Travel with Angela Lansbury

Wednesday, March 18, 2026

PACKING LIST - clothes, shoes, accessories, souvenirs, documents

Suitcase Scooter

Permanent Packing List

When I was a busy travel writer, taking at least one trip a month, often two or three times a month, I would keep a suitcase permanently packed with clothes in black, white and red.

My all purpose wheelie bag contained all the things I had regretted not taking on previous trips.

CLOTHES & COSMETICS

Clothes can be packed flat. Or rolled up. Packed in sets matching fabric and occasions. Accessory sets by colour, eg a black belt inside or alongside a bag or pair of shoes or hat.

1 A swimsuit and swimhat. Later I bought a swimsuit with an attached hood.

2 I always had one tank top in case it turned sunny, or I had a stopover somewhere warm.

3 A brimmed hat or baseball cap.

4 A thermal vest, scarf and gloves for chilly nights, air conditioning, breezy boat trips, or trips to another continent with reverse seasons.

5 A couple of scarves, one with gold to convert a plain black or white tee-shirt into an evening outfit, for dining out, unexpected invitation to a birthday party or wedding. A big scarf like a sarong for changing on the beach, sun protection, entering churches and temples.

6 The spare clothes in my shoulder bag, in case my luggage took a side trip, were a set of underwear.

7 Plus spare sandals.

8 Flat towelling slippers saved from a hotel.

9 For summer I had a towelling facecloth, sun lotion, mosquito repellent and sting relief.

10 A gift - in case you end up staying with somebody, getting invited to dinner at a home, or are invited to dinner and cannot reciprocate. Take sizes of family at home in case you want to buy gifts for the family.

10 TOILETRIES BAG

My year round toiletries in a waterproof bag were

1 a travel toothbrush and toothpaste,

2 comb and folding brush,

3 razor, and shaving cream

4 Swiss army knife or tweezers-cum-nailfile set,

5 Corkscrew cum bottle opener,

6 Mini knife-fork-spoon.

7 Instead of a mini perfume, I later carried a lavender roll-on and /or lemon/citronella which acted as insect repellent.

8 Emergency tooth filling kit and spare glasses for driving/reading

9 Plus a folding bag to bring back souvenirs.

10 Travel Diary/notebook and pen with my address stickers on them.

Copied Documents

1 I emailed myself a note of where to find my passport

2 and leftover currency.

3 I and the people at home had a copy of my passport showing the number in case of loss,

4 and a copy of my annual travel insurance.

5 Clipboard to keep vital documents handy. Temperature at destination. Currency converter, eg pounds to dollars, dollars to euros. Disguised version of my computer password.

6 Two pieces of notepaper headed My destination address, one for my handbag, the other for family at home.

7 Travel Tickets. Even if I had them on my phone, in case my phone battery died, the airport had no internet reception, or my phone was stolen.

8 Two printed pictures of my travel luggage, listing colour, size and brand, to show to airport staff trying to locate items removed from the carousel, or to report loss for delivery delayed, or compensation.

Big card with the words and a tickbox

1 PASSPORT

2 TICKET PHONE SPECTACLES/SUNGLASSES/READING GLASSES HAT KEYS DRIVING LICENSE NUMBER CAR INSURANCE/AA number, number of neighbour at home. Turned off gas. Closed curtains. Emptied bins. Left on lights, radio, Turn off gas. PILLS. Plasters.

Turn on

Check nothing is left in microwave, oven, hob, fridge, tabletop, dishwasher, washing machine, tumble dryer.

Number of hospital overseas. Vaccination/COVID records.

On arrival, check emergency exit from building and bedroom and restaurant.

Also fire extinguisher. If restaurant has no fire exit and no fire extinguisher, complain and leave. Inform family or colleagues of the fire exit and fire extinguisher locations.

Gifts and birthday cards.

Print out of essential words in foreign language from Wikitravel phrasebook.

Photographing everything you pack provides a record if you are looking for a lost item, proving the loss to insurance companies.

Another way of packing is to divide his and hers stuff in half. That way you only unpack one suitcase for the first half of the journey, the other for the second half. If one suitcase of the two goes missing, both of you still have clothes.

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Spanish Simple Words Translated In Online Reviews, The Media And Food

Spain in the world, from Wikipedia.

I saw several of these everyday Spanish words in clothing reviews on Temu which were translated and in Facebook. You can also translate in Google translate. Find numbers, days of the week and phrases in Wikivoyage phrasebook Spanish.

Spanish - English

NB the ending o is masculine, and the ending a is feminine. The ending e is also feminine/ El is he. Ella is she.

buena - good

calidad - quality

buena calidad - good quality

de - of (the same word as in French)

delicado - delicate

el - the (mansculine)

elegante - elegant

en - in

en las fotos - in the photos

es - (it) is

estupendamente - great

fotos - photos

las/los - the (plural)

ligero - light (first three letters are the same_#

material - material

muy - very

muy elegante - very elegant

naranja - orange

para las noches - for the nights

Noches - nights

perfecto - perfect

y - and

English - Spanish

and - y

delicate - delicado

elegant - elegante

in - en

in the photos - en las fotos

for the nights - para las noches

good - buena

good quality - buena calidad

ingredients - ingredientes

(it) is - es

light - ligero

material - el material

of - de

orange - naranja

perfect - perfecto

photos - fotos

quality - calidad

the - las/los (as in Los Angeles, the city in the USA, meaning the angels)

very - muy

very elegant - muy elegante

Useful Websites for learning simple Spanish

duolingo.com

translate google

wikivoyage phrasebook Spanish

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Tuesday, March 17, 2026

St Patrick's Day Shamrock Symbol On Planes, Buildings, Stamps And Souvenirs

Yesterday I photographed jolly balloons in green, white and orange, outside Wetherspoons pub in Hatch End, near Hatch End railway station, in NW London, England.

The colours of the balloons are the colour of the flag of Eire, the Republic of Ireland, the south, from Wikipedia which tells you more.

The main colour in the north is green, from the Emerald Isle. Green because of the abundant vegetation, like Wales (where a famous book was How Green Was My Valley). The west gets the rain which grows the abundant plants, grass, and trees. And lakes, and rivers.

Green is the colour of the shamrock.

Shamrocks

St Patrick used the shamrock to convey the idea of the trinity, and you can see the shamrock on a stained glass window of St Patrick holding a shamrock, in a church.

#Shamrocks are displayed on British coins, stamps, and on Buckingham Palace, and aeroplanes.

You can buy hats and tee shirts featuring shamrocks. to be prepared for next year, or any other Irish gathering, you can buy a dress or cardigan with green shamrocks from Amazon.

I bought flip-flops with shamrocks from a poolside shop in Singapore, to be seasonally dressed for a Toastmasters International speakers' club.

Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick%27s_Day

Armagh, Northern Ireland, and St Patrick

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Armagh

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Patricks-Women-Clearance-Outerwear-Sweatshirt/dp/

Updated March 19th 2026.

SPANISH SPEAKING quick tip on this and is

Flag of Spain

I started translating sentences I was thinking.

I thought, what is this? This is my diary.

But the Spanish translation was que esto

este es mi diario

Why was este use in one place, este in another.

Este is like the. it comes before a noun. esto is alone.

Just remember este es, the letter e appears three times.

But what about esta!

¿Dónde está mi diario?

Notice the accent on the letter a.

And the accent on the o in where. |The accents for emphasis. Think of panic. WHERE IS my diary?

Duolingo includes tips. You can then check AI, Quora, Wikipedia and Youtube.

Useful Websites

Monday, March 16, 2026

St Patrick's Day balloons outside Wetherspoons Pub in London

St Patrick's Day Balloons outside Wetherspoons Pub. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Jolly balloons in green, white and orange, outside Wetherspoons pub in Hatch End, near Hatch End railway station, in NW London, England.

The colours of the balloons are the colour of the flag of Eire, the Republic of Ireland, the south, from Wikipedia which tells you more.

The main colour in the north is green, from the Emerald Isle.

Green is the colour of the shamrock.

Shamrocks

St Patrick used the shamrock to convey the idea of the trinity, and you can see the shamrock on a stained glass window of St Patrick holding a shamrock, in a church.

Useful Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick%27s_Day

Armagh, Northern Ireland, and St Patrick

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Armagh

How To Remember The past In Spanish

Spanish - English

estaban - it was (b for back then, in the past)

fue - it was (forever, permanently, such as - was Spanish)

Useful Websites

duolingo.com

translate google

Please follow my blogs and share links to your favourite posts.

Sunday, March 15, 2026

St Patrick's Day - Irish sites and celebrations worldwide

St Patrick's Day is an annual celebration of all things Irish. St Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17th, treated as the nniversary of the day of his death, the end of his life converting the Pagan Irish to Christianity. But he is also credited with removing the snakes from Irelandd, but there were no records of any snakes before his arrival.

If you are a devotee of St Patrick or Irish religion and culture and travel and tourism, consider a trip to the capital of Eire, Dublin, where you can visit St Patrick's cathedral. Other places are associated with St Patrick.

For writers, several places are memorable. Famous Irish authors. The Blarney stone. Limerick.

Visiting Limerick - what to see

Limerick is on the coast, on the river, and dominated by the massive castle walls and twin towers of St John's Castle.

Expect celebrations near and far in Ireland, Northern Ireland, and all over the UK. In pubs such as Wetherspoons, green hats to be bought or given to patrons.

Customers wear green clothes and items with Irish words and jokes.

London

Trafalgar Square in the centre of London has music, dancing, and food to buy.

You can buy Irish items from supermarkets and party shops.

St Patrick's Day hats on Amazon.

Expect celebrations in pubs and major cities in the UK, USA, Australia and Singapore. Check your local newspapers, TV stations, the internet and YouTube and Wikipedia. In previous years cities in the USA have sold green drinks and Chicago even turned the river green. Expect worldwide jollity, and people singing in public and on public transport in London in the evening.

If you are entertaining, you can download suitable green borders and symbols for invitations and menus.

You can look for the tunes and words of popular Irish songs to play as background music at the start o meetings and meals and celebrations.

Travel

For travellers, in addition to celebrations on the day, visits of interest include

1 churches associated with St Patrick, and

2 Guinness tours in Dublin, Eire, and London, England.

In Northern Ireland you can visit sites connected with the Game of Thrones. Must see, major museum, Titanic Belfast.

Celebrate St Patrick's Day

by Angela Lansbury

St Patrick's Day the Colour green

Is on the pubs in every scene

The brightest green you've every seen

In drinks, on chairs, balloons and hair

The colours green, orange and white

Are sure to bring all great delight

Drinking by day, singing by night

And smiling all night til daylight

In some cities you see parades

New Yorker smile and wave all day

Singapore - hats given away

At pubs which wanted all to stay

Chicago turns its river green

And green drinks make the weirdest scheme

Different things in different places

Green on spectacles and faces

Ireland has a lucky shamrock day

Montserrat has a holiday

Each country celebrates its way

With bagpipes, harps, or dance all day

I see that opportunity knocks

Although I do not dye my locks

That would give all my friends a shock

I'll wear green ties, or frocks and socks

Afterward I'll store them away

And send emails in which I say

My box of Irish goods will stay

Locked in box rooms til Patrick's Day.

Green four leaf clover sandals. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

You can learn or refresh Irish Gaelic on Duolingo and other online language courses. The Duolingo starter lesson, which is free, teaches you to say, hear and recognise, and read the words, tea, coffee, sugar, and, please.

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