Things I Have Lost Along the Way

Every week it is the same thing.  We have to pack up our stuff into two suitcases (one large, one small) and each week it proves challenging.  I feel like its natural to accumulate things over time, but we try our best not to on tour.  There is just no room for a bunch of shtuff.

Luckily, I have lost a number of things along the way.  Some intentionally, some accidentally.

I can easily remember the first item I lost because it continues to perplex me-  Pajama pants.  And I lost them mid-week.  Tuesday they were in the hotel, Wednesday they were no longer.  They were dark blue with small white polk-a-dots.  Capri length.  Please let me know if you see them anywhere.

Other things I have accidentally left behind:  slippers, cord for an Ipod, a sweater, dishwashing soap, a loofa. 

Then there are the things I left behind intentionally.  Two Tupperware containers(Paris,) a broken purse (also Paris) an old make-up bag (Nantes,) a pair of skating tights (Nantes again,) and an exfoliating sponge (Toulouse.)

And there are the things--more specifically the thing-- I have left behind (twice!) on accident and have been recovered by someone else.  My Ipod.  Once I left it on the tour bus and once in the hotel room.  Thank you Allister and thank you “eye-candy” roommate Michael for its recovery.

To all these things that have ended their European travels abruptly, I want to say sorry and I hope you enjoy your new home.  It just wasn’t meant to be that you continued tour any longer.

Then there are some things that I expect will literally disintegrate into nothingness before I make it back to the states.  My jeans, for example.  When I bought them, they had no holes.  That was not their style.  Yet through daily wearing and bi-weekly washing I have noticed the fabric thinning and my skin peeking through.  And that is just to mention my left pant leg.  My right leg has a massive hole from an incident while trying on shoes.  While in Paris, I saw some cool-looking shoes, tried them on, and when I went to pull up my right pant leg to get a better view, my finger nails went right through my pants. Just right through them!  And I don’t have particularly long nails.  I left the store with zero pairs of cool shoes and one new hole in my jeans.

But this tour is an excellent opportunity to feng-shui my life.  And yes, I like to just toss around terms that I don’t know much about.  I “feng-shuied” my life once prior to this point in time, before I moved to Philadelphia.  I broke up with my then boyfriend, got rid of my apartment, and got my life down to two duffle bags.  In retrospect, I may have been thinking too much big picture.  This time around, I can start small.  How many forks, spoons, or knifes do I really need?  Turns out, just one of each, and I can get them all in one combo camping knife.  

My mom sent me an article about a couple who got their life down to 100 things.  100 items.  I guess this “100 Items Challenge” became pretty popular a few years back.  It is embedded in the idea that material things do not lead to happiness.  This article (from the New York Times, check it out!) talked about how research shows that life experiences lead to happiness more in the long-run.

So, me being me, constantly fascinated by what leads to happiness, I am thinking I am on the right track.  One combo camping knife, a pair of jeans that will disintegrate before the end of tour, and a ton of stories.

And now off to enjoy Marseille, France!