Sunscreen and ice cream, parasol and crossover. We’ve been waiting for this moment all year: the kick-off of the summer vacation is on! And during this first weekend of departures, there were already people in stations, airports, and on the roads.
But before departure, you have to prepare your suitcase. And on this ground, in addition to the “standard” people who do not take too much or too little, the world is divided into two categories: the minimalists with the small bundle and the “just in case”, who will not wear half the clothes. swept away, but who can’t help but take away their house. “In any case, the important thing is to be comfortable with yourself, there is no bad profile,” reassures Robert Zuili, clinical psychologist specializing in emotions. Tell me how you pack your bag, I’ll tell you who you are: our readers have played the game and answered our call.
“I only need the bare necessities”
“I usually take care of my things a bit hastily, the day before departure, in less than twenty minutes, confides Nicolas, a minimalist. First I think of my papers, then I slip into my bag a towel, swimsuit, flip-flops, a few t-shirts and two shorts, and as many underpants and pairs of socks as there are travel days, so as not to have need to wash it off. And in my toiletry bag, there is just my toothbrush, styling gel and something to wash myself in mini format.
For her two weeks in the Mediterranean, there’s no question either for Marianne of dragging her luggage around like a cannonball. “I have a suitcase even smaller than the cabin size, I put the minimum: bathing suit, flip-flops, dress, shorts, three t-shirts and as many tank tops and sets of underwear as I wash as you go. And for toiletries, I don’t bother: I buy shampoo, shower gel and sunscreen on the spot! I take as little as possible without waiting for my luggage after landing, and above all without worrying! » Isn’t she afraid of forgetting something important? “No, holidays are for enjoying, not for a fashion show”.
For Robert Zuili, our suitcases say a lot about us. “There are, like Marianne and Nicolas, those who are in letting go, serene. These people have the capacity to improvise, they have a freedom of spirit which means that even in the event of unforeseen events or difficulties, this will not worry them unduly, because they have enough internal security to say that they will always find a solution. These profiles accept the hazard and even a small share of risk, he deciphers. This is also what they like, they know how to adapt. For them, the key word is pleasure, which is less valuable material. The psychological comfort in which these people find themselves, who are not in anticipation, means that a hazard or an oversight is not likely to call into question the pleasure they will experience”.
“I’m part of the team ‘just in case'”
Minimalism is not what drives Lilou, on the contrary. “I’m part of the Team ‘just in case’ so I take everything, with the option of a suitcase to the brim! It’s a real headache every year, I can’t make rational choices. In the mountains, I take high heels and dressy dresses – not very useful – just in case, as well as warm clothes and light clothes, just in case, to be ready for any weather”.
Taking your house “just in case”, or taking next to nothing, “is in any case a way of apprehending the outside world which is a reflection of your inner world, believes Robert Zuili. Thus, when we see the world as a threat, we need to secure things to better control them, like having everything to face all possible weather. Emotionally, this refers to anxious, even distressed people: the emotion that governs them is fear: not arriving on time, being taken by default by the weather.
It’s not just about luggage, “the key concept is control. And in this case, the best way to find your balance is to distance any notion of the unexpected, to be able to deal with any scenario, develops the psychologist. This is the difficulty of reaching letting go for these profiles, who must find that minimalists border on unconsciousness. They are in the real, and for them, what matters is to control their fear by controlling all that is tangible”.
“Three tris and a survival kit”
Elisabeth, she likes to travel light, but the unexpected has no place. “My suitcase, I start to prepare it at least two weeks in advance, she plants. On a bed, I take out everything I could need, a real mountain! Then I launch my method of the three sorts. At the first, I remove the duplicates. In the second, things difficult to tune. On the third floor, clothes that are too classy or too fanciful. For the toilet and first aid kit, I take small bottles collected at the hotel, samples of creams and a mini tube of detergent to wash my underwear as I go. And I put the basic drugs in a pillbox so as not to take the full boxes, a roll of adhesive plaster, disinfectant and paper tissues”.
A mind that truly thinks of everything. “Very important: I take out of all this a “survival kit” in case my suitcase gets lost, with t-shirt, shorts, light pants, flip-flops, essential medication, phone charger and photocopy of my papers. All packed tight in a bag that also contains my mini bag and my plane or boat tickets. In all, I end up with a cabin suitcase and a messenger bag. On the way back, everything that is in the bag goes into the suitcase, and the memories slip away in the bag”.
A clever mix of minimalism and control. Because even with a cabin suitcase, “people in control need to secure themselves by anticipating everything. This can go as far as booking everything on their vacation route, restaurants, visits, ”says the psychologist.
“I would like to free myself from all this”
The cabin suitcase, again, Lilou would dream of making do with it. “I would like to free myself and take only three t-shirts that I would wash, but I can’t. Maybe someday “. Ditto for Alphonsine, who every year takes “too many clothes and too many shoes! I also make a checklist so as not to forget anything and I check off as I put in it. Every year, I tell myself that I have to reduce my luggage, but without success”.
Is it irreversible? If your luggage is weighing you down, “we can try to lighten it little by little, by setting a goal, suggests Robert Zuili. We weigh his suitcase, and we try to remove one, two or three kilos of dispensable business. And if it’s too hard, we can do an exercise when we get back from vacation with another checklist, that of all the things you haven’t or hardly worn, and thus adjust the content for the next vacation. “. Lilou, she savors her first victory: “I managed to limit the number of shoes that I take away”.