I’ve got a number of larps¹ scheduled over the next month, so the last week has just been preparing for them and figuring out what I’m doing for the summer afterwards. The larps are largely a matter of logistics; I’m attending Solmukohta² next week and I’ve got a costume packed for a larp running there.³ Afterwards I’m heading to Tunisia for the Sahara larp. Then I’m back in the EU, briefly, for an Alice in Wonderland inspired larp called Shattered Mirrors.⁴

Since I don’t need to be in Portugal for medical reasons, and Portugal is still dragging its feet on processing my visa causing all manner of difficulty in my available days in Schengen, I suddenly find myself with an unexpected three months where I need to be outside the EU. I’ve been slowly putting together a plan, which likely involves canceling a larp I was supposed to attend in late May in Spain.⁵ But I still don’t know; I keep having disruptions spring up. I know where I’ll be for a month. I can only hope in 30 days I’ll have some idea where I’ll be for the next.

I’ve spent five years of my life traveling with exactly one carry-on and one computer bag, and I initially found it constrictive but over time I ended up jettisoning a lot of stuff. I replace my clothing occasionally — it does wear out, and I do lose socks sometimes — and I sometimes cycle through electronic gear. But other than that I basically never buy anything and I rarely find myself in need of more luggage space.

The exception is when I need costumes for a larp. I have room for what is basically one modest costume in my carry on. The problem with the upcoming month is that I need two costumes, so I’ve got a tacky modern jacket for the tacky modern larp and a wool suit for the period larp⁶ and I’ll be swapping out clothing for the third larp when I travel through Berlin.

So I’ve managed to cram the wool suit into my carry-on, on top of a jacket and all my usual clothes. But I also needed period boots and a hat and, worst of all, a period-looking backpack. So I wear the hat and the boots⁷ for flights and managed to cram my computer bag into the period-looking backpack. It’s a pain in the ass — I’d be far less stressed out if I could have just brought a regular-sized suitcase — but the costs of traveling with stowed luggage is exorbitant.⁸

The problem with only traveling with a carry-on is airport security. I was required to take off my boots in both the UK and Ireland, and I expect that restriction to replicate itself across Europe within the next few years.⁹ I have a fancy carbon-fiber belt which goes through metal detectors but apparently is a problem for full-body scanners, so I had to remove that in Ireland. And all the extra stuff I have is just more stuff to look confusing on an x-ray scanner and more stuff to get tossed around while a security person looks for an offending charger.¹⁰

I’m taking all this as a reminder of how much six years of travel has honed my travel skills, and how susceptible to disruption that expertise is. I built my life around a particular form of travel which depends, among other things, on being light on my feet. I’m willing to trade that off occasionally, but largely I just find it a burden.

I’m now in an airport lounge waiting for my flight to Helsinki. I’ve only got to lug this stuff for another few flights¹¹ and then I can dump it and go back to being unburdened.¹² I’m nervous for the larp on Tuesday, excited to see a bunch of friends, and anxious for my onward travel afterwards. And that’s all happening in the context of me continuing to question how I want to live for the next five years, ten years, twenty years.

But as usual, it doesn’t do any good to fret about the future without being able to do anything about it. The next week will be good. I’m looking forward to it. And I have plans immediately after. Anything beyond that will resolve itself in time. I just hope I’m ready to meet it when it does.

Next: Paris (CDG) to Tunis (TUN)
Prev: Lisbon (LIS) to Berlin (BER)

Footnotes

¹ And larp-adjacent activities

² The Finnish iteration of the yearly larp convention I attend. Four years ago I was on the verge of boarding a flight back to Europe to attend the 2020 incarnation when the world went to hell.

³ 3 AM Forever, a larp set at the debauched afterparty for an avant-guard theater.

⁴ There’s a ton of larps run in April/May and a ton of larps run in September/October, and it’d be nice if they were more evenly spread throughout the year but here we are.

⁵ I was trying to work out a way I could legally be in Spain and I just couldn’t swing it.

⁶ Yes, I’m planning on wearing a wool suit in the desert. I’ve been assured the temperature is within a reasonable band and I’m expecting to take the suit jacket off a lot. This may still be a terrible idea, and it’s probably going to have sand pouring out of the pockets for years.

⁷ My shoes are stuffed into my carry-on, being the last thing I managed to cram in there.

⁸ The cost for adding a carry-on on EasyJet was 60€, and this for an 80€ ticket. I didn’t book that flight.

⁹ It looks like it’s something to do with the new scanners they’re installing. I find it one of the most dehumanizing elements of the whole process, although it pales in comparison to getting groped by a TSA officer.

¹⁰ One bright spot, in Ireland, is that they were no longer requiring you to remove laptops or liquids from your bags. I mean, I think I’d prefer to remove those than have to take off my belt, but at least it’s something.

Negative points for making people remove their boots without having any place to sit after security, though.

¹¹ Dublin to Helsinki to Paris to Tunis to Berlin

¹² Unburdened physically, anyway.