Travel essentials

Another weekend rolls around signally yet again that it’s time to hit the shops for those last minute purchases.

The ubiquitous list is drafted:

1. Travel Agent – collect travel documents
2. Woollen socks or tights & scarf for the short one
3. Lightweight reading material for the short one
4. Portable toddler toilet seat (yep, that would be for the short one too)
5. The essential travel accessories - money pouch, power adapters, luggage labels

First item on the list was the easiest.  Things sort of went down hill from there. 

Trying to find woollen anything (unless you’re a sheep) is impossible at this time of the year.  Forget it!

Next…I have a conspiracy theory about bookshops and my attempt to locate lightweight, compact reading materials. All I wanted was a paper back version of a few of our all time favourite board books.  Forget it!  Hard backs or board books, take your pick.  In the end, after visiting 3 bookshops, we gave up. In our distraught state, we stumbled towards our favourite retreat, seeking some consolation…the ABC Shop.  Of course, we should have known better, we should have gone there in the first place.  We discovered the world of Pocket Libraries – at around 2 inches square they fit the bill (or suitcase as the case may be) nicely! And what a comprehensive collection:  Bananas in Pyjamas; Play School; Spot; In the Night Garden.  What more could a nearly 2 year old fanatic book reading frequent flyer want?

A Toilet seat, of course…well, there only seems to be one portable, foldable, cushioned toilet seat insert on the market – so it looks like we’ll have that one, thanks!

Essential travel accessories.  I also have a conspiracy theory about this one.  I swear every time I have gone overseas I have purchased a complete set of ‘essential travel accessories’.  I am convinced that they spontaneously combust immediately upon your return home.  Either that or I have a well-secreted place where I carefully put away things for another time.  This space, of course, is a vortex that contains other seldom used items …wedding dresses, high school year books, ex-boyfriends' Valentine cards, exercise bikes…