Toting a Seriously "Light" Vacation

Normally when I travel, it is to New York to help out my mom. My suitcase is always half full of papers...legal stuff I am still working on on her behalf and it is heavy as lead. And once I toss in my boots and personal care products, it usually tips the scale at close to the weight limit. My "take-on" bag is stuffed with my laptop...also heavy...and more papers and yep, some aspirin. Oh yeah. Exhausted before take-off!

This past trip, I should have taken a pix...my bag weighed in at 26.50 pounds...seriously. I felt light and frisky as a filly. This weigh-in was a new "Penelope" record (I sense one of my readers is reading this in disbelief!) and my carry-on with no laptop was positively feather-light, too. Hard to believe...didn't even look like I was a serious "vacation" contender. I had "air space" in all my bags...even on the return flight. Amazing. I am going to share my secret here in a sec.

While I did use my son's laptop to check emails and such, I am way behind on what I want to share blog-wise and this is Wednesday after all...personal product day and so I am making an effort to get back on track.

And so, first, I can't think of anything more personal than showing you some of the bathrooms...gorgeous. I am in awe of Mexican folk art.

"Folk art" is perhaps my favorite artistic expression ever and the art in Mexico is especially joyful. I love all the colors. Take a peek back at yesterday's post...the picture of Reshma and those fabulous paper flowers. Maybe you can zoom in and see the detail. Just wonderful! Here are some other beauties I found just in bathrooms...

Counters and showers

Fabulous sinks

Beautiful walls

Bath "mats" drying in the sun

Now, on to what made my suitcases so much lighter...in addition to the papers, I eliminated about 8 bottles of "stuff" I usually pack and instead, tossed in travel-sized bottles of the multi-purpose personal care products I rave about on this blog. What a difference in my weight load and travelling skin!! I was able to keep up with my non-toxic regime (really important when travelling when you don't know what's in those sink-side bottles) and also keep my skin protected and moist. One of the first signs of travel fatigue shows up on your skin: dryness. Well, I had none of that!!! Next trip, I will also toss in the new non-alcohol hand sanitizer that we just released...oh my...lemon-y, luscious and a little dab will do it.

Also, I felt good about not contibuting to someone else's environmental pollution. Everything I brought with me not only protected my body but left no petro-chemicals, half-used bottles, harmful ingredients or product pollution sludge behind in their drains and waterways.

If you are local...come to First Thursday tomorrow night. I have a cute "travel tote" to show you, complete with BPA-free travel bottles and will share some great tips on how to "travel light"...whether it is to Mexico or the lake! Hope to see you tomorrow!

Here is what I am working on...not quite done yet. Perfect for vacations, stay-cations, campers, weekenders, hospital stays and Mother's Day... a travel tote chock full of "do no harm" goodies!