Trying to Pack

Have you ever had to plan a trip when you didn’t know for how long you were going, didn’t know what weather to plan for, and weren’t even sure what would be your final destination?  That’s what packing is like for us.  Every time we plan to pack an item, we have to look at all of the pros and cons of taking it.  For instance: we’d like to take our bicycles with us.  So, I searched the web for comments from others who took their bikes somewhere and what they experienced.  Did you know that the bicycle racks that attach on the back with a strap tend to loosen up and that per the manufacturer’s suggestion, you should check them every fifty miles or so?  I didn’t know that.  They also can at times wreak havoc on your vehicle’s paint job.  I started to look for the racks that attach at the trailer port only and then realized that I didn’t have one anyway.  The only other type is a roof mountable rack, which after extensive research I found that it adds more weight and it makes your car less aerodynamic, which means that when the wind hits it, it causes what’s called “drag” and can drop your vehicles mpg significantly.  Did I also forget to mention that the average person who traveled with bicycles slowed down to an average 65 mph due to the instability of the racks.  Well, that all being said, it doesn’t look like we’re taking our bicycles.  But that’s just one example of things that we’re thinking about taking with us.  Today, we’re working on re-packing our already packed items to try and cut back again.  If you were going away for a potentially long time and weren’t sure where you were going or how long you were going for, what items would you struggle about taking?