Luggage or baggage?!

As many of you know I spend most of my life packing (or unpacking and repacking), something, to go somewhere and I really don't like packing, I like it about as much as I like flying.  I know, I know, why do I do what I do if I dislike two of the fundamentals of travel?!
Because it is worth it, I love arriving places, I love seeing the faces and hugging all of the people I love around the world.

I love the familiarity of the moving even if it is somewhere I have never been. One of the hardest things this year has been not seeing my 'moving family', despite constantly being on the move with my life and my job, there is a continuity through the people I have come to think of as friends and family.  Friends from long ago, actual related family, local guides, coach drivers, hotel staff, the people who work onboard the ships and colleagues, they are what makes being on the road all the time so worth it.  And if I haven't already mentioned it, ha ha, I miss them.  A lot.

I'm puttering around my place in Prague trying to pack for my departure to Italy tomorrow, with only a 30 litre back pack 😱 and wondering how am I going to fit my yoga mat in there.....

For those of you out there who have ever had to lift my suitcases (I'm thinking of the bellman who ask me if I've packed my skis, a bowling ball and a few souvenir rocks from the Danube), you can imagine how hard it is for me to pack this light.  

As a result I am procrastinating and writing this instead!

I was going to write about airports and flying and what it is like right now but it looks like I decided to work on the subject of baggage instead ;-)

What do I need.  A question I'm asking myself about what to pack but it reminds me it is a question a lot of people are asking themselves about traveling right now.  For me there was never a question of not traveling, I travel as much for the people as I do for the places, a friend pointed out on my last post that I should never settle to one passport as she sees me as a citizen of the world.  I love it when you have people in your life who see you exactly as you are and just accept you.
Yes, travel is a bit odd at the moment. 

Airports are quiet, not just from less people and not everything being open but an odd sort of hush, as if we are tiptoeing to our next destination thinking about the impact of moving forward or standing still. A certain careful caution as we step out into the world again. 
Ok with those randomly deep thoughts, I need to go and finish packing my bag....I guess the story about how I almost missed both of my flights from Birmingham to Prague will have to wait for another day!