One of the pleasures of travel is to savor the little things. An extra benefit of packing light is not just to carry only the things you need; the things that are important, but to take items that you will use and enjoy using because they enhance the moment.

Most of us have more possessions than we need, or ever actually use. Many people pack for travel with the same mindset. In Walden, Thoreau promoted a type of minimalism – only possessing necessities. That is not what I mean at all.

Junichirō Tanizaki (1886-1965), wrote “In Praise of Shadows”, “…a poetic paean to traditional Japanese aesthetics…” He praises Japan’s traditional culture and often compares it with Westernized methods and outlooks. He writes about simplicity, finding value in a few precious, treasured, objects rather than seeking quantity or size.

I have lamented the troubles I had with my Pilot Vanishing Point pen. Thankfully the nib and core have been replaced, it is filled with Diamine’s Writers Blood ink, and it is working perfectly.

This is a pen that I cherish because it has a story, writing with it captures the moment when Tricia encouraged me to buy it in a pen shop in Bordeaux. It is also the best writing of all my pens. But most of all it brings me joy when I write with it. This pen has written in journals and notebooks on three continents. It is more than a pen, it is a memory. Writing in the cafes in France last month was just not the same without this trusted friend.

Traveling, or at home, so many items have a story and a connection, the simple use of which brings back memories of a moment. Our old chair that we discovered in a brocante in Domfront where I sit and drink my coffee from a cup that was made by a workshop attendee in Mukilteo, while writing in a leather journal that I found in Geneva, with of course my Pilot pen – it is all part of my morning.

When you travel, yes, pack light, take essentials, not “I might need it.” But do include a few items that bring joy and connection every time you use them. What do you take that is personal and special, not just because it is useful, or utilitarian, or makes travel easier? But something that warms your heart. I will guess that for Tricia it would be her leather travel journal that is filled with so many memories. What is yours?