processor screw up. Until lately, this was just an obsession with no foundation, but then I took several rolls of slides from a photo trip to D.C. into a shop, and wouldn't you know it, the machine happened to malfunction that very day and all but ruined every slide. <BR>

Lori

I guess I have to go along with Kavey and Patrick, I sort of obsess with hotels and whether or not $10 more will make any great difference, etc. etc. (Usually it doesn't .. but you never know I guess). I tend to obsess with clothes too, in fact I just got through "going through my wardrobe" for our trip this spring. Altho we have traveled to Europe (and many other places) quite a lot I always tend to take a little too much-it never fails, but along with sightseeing we go to the theater, visit relatives, etc. so I like having a little variety with me, but I do stick to a color scheme with black being the basic color (i come home and won't wear black for about a month!). As for toiletries, I know full well you can buy them anyplace, but I guess we all like to have the "familiar" with us (altho again, most of the brands I've seen in Europe look pretty familiar to me since they are the same ones we have here in many cases). My husband obsesses on how much luggage we are dragging around and what he calls the "airport hassle", he hates the "travel" part of the trip.

beth

i really have to laugh at myself on this one but too obsess about food. i am a particularly picky and worry than will somehow starve down to nothing in my 2 1/2 weeks abroad. I don't eat any vgetables at all ever (except potatoes which really aren't even a vegetable) I don't like fish or seafood or lamb or anything like that. I hate sauces and prefer bland food. i'm a real steak and baked potato or hamburger (mustard only) and french fries kind of girl. Isn't it sad!! Well anyway I find myself actually packing lots of food unnecessarily in my suitcase for vacation. I once went to Costa Rica for 2 weeks and packed 12 "Powerbars" 10 individual bags of dry "Apple Jacks" and and a bag of "goldfish crackers" Now that is what I call obssessed and stupid! Even with my picky habits i can usually find something I like while on vacation.

SharonM

I can't think of anything in particular that I obsess about unless it's, like Tony mentioned, being late or missing something. I'll obsess about the alarm clock not going off and my missing my flight or not having plenty of time to make my connection, etc. Ironically, I only have this problem on the onstart of my trip, not on the return. <BR> <BR>

elaine

When I was going to Venice for the first time, I obsessed about the boats before I got there, worried I would get on the wrong one or fall in the water or have a Titanic experience or get off in the wrong place, anything it was possible to worry about it. I forgot that visitors have been coping with this successfully for quite a few years now. <BR>On most other trips I obsess about shoes--what kind, how many, what if it rains, what if they get wet, what if <BR>one pair gives me a blister, what if my socks make them too tight, etc

Shanna

All of it! Everything. Every detail. And I love it. Check the ticket. What to pack: how many pairs of stockings, shoes, undies. Check ticket. Try on everything twice, mix it around, twice, test the shoes for long walks. check ticket. Line up the toiletries, pour into little bottles. pack them. repack them. pack clothes flat, try rolling. What to carry on, arrange the little bag so I can find each item without even looking! Check the ticket. Verify the time again and again. And the lists! Hundreds from day 1, getting increasingly detailed until I leave. I even have a permanent list called "out the door." This lists everything from checking the window locks, to setting the A/C, to making sure the iron is turned off - and the stove; unplug everything - whatever! In the first five minutes after leaving the house, I run over all the lists in my head. Verify I have passport, ticket, credit cards, money. Then I say, "What the heck - I'm on vacation!" and I go into the zone and nothing bothers me. Not forgotten anything, not flight delays, not a broken strap. "You don't show me on the flight to London? Put me on one to Paris." It's like exercise: obsess, obsess, obsess, release. I used to obsess that I was too obsessed. Now I know I'm normal! Thanks all.

Diane

Pantyhose. I have to have 2 pair each of nude, black and navy.