Mexico, being a distinctly foreign location, had a lot more to teach me than Hawaii, which I’ve been to 3 times in the last 1.5 years. >.> But there’s still a handful of things I want to think about for the future.

Clothing. Damnit, I’m tired of carrying around needless clothing. For a week long trip to a hot location, I only need the following items:

• More underwear than you can imagine. Just bring it all. It’s small, lightweight and if you want new underwear, you can do that.
• 2 pairs of “adventure shorts”. I can’t find the exact model anymore, but something like this. Zip pockets keep valuables safe. Comfortable. Lightweight. Folds easily. Dries quickly should it get west. Sweat band around the waist. I only currently own one pair, and the reason I want two is so that I don’t end up wearing the same pair all week. I brought two other pairs of shorts that were not at all appealing to be worn in the heat, near water this week.
• 2 pairs of wicking t-shirts.  “Dry wear” type of poly-pro. Make them look good and dry quickly.
• 2 pairs of tank tops. I really like these.
• 1 shirt that could be worn to a nicer place.
• Don’t bring any socks…
• My toe shoes count as hiking, water and running shoes…just make sure to rinse after they go in the salt water. Yuck.

We ended up paying to upgrade to First Class for our flight back. This was worthwhile, but only because we had a backup plan. If we’d been anxious and ensured we had it, it would have cost an extra $300 each. Instead, we waited until 24 hours before the flight and booked it for only $150 each. Our seats in the back of the plane were ok, but FC gave us more recline, more leg room and more arm space which was awesome for actually being able to sleep on the blasted plane.

Miranda carried a pillow around Hawaii. This was a good idea, I wish’d I had an actual pillow. >.<