What did I pack for Malta?

As usual, after a trip I always like to review how my preparation and organization went. Mostly how I pack, and it is interesting to see that not everything goes as expected. And of course, this trip wasn’t an exception, despite the fact that it was for just a weekend, but I still had to pack for Malta.

Usually I overpack when I go for just a few days. For longer trips I tend to be more efficient and avoid being overloaded, but for shorter trips I always end up filling the bag because “I can still take that”…

Clothing

For a long weekend, this clearly shows that I overdid how I did pack for Malta. In total it was for 4 days of vacation. But still, it wasn’t as much unused things as I thought. Even though a short sleeves shirt and a pair of underwear was completely untouched.

The pants were worn just at night, since it was a bit chilly, and to return to Ireland, which is clearly colder than Malta.

Gadgets

Here was where I overpacked, and where some things didn’t go so well… To start, I had an issue with the iPhone that stopped working. I was lucky to be traveling with a friend, otherwise I would be totally screwed without addresses nor hotels’ contacts, flights and so one. Note to self, have a physical copy of all these data. And maybe you are wondering, how about accessing my email from the hostel computer or something alike? That would be great if I knew my passwords by heart and if I wasn’t depending on a digital keychain… It is a clear sign that being dependable on technology isn’t such a great idea…

Besides that, there was something that went wrong with what I did pack for Malta. Not taking essential things, like the screw to hold the GoPro to the selfie-stick. Basically I had to carry with me a useless stick during that whole time…

But there is more! Whenever I travel alone I love to dedicate time for photography, which is something that really relaxes me and forces me to look at things from a different point of view. But whenever I travel with other people I end up not doing any of this. Not that they are forcing me to do stuff I don’t enjoy, but simply because I feel bad for “wasting time” alone when I could be with whoever is with me. And yes, this is a stupid way of thinking, but sadly that’s how I always behave…

This said, looking at the list above it isn’t surprising to know that I didn’t even touch on the tripod. Even though it is quite compact, it still takes a lot space inside the bag, and whenever I travel using a more restrictive airline (I mean, crappy), the luggage space becomes even more important.

Miscellaneous

In this section everything went as planned, and thanks to the iPhone stop working, I ended up using the book a lot. I really need to read more often…

I referred a few times here in the blog how much I love my packing cubes. I still don’t feel the need to buy new ones, but I think I will start research about what’s new in the market, and if there is something even better. But for me, regardless of the length of the trip, the packing cubes make all the difference. Mostly for someone as messy as I… It becomes easier to find whatever we need, and easier to pack the bag when we are constantly jumping from one place to the next, like from island to island in Malta.

The remaining things are basically basic needs for a trip where we expect a lot of sun!

Basically, I didn’t exaggerate that much. The tripod was indeed an exaggeration, considering I have one even smaller and practical for traveling. But besides that, I was quite efficient how I did pack for Malta.