In which I was eating fire

I always have strange dreams before I travel, and last night I was eating fire--in a sideshow sort of way, not just for fun, you understand. There are few things I am less inclined to try, so I'm not sure why that showed up in my subconscious, but there you go.

The packing for RWA is all but done--I pack everything besides clothes early and put the garments themselves in at the last minute to crease them as little as possible. Following the RWA tweets on Twitter, it's apparent the topic that generates the most debate is shoes--how many, how to pack, etc. (I think the most I've heard is nine, which I find staggering.)

Anyway, no one believes that I travel to RWA with just a carry-on, so to prove it, here is a breakdown of how I pack. I bring one carry-on bag, 9x20x14 1/2 inches, and one oversize slouchy purse as my personal item.

The purse contains: iphone, wallet, sunglasses, folder of travel documents, chargers, netbook, two paperback books, snack, cosmetic bag, pens, TSA-approved bag o'liquids, and blank notebook.

The carry-on holds:

1 curling iron

1 toiletry bag

1 stack promotional postcards for Dark Road to Darjeeling

1 stack bookmarks for The Dead Travel Fast

1 stack business cards

1 paperback book

4 pairs of shoes: leopard stilettos, multi-color floral peep-toe heels, black faille wedges, white Jack Rogers sandals

1 thin woven wrap in leopard print

1 white bikini

1 green silk caftan for wearing in my room

1 nightgown

underwear

1 patterned mini-caftan for a bathing suit cover-up

5 clutch purses: gold leather, silver leather, black sequin, multi-color floral wristlet, raffia with white trim

6 dresses: brown linen, black lace cocktail, peacock taffeta cocktail, yellow sheath, apple green linen sheath, flame orange silk

1 black taffeta evening gown

Yep, it all fits. I chose solid dresses and patterned shoes this time, making sure that each shoe worked with more than one dress. The multi-color floral heels go with the yellow, green, and peacock blue dresses. The leopard ones go with the orange silk and the brown linen. The black faille wedge sandals were a great find. They are evening shoes, but with the wedge heel, they are as comfortable as evening shoes are going to get. They work perfectly with the short black lace cocktail dress and the long taffeta evening gown. I am bringing a lot of costume jewelry, but it all fits into one clutch, and the smaller clutches fit into the larger ones, so it was really like packing three clutches instead of five. The taffeta evening gown actually crushes down like a space bag and puffs back out as soon as it's freed. The shoes are tucked into shoe bags and placed on the bottom of the case--the bottom when it's standing on end, you understand. Dresses are rolled around tissue paper and placed tightly together like enchiladas. (It's a strange metaphor, but it works.) The evening gown is folded down on top inside a thin plastic garment bag from the store to protect it from the zipper.

Probably the best tool to help me pack light is my iphone. With it, the days of packing phone, camera, ipod, and white noise machine are gone. It also has the kindle app, so in an emergency, it can provide me with something to read. (I know three books is about two books too many, but it's the absolute fewest I can go comfortably with. Think of them as my wubbies. With words.) I am taking the netbook in the hopes that I can keep blogging and get some work done while I'm there as well as Skype with my family. For many of these trips I've tucked in some knitting, but I won't this time unless I have a chance to cast on before Wednesday.

My husband is flying down on Saturday so he can attend the RITAs and we can spend a few days together after the conference is over. He's bringing me one shirt and two pairs of shorts, although if I needed to I could have fit them into my own case. (I am beyond excited that he's able to come this year! We're checking out of the conference hotel and into our favorite Disney resort and plan to spend the rest of the weekend eating our way around Epcot.)

Now, I'm not saying it's light because it isn't. But it holds everything in a single case that I don't have to check--nor do I have to wrestle to get it into the overhead. In a large plane, this carry-on will fit easily. In a small aircraft, let's say with two seats on each side of the aisle, it will be very simple to gate-check.

And since we're talking about RWA, I just wanted to mention that last year I got several emails afterward from folks who wanted to say hi but didn't. If you see me and you want to say hello, please do! And if you'd like a book signed and can't make it to the literacy autographing or the Friday morning Harlequin signing, just ask. I always have my sassy purple pens.

For everybody not going to RWA, I plan to keep blogging through the week, but if I don't, you'll know my Luddite tendencies have come to the fore and I couldn't find wifi. Or make it work. Or remember my netbook password...