The Toiletries Kit

 

A Gentleman's Portable Toiletries Kit

Okay - so your average backpacker may not elect to carry all these items (heck, I know more than one bloke who doesn't use all this stuff even when he's at home). I would never try to classify myself as a new-age metrosexual hiker - but on Toulouse - Le Trek I have some particular challenges to address, and as every good trekker knows, preparation for the identifiable demands of the trail is everything.

In my case, I have to acknowledge that, after walking for 10 to 15 miles, carrying a meaningful backpack, I'm likely to be sweaty and dusty. And if I was to roll up at an enticing French restaurant looking like that, any self-respecting maître-D would be justified in denying me entry.  So my plan is to arrive at my lodgings early (whether chambre d'hôte or campsite), to shower, do my laundry and then change into something that might at least get me through the door of the local café. I have the good fortune to have been furnished with a handful of sachets by L'Erbolario, an extraordinary Italian fragrance house with a retail presence in Valletta. There is Indigo shower gel, Black Juniper (my absolute favourite) and Ebony after-shave lotions and a hyaluronic acid moisturiser to counter the effects of sun and wind.  It's not that I'm effete - this is about being practical. If this is what's needed to access a nice restaurant in Monpellier, Narbonne or Toulouse, then count me in.

Alongside those sachets I have a collapsible toothbrush and mini toothpaste (courtesy of some long-forgotten business class airline seat) a disposable razor, sample-sized soaps and tissues and the smallest roll-on deodorant I could find. I also have a very small shaving brush and the remnants of a tube of Crabtree & Evelyn Moroccan Myrrh shaving cream (because I can!). Toenail clippers, a small polished steel mirror, a Qantas Airlines sewing kit and a squashed roll of toilet paper also sit in the kit.  Three other items are worthy of mention: The Deuce 2 Ultralight Trowel from The Tentlab will sit with the toilet paper in a side pocket of my pack.  A Packtowl (microfibre) personal towel will accompany the toiletries kit. And all the remaining components will roll neatly into a Forclaz ultralight toiletries bag from Decathlon.