This blog was originally going to be about packing for a forth coming trip. We’re off to Italy in a few days and I pride myself in being able to travel light. I like travelling light, it makes me feel more independent. When we went to Iceland, it was easy. I knew it would be cold so I packed my cold weather gear and base layer T shirts took the sweat, meaning I only had to have one or two fleeces. There was room to hide a small mammal in my bag. But the weather forecast for Italy is unclear. Hot, cold, wet or dry? We are also going for longer and the upshot of all this is a clothing dilemma the likes of which I have not encountered before.
Add to that the nightmare that is packing to avoid creases (not an issue with bulky fleeces and thick jackets) and you see I have a problem. How many shirts for the time I’m away? I prefer shirts to sweatshirts for hot climates). How many pairs of trousers? How many pairs of socks? I finally packed this evening with what I think I need and had to run out of the room as the case was threatening to explode. As I type, I wait for the bang.
Anyway, packing dilemmas aside, I found that when I logged on to type the blog, I had five new comments. I like reading comments; it means I’ve done something that someone else likes and that’s always nice to know. And I like to read people’s opinions. But these 5 comments were from people with unusual names made up of lots of random characters and grammatical symbols. Whatever happened to traditional names like John and Jane? And they were, quite frankly, nonsense.
Such is spam.
I don’t get the point. Why does someone want me to publish “I have coming across your site and it is being excellent. I particularly liking the last section, which is powerful. I think you could increasing your traffic through with just a tweaking of using this site is for greater sales.” Or something like that. WordPress does a good job of filtering then out (thank you WordPress) and I like to think I have the capability to recognise the spam from the genuine. So, no! I’m not interested in linking to your dubious site just to get extra hits. I may not have tens of thousands of visits, but the ones I get I value a lot.
Thank you for visiting my site, genuine people.
Nor will I cash your Bank Of Nigeria cheque, buy goods for you and take over-payment in return, confirm my log in details to my Santander account (because I don’t have a Santander account). I won’t be giving you my address so you can deliver a special package which will cost me $1.50 a day if I don’t arrange for its delivery. You can’t fix my PC with remote access because there is nothing wrong with my PC and if you ring me up to cold call me, you are breaking UK law because I am registered with the Telephone Preference Service.
Gosh – that might have been a mini rant. I apologise.
No photos. Therefore, anything below this is unpaid for advertising.
franticsmurf 
This is not SPAM. You mat want to check out onebag.com for a nice discussion of One bag travel and bundle packing (works for me)
Consider taking a silk long underwear shirt, one fleece, a pair of tights or leggings, and a rain jacket. Combining these items will give you protection for a wide temperature range while still being minimal for packing.
If you wash on the road you can take a lot les items.
Thanks for that. I’m afraid my legs and tights/leggings are a combination that have been declared illegal in several European countries. Layers always work for me.
Yes! It wasn’t until afterwards that I realized your gender. Sorry. A good pair of silk long John bottoms go a ways though. They are small enough to pack and give you extra warmth under summer weight pants-just in case
No problem. I guessed there was some gender confusion.
I used base layer longs under lightweight trousers for trekking and on the hills and mountains in the UK. Thoroughly recommended.
I thought you were having a go at my name when I started to read your blog! You could of course hire me as your professional packer as I am very experienced in such things. Tip number one – never forget the wellies. 🙂 Have a great holiday. – Patricia (a good old fashioned name)
No one can forget your wellies! 🙂