July 2.0

If you are new to this space, Hi. I’m Susan.

Welcome to my newsletter, welcome to my world. If you subscribe, you will receive a newsletter every other Friday, the newsletters always start with something that I have been thinking about a lot, and always end with the sections, beauty, joy, and rest.

Thank you for being here.

We booked our summer vacation a while ago, and what I always geek out about is what to pack 😀. Obviously, I am also super stoked about going on vacation. But thinking about what to pack is also exciting, because I see it as a challenge.

We’re a family of 4 (our kids are 9 and 7), and we’ve packed the same two bags for every vacation since they were babies. My husband and I each have a Patagonia 36L travel bag. Since we are moving around a lot this year, I ordered a 36L Backpack with WHEELS! Never thought I would be that person, but now that I ordered the bag, I am looking forward to being that person!

Yes, as you can tell, I take full pride in our minimal packing skills. This time, packing will be extra tricky because we are:

Taking a night train from Zürich to Hamburg
Then a train from Hamburg to Copenhagen
We are staying in Copenhagen for 3 nights.
Then we are travelling to Sweden, and will go sailing for 2 weeks.
We will spend the last 2 days of vacation in Stockholm before flying back to Zürich.

So I need outfits that are comfortable, sporty, that resist wind and rain (for sailing) and outfits that I would take with me on a city trip…

Packing for the kids is easy:

6 Underwear // 4 socks // waterproof sneakers // sandals // 2 shorts // 1 jeans // 1 sweatpant // 4 T-shirts// 2 sweaters// 1 set of long underwear (this is also their pyjama, and if it gets really cold, then they can also wear it as underwear) // 1 rain jacket// 1 fleece jacket

Packing this “little” for the kids only works because we have access to washing machines at different harbours when sailing. But I also always have a travel-size washing detergent with me for the occasional hand wash.

I am always a bit inspired by Rick Owens when trying to travel super light, so I try to go for layered looks. The hardest item to pack is usually the jacket. I want something wind- and rain-proof, but I don’t want something that looks like I am an elderly Swiss hiker. This year I decided to bring along a light rain jacket and a colourful, warm cardigan.

When travelling, I usually pick 2-3 “highlight” pieces of clothing, and then I pack around them. This year it’s my two long-sleeved shirts — I love the colours of both, and I love wearing them as “dresses” or as sweaters, depending on the temperature.

will also pack underwear, and sweatpants

So that’s probably what I’ll pack for our two and a half weeks of vacation. The only thing I’m still unsure about is the shoes: if I pack the Vans, I’ll probably bring a jump rope along so I can still get a bit of exercise in. Otherwise, I might swap the Vans for jogging shoes — though I don’t love wearing jogging shoes with my sports shorts, it ends up looking a bit too sporty. I’ve still got 5 days before we travel, so there’s time to switch things around. But overall, this is what my packing will look like.

I can’t take my steamer with me, so I need to make sure that I am ok with wrinkled clothes :-D

This is the first year I am experimenting with colour! Usually when I have packing restrictions, I only pack black clothing.

I will be sailing when I send you my next substack!

And now back to the usual…

Joy

I’ve been listening to a lot of Ben Harper, Leon Bridges and Valerie June lately.

And if I had to choose one “series” to watch for the rest of my life, it would be Tiny Desk Concerts. Wait, does that count as a series?

Beauty:

Last weekend I went to a music festival called Gurten Festival with my family and friends, and I was in awe. It feels like they wanted to create a space for everyone, brought together by music and dance. For example, overlooking each stage was a closed-off space for people with disabilities (most of them were in wheelchairs, but I also saw someone who was blind). This space had a perfect view of the stage and was really easy to access. All of the kids also got a necklace with a QR code linking them to the phone number and name of their caretakers, in case they went missing.

I could write a whole post just about this, but overall, listening to good music and dancing with such a diverse group of people, across all age groups, just shows me how much beauty there is in the world. 🥹

Rest:

Writing. Taking the time to write daily.

as always,

much love

Susan