[iDiva] When Your Suitcase Packs Up

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Holidays are times when people go to exciting faraway places to forget things, and when they open their suitcases, they find that they have?

Many times, my holiday has begun with rushing around looking for a shop that opens early to buy a new toothbrush and paste. Hotels don't help much either, because they give you a teeny collapsible kit the size of a match-box, and that's when you realise why they call it toothbrush and not 'teethbrush', as the amount of paste and size of brush is designed to clean just one tooth.

And while travel broadens the mind (and unfortunately for many, the midriff too), one thing that seems to shrink in size in the course of travel is the suitcase. The 3ft x 4ft compact valise that so neatly held a stack of dhobi-pressed clothes suddenly behaves very oddly at the destination. It simply spews out clothes like a tiny angry volcano, and at the end of the vacation, there will be at least 9 pieces of clothing still lying around, unable to get back in."So why don't you just discard your clothes?" advised a much-traveled person to me once.While that's great advise if you're on your honeymoon, discarding clothes can be traumatic if you've packed your best togs just for the trip. That's why I recently packed my expensive white Giordano T shirt, which had a blotch of pink on it due to an earlier washing machine mishap?now I could wear it, throw it, forget it.I blame the movies for making a complicated ritual like packing look easy. Indignant spouses and lovers are always shown flinging things into a suitcase, slamming the lid shut, and walking out in minutes, ready to begin a whole new life. How come no one shows them desperately trying to fit an umbrella in case it rains?That's why a lot of people are simplifying their vacation plans by traveling only as far as their drawing room TV, and switching on Discovery Channel. This way, they can go to Langkavi or Kilimanjaro or Masai Mara, and if, while watching a crocodile swallow a buffalo, they panic that they forgot to pack their digestive tablets?they can relax, because it is all within reach in their room cupboard.But this column is not for the timid, and adventure-challenged. Welcome to thrilling travel tales ahead! And don't forget your toothbrush.

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