Won't Leave Home Without...

by Christine Wells

I'm packing. Again. Just returned on a 27 hour flight from Orlando a week and a half ago and now I'm off again, this time on a mere one and a half hour flight to Sydney, where I'll attend my second romance writers' conference for the month.

Romance Writers of Australia are congregating at Coogee Beach for four days of hugs, laughs and learning.

And I have nothing to wear.

OK, I do have clothes, but I'd been focusing so much on coping with summer in Orlando, I forgot to shop for winter in Sydney.

Do you ever gaze at all the clothes in your closet, willing something new and fabulous to simply appear? Sadly, this well-formulated technique doesn't work--at least, not for me. Soon, I'll give up and toss the old favourites into my suitcase.

No matter what I wear, there are some things I never get on a plane without--my laptop, a novel and some butter menthol lollies (candy?) in case I get painful sinuses on takeoff or landing.

But it's always that split-second before I put my purse through the security x-ray that I wonder what on earth I have in there, what I've forgotten and what I might have to dash to the nearest 7/11 to buy.

So here are my questions for you all:

1. What do you never, ever travel without? My answer: A book

2. What do you often take but seldom use? My answer: Running shoes. I mean, really!

3. What do you always forget to take and always need? My answer: nail scrubbing brush (especially for beach holidays)

4. What have you left behind in a hotel room? By accident? On purpose?

My Answer...By accident: Shoes; On purpose? Hair products. I'm paranoid about them exploding all over my suitcase and I usually take only a little more than I'm likely to use.

5. What's the niftiest travel gadget/product you've found? My answer: portable DVD player--it's absolute gold on family holidays.