It's a Knick-Knack, Patty Wack, Give the Frog a Loan! (Packing non-essential items just for the joy)
- Kimberly OLeary
- 11 minutes ago
- 7 min read
There's been a lot written about what to pack when embarking on full-time, slow travel. There are those folks who manage to get their entire lives into one backpack. There are folks at the other end who have more than one checked bag. No judging from me - you do you. If you can live with a 3 day supply of clothes and no frills, more power to you. If you need your hair dryer, curling iron, and four pairs of shoes, plus 3 computer screens, that's ok too. We tend more toward the middle. We take one, medium-size (26") rolling luggage apiece, and one backpack apiece. Plus, I carry a ukelele. A couple of months ago, I wrote about how I choose what clothes to pack. In this post, I'm going to talk about absolutely non-essential items I pack, just because having them makes me feel like I'm home everywhere we land.
I come from a long heritage of knick-knack collectors. My grandmother collected all kinds of little items during her 87 years on Earth. I remember as a child, delighting in having her tell me where each one came from. My mother, likewise, collected little things. She loved little tea sets and Swarovski crystal items, especially. Over the years, I both inherited small things (and larger things, like dolls, vases, and framed pictures) and collected them. We bought a beautiful Kauri wood tiki which sat in our entry way for several years, giving good luck to our household.
When we were deciding what to take on our new life of full-time journeying, I had a hard time giving all of these things up. But, I realized I only had so much room. So I settled on a few things, but all lightweight and small. In New Zealand, people called their treasured items, "taonga." These are my taonga that I carry with me.
I obviously couldn't carry around any of the dozens of dolls I'd collected and inherited over the years. Some of them, I gave away. Some are packed. But I was able to bring little Japanese dolls made of fabric and stuffed with soft pellets. In 2019, my husband and children went to Japan and they brought me back the two elders in the picture. Super small, super lightweight. At the time, I was a professor and worked on elder law issues. So the elderly pair had significance to me. In 2023, Paul & I went to Japan and found ourselves in literally the same location he and the children bought the little dolls. I bought the third one, dressed in yellow. The little fan also came from Japan, and was a gift to me from our daughter on her wedding day in 2024. So this little group travels with me and sits near the space I set up for my office.
I had always had photo books and framed photos of family & friends in my office or near my bedside. I collected photos of family & friends who are important to me, and put them in a 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 inch photo album. The photo album is made of clear plastic, also very small and lightweight.
Our daughter got married in May, 2024 - almost one year ago. I wanted a photo album of the wedding. I had a 6 1/4 by 6 inch album made of my favorite photos from the day. The pages are thin and light.
A friend who lives in an assisted living facility, does needlepoint. She gave me the "Joy" rectangle. I think that is a great message! It is 3 1/2 by 2 inches, and extremely lightweight.
Last August, Paul & I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary with our kids and their spouses in Montana, near Glacier National Park. Our daughter made us a beautiful cross-stitch commemorating our wedding and our current lifestyle. It is made to be rolled up, and it packs very small. It is 12 inches by 13 inches hanging, but only 13" by 1" rolled up.
On that same trip, I bought a buffalo stone. These stones are the fossilized remains of ammonite, ancient shelled creatures. They are sacred to Blackfoot in Southern Alberta, Canada and Montana near Glacier National Park. I treat it with respect. I wrote about our wedding anniversary here. The stone is 1 1/2 inch by 7/8 inch.
When we first started full-time travel in January, 2022, we took two magnetic photos of us with our children and their spouses. Each place we visited, we bought a magnet from that place. The top photo is May, 2024, showing every magnet we had collected. I also brought along three magnetic finger-puppets (who had helped me get through Zoom meetings during Pandemic lock-down - don't ask!) of Frieda Kahlo, Frederick Douglass, and Ruth Bader Ginsberg. While the magnets were all small, collectively they started to add up to more weight than I wanted. In October, we packed away the magnets and brought new family photos (from our daughter's wedding and our 40th anniversary), we added a fourth finger puppet (of The Scream from an art museum in Toronto) and a couple of new magnets. We also added a magnetic bag clip because we wished we had one the first year out. Much less overall weight and space, allowing me to add some of the items I've discussed above.
Another friend made us a "Southern Cross Santa" as a going away gift when we left in 2022. She knew we'd be visiting the Southern Hemisphere, eventually. It has become my go-to Christmas decoration. In 2024, I paired it with the "Joy" needlepoint and some local chili peppers.
In Canada, I bought a tiny moose. Just because. I think it was good luck because when we took our trip in the Western USA later that year, I saw 3 different moose! The 5 1/2 inch pen is for scale. Another friend gave me a tiny ceramic bar that says, "Coffee" on it. She said, when you drink your coffee, look at it and think of the next time we'll have coffee together.
In addition to my knick-knacks, Paul and I have collected some items that are useful (so not entirely knick-knacks) but not really necessary. They make our lives better. Paul likes kitchen things. He hates dull kitchen knives, so he packs a knife sharpener. Although most Airbnbs have corkscrews, they are often not very good ones, so we bring our own. We have cloth coasters - some Paul's parents brought from Japan in 1958, some we bought in Malaysia. I picked up a small cheese grater. We like to make omelets, and most Asian places don't have cheese graters. We are picky about coffee - and pack a small French Press & a camping lightweight coffee grinder. Finally, we have a set of very small dishes from Japan. Paul's comfort food is white rice, Japanese pickles, and maybe a small piece of fish, plus some sake. We each selected sake cups (cups are shown in two photos - the larger images are up close of the inside of my cups); Paul's sake cup is the silvery/black one. It is about 3 inches tall and 2 1/2 inches in diameter, for scale. We have some bamboo spreaders and measuring spoons and a tiny whisk from our daughter's wedding shower. We are able to pack all of the kitchen items in one padded 7 x 12 x 3 inch case.
I also carry a nice little sewing kit since I do so much sewing on the road.
Finally, our daughter gave us a portable clothes-line for the many places we live that don't have a clothes dryer. It has hooks on each end, and adjustable clips along the line. We always rent a place with a washing machine, but in many places, line-drying is the way people get their clothing dry. This little line has been really handy.
So that's our list of non-essential items we take along. This doesn't count our computer equipment, camera, walking sticks - things that we consider more essential items. This is how we make every place we stay our home.
So do you know the one about the frog who wanted to take out a loan? He wanted to renovate his lily pad. He went to his local credit union, and asked to meet with the loan officer, Ms. Patty Wack. She asked what collateral he had and he said he had a prized statue of a fly that he had inherited from his mother when he was a tadpole. She said, I'm sorry, but I don't think that will count as collateral, but I'll ask my boss. Ms. Wack went to her boss and said, this frog only has a statue of a fly he inherited from his mother when he was a tadpole. That won't serve as collateral, will it? Her boss replied, "It's a knick-knack, Patty Wack, give the frog a loan!"
The song, "This Old Man", originates from Wales. But, at some point, became known as a "Liverpool" song, which is apt because my maternal relatives were from Liverpool. It is a children's counting song. Apparently it is so old nobody is sure what some of the words mean any more. The first recording of it was made by Pete Seeter in 1953. The clarity of his voice is amazing to hear and I encourage you to listen. He uses the original lyrics.
Just for fun, I sing it for you. People often include lyrics more in tune with their own lives, so I have adapted the lyrics to our life on the road, especially in Asia (with a nod to my Aussie mates thrown in there).
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