Apple packing: strict mistress of the suitcase

Feel quite self-conscious packing for New York, knowing I would have to list what I take and post a pic. 

So today I'm the strict mistress of the suitcase and pack only seven tanks and t's - one per day- a denim dress, two pairs of comfy shoes, (pair of Marc Jacobs silvery moccasins and stretch slip ons from Sayulita, Mexico) and one roughed-up green handbag. As you can see most items are striped and I have so much extra room, my stripey doll, Tallulah, 9, can fit in there too.

Normally, an hour before we leave I throw in a cornucopia of clothing including eight pairs of high shoes, a white linen trench coat, seven pairs of earings and four different purses. And then I end up wearing only two pairs of shorts and arriving home with everything else clean and unworn.

But I pack for the vacation I hope to have. Before this new strict mistress phase I would have thought: I know the Queen has sailed from New York, but I'll take my silk Diane von Furstenberg pussy bow frock just in case she decides to turn the ship around and pop in. I probably won't be discovered in Times Square and asked to co-host the Late Show, but I have the Nanette Lapore trouser suit just in case.

Should you pack for the hopeful vacation?

More than 20 years ago, my two younger sisters, Pietra and Sharon, packed full-length ballgowns and tennis raquets for their 18-month back-packing trip around Europe (OE, overseas experience we call it in Nu Zild). And  they actually wore the ballgowns many times. And so did their friends. Pietra remembers wearing them to a function at New Zealand House in London. The gowns were very tight as they were on the Heathrow diet (similar to the Freshman 15). But it didn't seem right to wear their Adidas tracky pants, every good Kiwi woman's travelling staple. She can't recall if they ever played tennis, maybe not as they never carried tennis balls.

At Oakland Airport for our 9am flight, I am so exhausted by my new found discipline,  I return to old habits when buying food for lunch on the plane. I end up purchasing a fully cooked breakfast, a large chicken soup, pork buns and chicken salad. Just for me. End up eating none of it. Pic shows Cy and Tallulah on the plane, who like me watched TV for five hours and ate...none of their lunch.