on travel clothing

Today, my second-to-last day in the lab, I did not do much in the way of Italian preparation. That's not true! I created a packing list and proceeded to plan my wardrobe, 5-7 outfits for one month. When I got to the rule where one should not travel anywhere without a long-sleeved item I became stuck. Hesitant because Rome in July is HOT or as they say, caldissimo. Reviewing my selections I realized I have nothing suitable save a white wrap from GW (one of my mom's finds, she is very talented) and the rule following the one about traveling with something cozy, which is not bringing white things. So.

I set about searching for a travel wrap, something lightweight; wrinklefree; without its proprio color so it matches everything. Ended up here
(not sure if that's how to insert a link; I'm a beginner).

Then my officemate (for one more day) S saved me. She has traveled everywhere including Finland in between moves and Taiwan for 6 months with a new baby, crazy woman, and so she knows from necessary travel gear. I asked her in that leading way "so do you travel with a must-have all-weather all-outfit cardigan that you take everywhere in the world?" thinking she'd say "of course and you can find it at travelsmith.com." No luck. Apparently S, who being the mother of two is highly practical, said that she only needs 2 things, a fleece (which doubles as a pillow) and a sarong which can turn into a sheet or a skirt or a dress or a napkin or, I imagine, a diaper.

To the point: after visiting Uganda I often think of the children with their single outfits and shoeless feet. Of the little girl who arrived onsite in a discarded flower girl dress. Of one of the stars of BT, Ventril, who collects the empty water bottles - not fancy Nalgene or stainless steel, but the thin plastic that we throw away like tissues - and does engineering projects with them. Of the child with whom we were playing duck duck goose, who lost a pocketful of dried corn kernels, which we helped collect because they were precious food. Of our backpacks and sunscreen and different versions of sandals and shoes for a variety of sports. Of all our privilege and manufactured necessity. Do I need the wrap? Not so much.