What You Would Find in My Bag

Have you ever watched someone dig through their bag for that one thing they just can’t find? Yeah, that person is usually me. I carry quite a bit with me on a daily basis. Both because I have a fear of needing something that I didn’t bring (always happens when I don’t carry hand sanitizer), and because I tend to go out for the day not planning to come home between scheduled events/work/etc.

Here is a picture of the contents of my bag today:

The bag is one that I bought in Kenya, and I love it. It’s large, but light so it’s easy to carry.

Clockwise from the bag, I always carry a black Moleskine notebook for jotting notes while out and about, or at spontaneous interviews.

Red Moleskine day planner. I love these things. They have space for daily planning and blank note pages for to-do lists/ideas/important information. Plus, they come with stickers you can use to highlight important dates like meetings, birthdays, concerts, hair appointments, etc. I <3 moleskine.="" o:p="">

A water bottle, because the tap water in Mexico is not sanitary and I hate buying bottles every day, so I tend to fill a few up in the morning to take with me.

An (almost empty pack of gum). Self-explanatory.

Pink sunglasses case (plus sunglasses). México is sunny, kids. Eye protection is necessary. Plus, then I can more easily ignore the Méxican men who catcall to the ‘Rubia’ as I walk down the street.

A Starbucks napkin. I steal these when I go to Starbucks because it’s easier than buying little bags of tissues. These get used as facial tissues and toilet paper, since many places don’t give you TP, just a toilet.

 A little bag from Topshop. This holds the small bits and bobs in the bigger bag to stop them from getting lost/for easier access.

My wallet. Coach, a Christmas gift because I can’t afford stuff like that. Shout out to Aleem and Ashley for the gift!

Ipod. Music makes things better.

My phone. Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Dying day by day. But my constant companion because I use it as a map, to contact people, to take pictures, and to entertain myself on long public transit rides.

Hand sanitizer because well, yeah. Those bathrooms that don’t give you TP? They definitely don’t give you soap either.

Coco Butter chapstick. No one likes dry lips, and it has SPF!

MAC compact which is empty, but I use it for the mirror.

Shea butter lotion dry hands-almost as bad as dry lips.

A band-aid, because I use them often, usually for blisters from my shoes.

Marks and Spenser mint tin, now carrying aspirin and vitamins.

New pack of gum, not yet opened.

Hand-made tissue holder that I have stuffed with Starbucks napkins because I can’t be bothered to buy tissues. Made by a lady that I work with in one of the clinics for Christmas.

A pen, for aforementioned note taking and life-planning.

MAC eyeliner. Black. Definitely a necessity.

So that’s it. On a proper work day I would also be carrying a large notebook for interviews, a digital voice recorder for when the interviews are in Spanish, some form of fruit for a snack, and probably a sweater because it is hot outside, and freezing in almost every clinic I go to. I walk a lot so this amount of crap is definitely is not good for my back, but it’s only for a few more weeks now, my back will survive!

Happy Sunday!

Kim x