Five things I've (re)discovered about travel

With props to 5ives, the infamous and the original.

1. Everything has at least two uses. Dirty laundry = cleaning towel. Grocery store cheese container = snack bowl for the car. Slices of sandwich bread = earplugs. (OK, I didn't really do the last one. But I bet it would work!)
2. If you are going to pack just one eating utensil, pack a spoon not a fork. You can grab bites of food with a spoon, but you can't eat soup with your Swiss Army knife or a tines-only implement.
   
3. No matter how many Ziploc bags you pack, it won't be enough. Or, if you have enough, they aren't the size you wind up needing.
4. OK, everybody knows this one: always wear sunblock. But to this I will add, even on a cloudy day at 5 p.m. if you're a few miles up in the atmosphere compared with the likes of what you're used to.
   
5. The amazing experiences I've encountered by traveling off course (there is no "lost" when you have no set destination) have been the most delightful part of my travels, hands down. Instinct is real. When my gut says "I think you should make that sharp right up ahead," invariably some wonderful thing occurs that I wouldn't have had without taking that road. Sounds cheesy (and yes! The Tillamook Cheese Factory was an instinct turnoff!) -- but it's true.