{"id":2652,"date":"2011-06-23T06:00:55","date_gmt":"2011-06-23T11:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theprofessionalhobo.com\/?p=2652"},"modified":"2024-06-19T07:38:56","modified_gmt":"2024-06-19T11:38:56","slug":"preparing-for-the-no-baggage-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theprofessionalhobo.com\/preparing-for-the-no-baggage-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"Preparing for the No Baggage Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Preparing for the No Baggage Challenge…(originally published in 2011. Recently adapted and edited)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost a year ago, I was traveling from Nepal to Australia. The airport in Katmandu had a series of security checkpoints, but this time my routine of chucking everything on to the x-ray conveyor belt at one end and absentmindedly collecting it at the other end was stymied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is something in your purse. I need to look at it,\u201d said the security official.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I blinked and handed over my purse<\/a> for inspection. It has been through x-rays with no complications many times before; nonetheless this extra step didn\u2019t phase me. I had lots of time, and there were no crowds to contend with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slowly and methodically, the security official laid the contents of my purse out in front of us. This wasn\u2019t nearly as simple a task as you might imagine, since my purse has several pockets and compartments. We were both increasingly amazed at the variety \u2013 and quantity \u2013 of things I keep in my purse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He held a pack of cigarettes (I casually smoked at the time) and an asthma inhaler in each hand and looked at me critically. I blushed and said the inhaler was for allergies (which is true).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He took out a piece of cord and asked me what it\u2019s for. \u201cIt\u2019s string, for hanging up laundry, fixing shoelaces, many things,\u201d I replied to his increasingly stunned expression. I mentally observed that I\u2019d not once used this item in four years on the road<\/a> and maybe it didn\u2019t need to be in my purse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He continued to dig through pockets and empty their contents onto the table in front of us. Lipstick, hand sanitizer, passport copies, receipts, notebooks, cell phone, camera, headlamp, shopping bag, sunglasses, you name it \u2013 it was there. Every time he thought he had found the item that was causing the scanner problems, he put the purse through the x-ray again only to discover he\u2019d missed yet more pockets, with yet more things in them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou have too much in your purse,\u201d he said, shaking his head every time he found a new pocket with something in it. I couldn\u2019t help but laugh. And agree. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"I'm<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Next up: a padlock. (Actually, it\u2019s one of three in my possession). His expression lit up, and he sighed with relief when he determined the padlock had been our x-ray machine culprit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After this somewhat embarrassing display of the contents of my purse, I sheepishly stuffed everything back into their pockets before moving on, promising myself that I\u2019d go through my purse and see what I could eliminate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But over time, complacency set in, and I never did. It all continued to fit into my purse quite easily, and I figured as soon as I took something out I\u2019d probably need it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m in a tricky position since as a full-time traveler I travel with everything I own<\/a>, which means everything is fairly tightly allocated and packed. Moving things around involves tetris-like dexterity, and if I get rid of something, it\u2019s gone (I don\u2019t have a drawer to store it in for later use). So it\u2019s usually easier to just keep everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But my day of reckoning has now arrived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am doing a No Baggage Challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n

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