Travel Light

If we carry less, do we maybe live a little more?

2025 Summer Essentials

May was a wild ride– I spent half the month in California, and half the month at home. Between running my design studio and co-parenting baby adults, the idea of bopping back and forth from Brooklyn to Atlanta all summer, had me overcome by a deep desire to take everything down to the stubs, to root out the excess. Cue the closet purging, deep storage dumping, medicine cabinet sweeping tidal wave of me, desperate for less, thirsty for order.

I’ve always been a carry-on-only kind of gal, but my goal this summer is to travel back and forth to Atlanta without a suitcase. No bags at all. I’ve only ever seen men travel in this way– well-suited, casually stepping onto the plane with a single book in hand.

Joan Didion’s packing list, taped to the inside of her closet door in Malibu, is perhaps more realistic inspo for me:

To Pack and Wear:
2 skirts
2 jerseys or leotards
1 pullover sweater
2 pair shoes
stockings
bra
nightgown
robe
slippers
cigarettes
bourbon

Bag with:
shampoo
toothbrush and paste
Basis soap
razor
deodorant
aspirin
prescriptions
Tampax
face cream
powder
baby oil

To Carry:
mohair throw
typewriter
2 legal pads
pens
files
house key

This is a list which was taped inside my closet door in Hollywood during those years when I was reporting more or less steadily. The list enabled me to pack, without thinking, for any piece I was likely to do. Notice the deliberate anonymity of costume: in a skirt, a leotard and stockings, I could pass on either side of the culture. Notice the mohair throw for trunk-line flights (i.e. no blankets) and for the motel room in which the air conditioning could not be turned off. Notice the bourbon for the same motel room. Notice the typewriter for the airport, coming home: the idea was to turn in the Hertz car, check in, find an empty bench, and start typing the day’s notes. It should be clear that this was a list made by someone who prized control, yearned after momentum, someone determined to play her role as if she had the script, heard her cues, knew the narrative. There is on this list one significant omission, one article I needed and never had: a watch. I needed a watch not during the day, when I could turn on the car radio or ask someone, but at night, in the motel. Quite often I would ask the desk for the time every half hour or so, until finally, embarrassed to ask again, I would call Los Angeles and ask my husband. In other words I had skirts, jerseys, leotards, pullover sweater, shoes, stockings, bra, nightgown, robe, slippers, cigarettes, bourbon, shampoo, toothbrush and paste, Basis soap, razor, deodorant, aspirin, prescriptions, Tampax, face cream, powder, baby oil, mohair throw, typewriter, legal pads, pens, files and a house key, but I didn’t know what time it was. This may be a parable, either of my life as a reporter during this period or of the period itself.

Her omission of a watch makes me long for a time when you didn’t know what time it was without one. When you could trick yourself into thinking it was a time other than what it was by setting the clocks forward by 10 minutes. This, and Erika Veurink’s post about watches on Cup of Jo, has me feeling like a watch could really fix me right now.

Timepiece aside, my essentials tend to be governed by comfort, convenience, and creativity. Here’s what’s on my person:

1. My favorite sweater – perfect as its own layer or tied around my shoulders, this Alex Mill cutie took me from coast to coast.

2. New-to-me Celine bag from the Pheobe Philo years– it’s as close to a Klein blue as leather can get, and it holds all of my essentials.

3. Watercolor travel set– I love these magnetic sets from Case For Making. This is the sweetest shop on Judah in San Francisco. They make all their paints by hand and have the smartest, prettiest curated collection of water color accouterments. Making color at Case for Making is my retirement plan.

4. The best journal– thin paper, small size, folds all the way out. It’s the only journal I’ve ever finished, cover to cover, and it’s because I can carry it anywhere and the finish of the pages delivers on that singular satisfaction of longhand writing. I’ve written more in the past year than I have in the last 12+ years, and I believe that’s because I’ve always got a notebook on me. Get the plastic cover for it.

5. The best pen– Uniball one. Refillable, ink that glides, and the shape makes it easy for my Rheumatoid Arthritis hands to hold.

6. I hate to admit it, but I travel with a Kindle. It fits perfectly in my little blue purse, but I won’t link it here because f*ck Bezos. My DMs are open if you’ve got alts you love! I do keep books at my apartment that I carry with me when I need to touch grass.

7. This genius, aesthetic charger. I’m enjoying that rare moment in time when all of my devices drink from the same charger, and I love this tidy friend.

8. My iPad Pro– an attempt to break the bond with my emotional support laptop. Being a small biz owner for the past 12 years has meant hauling my laptop everywhere “just in case.” Yikes! This summer, I’m weaning myself off this toxic Girl Boss habit by toting my iPad instead– smaller, lighter, and makes it impossible to “design it myself in a pinch.” Most designers prefer sketches and mark ups anyhow, and it’s got me drawing more. So many of my clients have opted for the iPad after seeing my set up. Go for the paper finish version with pro pencil and their magic keyboard.

Making this list reminded me of the little summer backpacks I used to put together for our girls. We’d spend the first week of summer decorating journals, and then they could bring along anything they wanted wherever we went, as long as it fit in their backpack.

Second grade Summer essentials. This snapshot of the contents of Ruthie’s bag feels not so far off from what I’m carrying around these days, which really warms my heart.

I’d love to hear what you’re carrying around this summer. ❤️