MY SIX ESSENTIAL TRAVELING COMPANIONS

What are my six essential traveling companions (none of them human), especially when sitting in places like the San Salvador Mon Senor Oscar Arnulfo Romero International Airport for seven long hours?

1. Indiana Jones style hat and an Arabian style scarf, because you never know when creepy things might fall on your head or down your neck, not necessarily in the airport, but once you reach the jungle or the desert, or wherever, it’s a given.
2. Leather backpack, for my computer, etc. Mine is a Frye, since 1863, and I can tell you, it will last long past me. I like to think that one of my children will inherit it, the one who takes up traveling, like me.
3. A cozy mystery. If I hadn’t already read every single Agatha Christie book, more than once, it would be one of hers. Traveling to Central America, I had a Donna Leon mystery. I am enamored with Barbara Nadel and waiting expectantly for the next one in her Inspector Ikmen series. Before I went to Istanbul in the summer of 2014, I read every single one in the series that had so far been published.
4. Sturdy shoulder bag. I mean, look, you have to have a sturdy shoulder bag that fits with the hat and the backpack. Mine is a Tumi and just like the backpack and the hat, it will last forever. When traveling, buy the essentials only once, let them get battered and gain their own personalities, they will be your friends through many lonely hours in out-of-the-way places.
5. Electronics. This goes without saying. Computer, phone, tablet. I make sure to have downloaded music and movies because where I am going, Internet might be an on and off thing. Put on my earphones, close my eyes, and float away.
6. A sentimental diversion, something that immediately takes you back to the people you love. In my case, it happens to be this little Godzilla that reminds me of my kids and my grandkids. I’ve decided to start taking photos of him in the places I go, like that travel gnome? Yeah, well, my Godzilla rocks that gnome.

And that’s my six essentials. The simple life, one small suitcase, and my essential traveling companions and I am ready for anything!