Dear Larry 

My cousin, Dr. Larry Moss, asked me if I had any packing hints for him before a trip of a month. Racked my brain and offered the following:

I try to live by the rule Take half as much clothing as you think you need and twice as much money.


I take things along that I can leave along the way to lighten my load as I go. Magazines, newspapers, cheap pocket books, lightweight to pass the time.

I always have a blazer and 1 dress shirt at the very least.

I pack for layers.

I travel with lightweight silk scarves, as they can be useful in the chill. Also a knit hat, gloves, extra kerchiefs, all in the same pouch.

I do not take bulky items, volume and weight being the enemy.

I have one pair of slip-on kicking around shoes, one pair which can pass for dressy, and light slippers for the house. TOMS shoes are the best. I travel in the kicking around shoes.

I take laptop, iPad and Kindle, camera, mobile in carry-on bag.

I do not carry large liquids or cosmetics onto the plane- I leave them in checked luggage.

I travel with earplugs in my pocket. It the essential accesory in long haul travel.

A compact good quality headset makes a flight infinitely more comfortable; the free ones dont work that well and never fit right.

I work out of a system of pouches in my carry-on, electronic cords in one, toiletries for travel (lip balm, travel tube of face cream), Travel "office" with pens, pos- its., spare pen cartridges, xeroxes of travel documents, glasses prescription.

I try to have an energy bar in the carry-on. It inevitably gets eaten, the bar I mean and not the bag..

I travel in slip-on shoes, and have no metal in my floppy travel clothes. Security is a hurdle. You have to be friendly to all the TSB people or it can be depressing. You must plan ahead for speeding through the checkpoints. One bag for carry-on, easy access to the technology, and critial documents easy to retrieve.

You can't wear a belt through security. Drawstring trousers are less hassle.


Below, some photos from a visit today to a new winery. Sonoma's a lot of fun, also calm and easygoing. It's all about wine, grapes, soil, weather.


Vineyard named Dynamite at the winery in Moon Valley, north of Sonoma.

 

Bill Lantz in the caves at the winery in Moon Valley