What I Forgot this Trip (It's a Doozy!)

Pacific Northwest August Travelog #5
Retrospective

Often as I wrap up trips I check on how much stuff I packed that I didn't use. Unnecessary stuff is wasted space and weight, and some magazine articles I've read estimate that the average traveler packs as many as 7 pieces of clothes they never wear each trip. But there's also a flip side to packing mistakes: forgetting something you actually do need!

I've often joked that "Every trip I forget one thing" when it comes to packing. Of course that's not a hard-and-fast rule. There are trips where I miss packing nothing. But if nothing else, "Every trip I forget one thing" is a fun rule of thumb. I even test myself as I'm leaving, "Okay, what did I forget this time?"

Again, the answer is often nothing. And sometimes I do forget to pack one thing but it's minor and turns out to be unnecessary anyway. For example, when I traveled for a trade show a few weeks ago I nominally forgot my swim trunks. I remembered that when I arrived at the hotel and rode the elevator up to the 17th floor; there was a poster in the elevator of their pool. I didn't have time to use the pool that trip, anyway, so it seems like a technicality. But I wish I'd gone through the conscious thought during packing: "Should I pack swim trunks? No, I'm not going to have time for the pool."

What I forgot this trip, though, was a doozy. I forgot to pack underwear! I realized it Friday morning in the hotel as I got dressed for the day. Not having time to go shopping that morning I put on the previous day's pair. I was just going to get sweaty with a full day of hiking anyway.

Friday night, before checking in at our next hotel, I stopped by WalMart to buy underwear. It wasn't out of our way as a) the store was literally right on our route, and b) we were buying a few groceries there anyway. But I sure felt chagrined for forgetting to pack something so basic.

And On The 15th Day, He Rested

I feel like a complete slug today. I have the day off from work. I had plans for today, starting with doing some housecleaning in the morning. That didn't happen. I got my computer from my neighbor, Mark, who intercepted UPS for me minutes after I left home Friday evening, but I haven't had the energy even to open the box. I did go out for lunch; yay? But now I'm back and still haven't opened that dang computer. Yes, I'm still writing this blog from my laptop that's going on 7 years old!

Why so sluggish? It's because I've been "on" for 14 days straight. After a busy workweek two weeks ago I worked through the weekend at a trade show. Last week was another busy one at work, too. I had Friday off from work but used it to take a three-day weekend trip with Hawk. That trip involved 3 long days of hiking and travel. We only got home last night after 11pm. After unpacking one bag (one has yet to be unpacked) and showering I got to bed past midnight.

What's on tap for the rest of the day? Well, I do get to continue taking it easy. I've earned it. Maybe I'll go for a soak in the hot tub later this afternoon. Hopefully by then I'll at least have opened my new computer. Or unpacked that last suitcase.

Update: I configured my new MacBook Air! I also half unpacked that other suitcase. No separate blog for that. 😅

New MacBook Air!

I opened my new MacBook Air today. It's the new M2 based model that first went on sale a month ago. It replaces the MacBook Air laptop I bought in Jan 2016— yes, over 6½ years ago now! I ordered the new Air on July 23. It arrived Thursday last week.



Why take so long to open the box? Well, it arrived as I was leaving town! Thursday evening I was literally in an Uber going to the airport when I saw the UPS truck turn onto my street. Fortunately my neighbor came through. I called and told him what was happening, and he met the driver at my door 2 minutes later to intercept the package. He brought me the box this morning.



I considered updating my computer a few times before now. The first was a little over two years ago, when Hawk replaced her laptop with an Air. The next was when the new M1 model came out in Nov 2020. Both times I decided to let my old computer soldier on. The reasons were a) it wasn't broken, though it was getting comparatively slower and tight on storage; b) I was hoping a future model would come with more ports, ideally including an SD card slot; and c) I'm inherently thrifty and hate to throw out or replace anything that still works. See also how long I wore a pair of sandals before replacing them.

Ultimately I gave up on getting an SD card slot. The new M2 Mac Book Air announced in June doesn't have one. It's available on the 14" MacBook Pro, but I don't want to pay a few hundred dollars more, and carry a heavier computer, for it. The convenience of the card slot isn't worth those tradeoffs.



Comparing the two MacBook Airs, new and old, shows the difference in the chassis design. For years the Air had a signature wedge shape design. That's the one that spawned memes about using it to slice bread years ago.

The new M2 air has a more classic rectilinear shape. Though the new shape looks bulkier at first, when it's placed next to a wedge shaped Air it's obvious the new design is actually a bit more svelte overall.



Differences in size are also apparent when the laptops are placed open, side by side. The new Air (right) is smaller across the two main axes, about 2cm less in width and 1cm less depth. Despite this the screen is actually larger by almost 1cm. The difference is the newer design's smaller bezel around the screen. And despite that it's a far, far better screen.