Colour co-ordinating for travelling light

Colour Co-ordinating
When travelling, you have to plan to colour co-ordinate. Where do you keep all your colour-co-ordinated outfits?

Travel Trunks
Years ago, as museums and auctions show, travellers had giant suitcases or trunks, in heavy, sturdy wood covered in leather, which held and organised enough for the three months. That was how long it took you, before plane travel, to cruise on a ship overseas, then go overland.

Your trunk opened up like a giant book, with two hinged sections. Inside it resembled a mini-wardrobe, with hanging clothes one side and a mix of wide mouth shape drawers on the other side.

Above or below the drawers were half size or pigeon hole cubed compartments for jewellery and accessories. You carried separate locked jewellery boxes and hat boxes for giant hats. Opened, the suitcase looked like modern folding bars, which hide alcoholic drinks in daytime.

This system worked well for the rich and famous, who paid porters at every stop. I look with admiration and envy at the trunks of famous people, such as the dancer Pavlova, who travelled from North London to Australia and New Zealand.

Naturally her dancing and day time shoes mattered. So did her appearance before an admiring public, being photographed in newspapers. She had accessories for every outfit in matching fabrics, colours and styles.

Size Matters
My first trip to a tent weekend left me with aching shoulders from a heavy backpack, so exhausted I have never wanted to try camping or hiking again.

Later, I recall travelling with a suitcase which my mother had packed, so heavy that I was in pain, left behind at train stations, so slow I often lost my group and panicked. arriving at the destination exhausted, miserable and (at certain periods of the month) often tearful.

Complete Contents
What about the contents? I cringe with embarrassment when I recall travelling with a suitcase which I packed.

MisMatch Colour Trauma
My own first efforts at packing were traumatic. I tried to take some of each pretty colour, red, pink, orange, throwing in favourite or newly bought separates. I hat separates. That was how I looked. As if the other half of my outfit had got separated. I had red trousers with pink tops, and orange nail varnish. To complete the disaster, I had a blue bag and green shoes. Dressing for the morning or evening took forever.

Ten years later I discovered lists, in the age of lists, the packing list. I even wrote a travel book with a packing list at the back. One of my first books. Enquire Within series. To this day I get out my old book and adapt the packing list.

Dictionary. Two purses for money at home for taxi and at destination for taxi. Nail varnish. - and nail varnish remover. Nowadays nail varnish remover pads won't spill, which weigh less and won't be confiscated at security. Warm gloves. Hat or cap with visor.

Colour Co-ordinating
When I became a travel writer I simplified everything. Black skirts, jacket and trousers and bag and shoes. White blouses (one for each day or evening, maximum seven.  After that you probably had at least two days at one place where a blouse had time to wash and dry.

Smart white blouse for a quick change for evening. Folding gold or silver scarf in handbag in case we are told no time to go back to the hotel to change before dinner.

Space for Souvenirs
My other handy trick was to pack gifts inside a second bag in my main suitcase. Gifts go to hosts. Space is left for gifts to people back home or your souvenirs. The bag saves you constantly buying a new bag to carry gifts. Removing the bag leaves more space for souvenirs or literature.

Shopping At Destination
If you are in one place you have time to shop for local clothes. If on the move, you don't. If you are a large Western size, you may find items your curvy or voluminous size in India, and Australia and New Zealand. (But even slim and skinny girls from the USA and New Zealand find small size swimsuits in Asia don't fit if they are made with shorter bodies to suit shorter girls.)

On a conference you may not have time for changing clothes. One event follows another. What can you do?

Weekender (Canadian travel clothes firm which reached the UK) used to make, and still do, accessories in black or gold and silver, to hoist up one side or both of a skirt or dress to make it more revealing and glamorous for the evening. Basically, you have a doughnut shape and pull the fabric through the middle.

The little black dress looks wrong in tropical countries with exotic flowers, fuchsia and magenta orchids, bright blue seas and skies, bright green vegetation. Black is worn by widows. Youngsters wear bright colours.

Colourful Singapore
When I was a teacher of English as a foreign language in Singapore the head of the language school told me the pupils had complained that I wore black and white every day, which was boring and depressing. The head of the school asked me to wear a different bright colour every day, such as red on Monday, orange on Tuesday, pink on Wednesday, green on Thursday, blue on Friday.

Expanding, Organising Bags
The last time I lost a bag was when the handle of my bag was slashed in Marbella, Spain. The thieves crashed the stolen car and ran, so I got my bag back. Long ago.

For the first time in decades of travel, hundreds of trips, for the first time in low crime Singapore, I 'lost' a bag.

I originally bought my bag, messenger style, a small should bag with a long strap, from Scotts of Stow. The one I 'lost' or had stolen this year, 2015, in Singapore, was burgundy. I searched for a replacement on the internet and the bag is still available, but only coloured stone (off-white) or black.

Simplified Colours
This basic choice of colours may suit you. One of each colour should carry you through winter and summer, or day and night, without clashing with any other colours. Black and white is great for bags which co-ordinate with all your winter black or winter white, or daytime white and evening black, or white at night if you want to be visible to motorists when crossing the road.

However, if you tire easily and are lifted by red, or already have a bright red bag or two, and want a more refined plummy colour, alas, no burgundy, yet. I'm still hunting rival bags. (And if you see my burgundy bag on anybody, ask them where it came from. If it's thrown in a corner in Singapore - it's mine, please rescue it. If you get it back to me I'll love you forever.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author, speaker. I hope you enjoyed this post. If you have any topic you would like me to research, let me know. Please follow my blog on travel, read my other blog posts, look at my spelling tips, grammar tips, performing comic poetry on Youtube, like me on Facebook, and link to me on LinkedIn and buy my latest books on quotations from Lulu.com .

Lost and found in the USA, UK, Singapore and worldwide

Lost and Found
I was thinking it was time somebody set up nationwide and worldwide lost and found websites. You need one centralised place to report losses. In Singapore We had to go to the terminus of two different bus lines, a police station, the UK passport office, and the NRIC office.

(I was thinking we need a lost and found site like Tell Us Once. What's that? In the UK in the old days after somebody died if you were the spouse or descendant or lawyer / executor you spent months writing to different government bodies. The death certificate needed for funeral plans took priority, so the pension would continue to be paid and had to be paid back. Hours of work, week, months, for the family, and masses of extra paperwork and muddle for the government offices. Now a wonderful website called Tell Us Once informs all government bodies simultaneously.)

Lost and Found in the USA
I went hunting on the internet and immediately up pops a site for lost and found in the USA. The alliterative subtitle is For property and pets. Such a great idea. The website connection is lost but I love the idea.

Finders Keepers
But maybe a 'lost' item was not stolen but just lost. How many items get lost?

Taxi Lost and Found
A sign in the Singapore taxi warns that fifty per cent of items left in taxis are either wallets or phones. Sometimes a recorded voice tells you to check you have left nothing behind. What more can they do? I think the driver should have a camera on the back which enables him to check.

Taxi Drivers Could Help
Every driver should give a receipt automatically, not just ask whether you want one. Driver should announce his name and the taxi company. For example, "My name is Mr Lim. Thank you for booking GrabTaxi." "Hope you had a good journey in grab taxi. Check you left nothing behind? Nothing on seat, in the pocket? Keep the receipt. If you lose anything, call GrabTaxi and tell them you were in Mr Lim's taxi. Have a great visit."

Receipts Identify Your Taxi
I always ask for a receipt from the taxi. That way if anything ever goes missing you know which taxi and which service. There could be five or more taxi companies and hundreds of taxis.

Finders Keepers
An old saying suggests Finders Keepers. Not so. British courts have set precedents proving otherwise. To give a couple of examples, somebody who had money moved into their bank account in error had to repay it. Treasure from Roman or earlier times has been deemed crown or national property. I shall search and research this and update this post or add another later with details.

In the UK it used to be the case that if you took something to a police station and it was not claimed after three months the finder could keep it. However, you were still expected to return the item.

Accepting Loss - How Soon?
How long should you wait before accepting something is lost? Eventually something might turn up?

Common sites for losses.

Accepting Loss
Some people take the attitude, wave goodbye to what's gone and move on. In Singapore a well-known expat family lost a son who committed suicide. (He had suffered from a slight handicap and was bright and successful and personable yet had been bullied.)

Persistence Pays
On the other hand, a famous quotation - Winston Churchill said, Never, never, never give up.

Lost children - like Madeleine McCann. Lost pets - occasionally turn up miles from home and are reunited.

On Transport
Have your property packed up ready to go when a bus arrives or you reach your stop.

When Should You Give Up?
After you have done all you can. In Singapore I went to the two terminus points at the end of the bus looking for my lost wine red bag containing my passport, NRIC and two phones, my iPhone in a purple 'clam. cover, the Singapore phone in a Cappucino cover.

Staying at one address is a great help. Every time you change address it becomes harder for the finder to return your property.

Losses
My handbag cut in Marbella. Stolen car drew up alongside. Thief cut the handle of my bag. Driver veered around corner and crashed. Car occupants ran. Driver disappeared. My bag was found cut plus Swiss knife - which only later did I realised had been used to cut the handles.

Successful Lost item Found
I lost a valued glove when out looking for a place to live. A week later I retraced my steps. A kind person had stuck the glove upright on top of a post, easily seen.

They never knew I found it, only that somebody had removed it. A belated thank you years later from me - I should have left a thank you note.

In the old days in the UK you could take lost property straight to the local police station. Unfortunately police stations have closed down and centralised. You have to travel a half hour round trip.

Singapore
In Singapore, reporting a loss at the police station, my relative told me the police did not even want to make a report on my 'lost' bag - only if it was stolen. Immediately after it disappeared, we assumed I had somehow dropped it or left it behind on the bus. But since my trace has been found, we now assume it was stolen.

Scotland
At Edinburgh, when visiting the Edinburgh Festival, we lost a camera outside a book fair. Later in the day we went back to the book fair. I went to the desk to ask if anybody had handed in the camera. Sure enough, there it was.

Cost of Loss
What is the cost of loss? You probably underestimate the cost of replacement of goods. Even a new lipstick can cost £20. Replacement passports, NRIC identity cards in Singapore, cost a lot of money.

NRIC
A property agent was asked by a security guard to leave his NRIC. He refused and instead handed over his business card as proof of identity. If you lose your NRIC, the cost of replacing it a second time increases.

Summary:
Losses:
People - children such as Madelien McCann - ongoing search. Hopefully the search for her can have three good outcomes for children, parents and people worldwide a)

Success:
1 Lost and Found website USA.
2 Colleague's empty wallet containing our borrowed library card found in attic of AGB office building, years after wallet went missing. The wallet was taken from a jacket on a chair back in building which you could enter only with an employee or guest pass. (So we now presume the wallet was stolen not by a member of staff but by a contract worker who had access to the roof space.)
3 Empty (and handle cut) shoulder bag retrieved in Marbella, Spain, when we reported loss to police station.
4 Glove found on post a week later in UK.
5 Member of Toastmasters Singapore told me he lost a wallet but within an hour an honest Singaporean had returned it to him.

Action On Lost and Found
National website for lost and found in each country. it could give you the locations of lost and found offices, how to mark and safeguard your property, where to report lost credit cards, give you a record sheet you could fill in with the brand of your handbag, the serial number of your phone, the phone numbers for your credit card companies, your office or relative to be contacted for return of items.

(You don't leave your house, leaving it empty, to collect missing doorways, or burglars could use the keys to get in your house while sending you miles away, or even around the corner). Suggestion - send somebody with your identity and/or do a visual call to identify both parties and the lost item and location in public place with witness for the handover.

Who Retrieve Useless Items
What use is an old passport, now I have a new travel document? It has a record of all my travels, including the time and date of every entry and exit. I keep my old passports. (And those of my ancestors.) I trust that one day somehow the items will be returned to me.

Adrenalin and Chase Syndrome
It is psychological closure. The human brain goes into what I shall call Seek Lost Item mode. You get a rush of adrenalin, anxiety, gear up for physical chase.

(Not just a caveman era Idea. This really happens. And is still relevant and needed. We had two physical chases after lost/stolen property. In Marbella years ago my husband chased after the stolen car whose occupants had stolen my handbag.

In Singapore my husband chased after the bus after I got off and realised my bag was missing. First he chased the bus which stopped at the lights. When the lights changed and the bus sped away, still agitated, he rapped on the window of the nearest car and persuaded the driver to chase the bus. (Thank you Zak.)

Reward
A friend suggested I should offer a reward. So I offer a reward. £20 or Singapore$20 for each of the five missing items, the bag, the iPhone and cover, the Singtel phone and cover, the British passport, the NRIC card. Total £100 or Singapore dollars 200 for the whole bag and contents.

As for me, I wil forever want the return of my lost (acronym for lost or stolen) wine red multi-zip messenger cross-body messenger bag and all the contents, my iPhone with the purple flip wallet, also called a 'clam' cover - means it is like a book with a crease down the long direction so it opens up and stands up horizontally with two slits for cards opposite the phone.
My Singtel phone a Sony Ericsson with a brown cover, a thick, back only, imitation cappuccino cup cover. Also my British passport surname Sharot and NRIC.  The items could be discarded by the thief or finder.

STILL WANTED
I have been scanning every person I see on the bus worldwide - could they have found or been given my items, and not knowingly be in possession of them, not knowing how to return them? Now we are back to the reason for a national lost and found website. I am lifting the boxes of bins. Unfortunately in Singapore

UK the old London Transport Lost Property office can now be accessed online. In the old days you had to go in person and could retrieve goods for free. Now there is a charge.

What else can we do on the lost and found websites?
'LOST TODAY'
'FOUND TODAY'

How to prove it's yours?
I can't produce my passport as evidence of identity because my passport is the lost item. But my passport has my picture - you can see it's me!

My phone is supposed to turn on with my thumbprint. However, my phone doesn't like my thumbprint. I do, however, know my phone's passcode, which no stranger would know.