(Note: This column originally appeared in the Keys Weekly’s latest Holiday magazine. available now inside local businesses and online at keysweekly.com.)
Ah, holiday travel.
This is when things get interesting, for me at least.
Flights to points far north — places marked by snowflakes and swirling winds on TV weather maps — present a challenge every year.
And therein lies the problem. (OK, one of my problems.)
It’s not the cold weather per se, although I’m quick to admit that 24 years in Key West have done nothing to make me more tolerant of or amenable to freezing temperatures.
But when it comes to our Thanksgiving and Christmas trips to visit family in Boston, Jersey or North Carolina, it’s the packing that poses the problem. And the weight.
First the luggage.
We live in lightweight clothes and strappy sandals down here. We could pack for an entire month in Key West without exceeding the airlines’ weight limits for checked bags.
The same cannot be said for winter travel up north. Sweaters, jeans and sweatshirts weigh significantly more than T-shirts, flowy pants and sundresses — and they occupy a lot more space.
But luggage weight isn’t my only issue. (I have plenty of issues, but that’s neither here nor there.)
I wear jeans about three times a year here in Key West on those sporadic, cooler days when the mercury drops below, say, 65. Yes, visitors to our island from other wintry places are still in shorts and tank tops on those days, while we locals are wearing scarves, sweaters and boots.
But for us year-round locals, that winter wardrobe tends to shrink each year with every closet purge, apartment move and decluttering frenzy.
Unfortunately, for me, my waist has not shrunk in several years, so it’s always an adventure when packing my two remaining pairs of jeans for our holiday trips. (I’ve finally parted with the ones that are no longer even an aspirational size for me.)
Sure, I could try them on in advance and build in an extra hour or two of travel preparation that would allow me time to run to TJ Maxx for some appropriate replacements, but where’s the excitement in that?
Apparently, I’d much rather roll the dice each winter, throw those jeans into a suitcase three minutes before the airport Uber shows up and just hope for the best.
My personal packing chaos leaves no room for error, so it’s no surprise that I’ve spent at least one Thanksgiving weekend in the same pair of black leggings when the jeans I’d packed were about three sizes ago.
I tell myself every year that I’ll do better. Of course, I also tell myself I’ll lose 30 pounds and fit back into the jeans I finally gave away. But I’m also a realist. I know myself and I’m quite familiar with my own shortcomings.
So for this year, I’ll just throw my jeans AND a few extra pairs of leggings into the suitcase — and still hope for the best.
When it comes to my holiday travel adventures, it’s about family (with a healthy dose of food and booze), not wardrobe. And for that, I am eternally grateful.
Happy Holidays, Florida Keys. Stay warm, wherever you may be.
