Travel Tip 29: Pack an Umbrella
When It Rains, It Pours
Keeping your clothes dry is important at home where you have access to a washer and dryer and a closet full of clean, dry clothes. It is even more important when you are traveling and living out of a small carry-on sized bag for a few weeks. Getting caught in the rain is cute and fun, just like in Midnight in Paris. The part they don’t show is walking around in cold, wet clothes for the rest of the day, dripping onto the floors of shops and museums. The solution? Bring an umbrella. Unless you plan on being out in the rain, separate rain gear is usually too bulky to carry. An umbrella is ideal. Head to Japan or England, and everyone is carrying around an umbrella. The weekly forecast for these places show rain everyday. Often, it is just a little bit, but it is plenty to make you and your clothes damp. The umbrella carried by the locals in these places are long, sleek and make a fashion statement. You are a traveler and space is a premium. Your trip is not a fashion show (unless it is), so grab a small, collapsible umbrella, toss it in your bag and hope you don’t need it.
When you leave your hotel for the day, remember to bring your umbrella with you! Like an inhaler left at school, it does you no good if it is not with you. You are walking from Harrod’s with a bag full of must haves and the sky does not look as cloudy as it did when you went in. Good thing you have your umbrella because you started walking and now you are 10 minutes from the nearest Tube station.
Know Before You Go
A compact umbrella is small and cheap and gets the job done.
Bottom Line
Here’s hoping you don’t need it, but if you do, you will be glad you packed it.