Dear LPG readers,

Perhaps this is for all those get-up-and-go people of any age, especially if “Lockdown” has forced you to quit the habit. 

My cousin and I are both in our seventies. We live quite close and have been retired for a few years. However, while we are both aware that each of us has a knee that is beginning to restrict how far we can walk on the go, they are still going, so we have decided to use their power fully.  

We used to spend at least a couple of weekends away each year before the pandemic struck, but we realised at the beginning of this year that since all that, it has become a habit we have got out of.  So, we consciously decided to get away from it all more often and break the stay-at-home lifestyles that we both seem to have adopted, even during the summer days.      

We are both ladies of a certain age, and our time is now ours. So, now and then, we organise a fact-finding tour of one part of the country or another, get on a bus or a coach, and go exploring.

It has been a while now, though, and remembering the essentials we used to take with us is a skill that we need to brush up on.  It is incredible how a few years gap in the habit of a retired lifestyle can dull your preparation regime for such a venture.  

It has been a while, so I thought I would look at what the internet had to say about ‘away weekend’ essentials, and there was a much longer list than I remember.   As you can imagine, the people who have compiled all these lists are usually much younger than we retirees. Some of them have been compiled by people planning to spend a lot longer than a weekend away, but you are as young as you feel, and luckily, I am not averse to still getting into a pair of leggings from time to time. I mention that because they are easy to pack and take up relatively little space.  

It all got me thinking about why it is accepted that we ladies are sure to need more luggage than men at any given time. When you measure it all out, women need more toiletries, although our dresses and leggings seem more foldable than men’s clothes.   

I found some exciting advice while researching the best packing preparation hints. As we get older, I have noticed that the things I used to carry around when away from home seem to weigh me down more than they used to, even though the scales tell me they are no heavier. So, with that in mind, I felt I should share some of the e-advice I found…

GA, Bromley 

GA shares what she found…

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