Three pair of shoes...

...two pair of pants. Half a dozen tee shirts, one grown-up linen shirt. Two dresses, one with leggings just in case. No jewelry except the earrings I'm wearing. A sweater, a cashmere shawl that can double as a blanket, the one I got with Jane at the Loro Piana outlet near Florence.

If Jane can do it so can I, I told myself. She went to South America for three weeks with no checked baggage. When we met her in France she had a small rolling bag with a bright yellow nylon bag on top - it is a color that says Jane. It is the color of her mini cooper. She had everything we had - biking gear, grown-up clothes for dinner, sporty things for day. She looked fabulous.

Other friends were in SF for the weekend and were dismayed when we showed up in Wally's Mercedes sedan to pick them up. "Oh no! Don't you have an SUV? Our luggage will never fit!" It did - barely, with two bags stacked between them in the back seat. You know you're in trouble if you need a Suburban for a weekend's worth of luggage.

At the last minute I tucked in an extra tee shirt, a pair of shorts. And one extra pair of walking shoes, just in case.  No hair dryer - I will use the puppy-breath hairdryers at the hotels. No lotion, teensy bottles of shampoo and face stuff.

I even have hiking boots. I am stoked. We will see - when I arrive and don't have something I consider essential my euphoria may fade, but I have some clothes I've never worn that have their own frequent flier cards.

As I was heading out the door yelling last minute instructions to the housesitter (who really just wanted us to leave so she could have some peace and quiet) I threw in a big floppy hat. I'm ready!