What I take with me when I travel. Ear plugs. Sleeping pills (each divided in four). Books. This time American Pastoral by Philip Roth, and Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad. Tylenol.
Umbrella, since I’ll be in Vancouver for several days. Blackberry with charger. Lip balm. In my carry-on bag, a streamlined wardrobe for ten days.
An extra notebook in case I do more writing than I usually do when I travel.
Coral necklace for good luck.
Certain phone numbers, even ones I have by heart, since fatigue destroys memory.
Elegant boots. Cold cream in a small enough container that airport security doesn’t confiscate it. French magazine and dictionary in order to work on my French, though I wonder if I will open them.
A bar of chocolate and a bag of almonds so as not to be stranded by hunger.
Compare this with Huckleberry Finn. “I took the bucket and gourd; took a dipper and a tin cup, and my old saw and two blankets, and the skillet and the coffee-pot.”
Travelling light.