‘Carry-on luggage,’ said the trip organiser by email. ‘If we all take only carry-on luggage we won’t have to do any hanging about at the airport.’ I spent the evening before I left packing, unpacking, sifting, making new decisions and repacking my smallest suitcase until I was more or less satisfied I had made the neatest use of the limited space available. In the process of reorganisation, I swapped a pair of thick cotton pyjamas for a thinner pair and my electric toothbrush for a folding one. The long linen trousers stayed, but out went socks and underwear.
Books I considered carefully. Many a time I’ve gone away laden with a small library, then read nothing all week except laminated menu cards and the contraindications advice for medicines. One good thick book, I decided, was my allowance, and I put in Sir James Frazer’s The Golden Bough. Then I came to my senses and changed this for the less substantial Customs and Language of the Nandi by A.C.
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