Today's lunch

Fake sushi!



Tortillas spread with cream cheese to glue them together after rolling, with ham, shredded carrots, slivered green onion, and baby spinach. Verdict: Good but bland: next time I'll put some dijon mustard in there to give it a kick.

Not pictured: the leftover mac n cheese that accompanied it. :)

SPEAK TO ME OF LUGGAGE, O INTERNET

Specifically, I am again looking for The Perfect Bag(s). As we are traveling to Japan, and keeping it light, I'm taking one suitcase and one carry-on on the plane. I also have need of a daypack of some sort, unless I can manage to get a carry-on small enough that will work as both (hah!). Ideally, with a daypack, I could shove it into the carry-on or suitcase for the flight over and just use it when walking around.

I don't need suggestions on the suitcase, but the carry-on and theoretical daypack have me trying to figure out what I want and what I can get.

Carry-on: Should have two padded shoulder straps. I have back problems already, and carrying a heavy bag on one shoulder leads to ouchiness. Needs to fit under an airplane seat: W22" × H16" × D10" Ideally it would also have that panel on the back that allows you to fit it down over the handle of a rolly suitcase if you don't want to wear it. Multiple compartments would be nice: my current one has one big compartment and I dislike it. Will be holding camera, lens, GoPro, steadicam mount, a small bag of toiletries currently allowed on planes, change of underwear in case of baggage getting lost, Kindle, iPad, migraine meds, and a couple of trashy magazines because I always buy trashy magazines in airports.

Daypack: Preferably two padded shoulder straps (see back problems note above). Ideally it would fake (after the straps were tucked in or taken off) looking like a much nicer bag. It will carry one (1) DSLR camera body attached to THIS LENS*, and various small accessories, one (1) GoPro and various accessories including a handheld steadicam mount**, one (1) wallet and one (1) passport. I reallllllllllly don't want it to look like a backpack. I can't tell you why; I just don't like carrying backpacks around. And, really, it won't be carrying ALL of that all the time: I probably won't carry my big camera with me on some of our trips around the city, and just rely on my phone camera or the GoPro for snapshots.

* by hook or by crook I will have that lens before we leave as it replaces the TWO I have to carry around now for close up and zoom shots and switching lenses quickly is a bitch.

** which I will never actually use but if I don't bring it I'll wish I had. I'm not sure if it's this one or not--we didn't pay that price--but it's right about that size.

Suggestions?

Oh man

So wifi on the airplane will cost us all of $20 for the flight. SO I CAN POST TO TEH INTERNETS FROM 30,000 FEET IN THE AIR.