TODAY’S LIST: things I keep in my handbag – because, like a Boy Scout, I look cute in shorts. I mean, because I am always prepared.
1. The A- Z guide for whichever city I happen to be living in (and that’s four over the past five years). I am never without my A- Z. My London A-Z was so well-thumbed that the cover fell off. The A-Z comes in handy for me incredibly often, because for some reason people are always asking me for directions – ironic, because I have NO sense of direction and couldn’t navigate my way out of a cardboard box. Hence the A-Z.
2. Notebook and pens. (Not just one pen – I like to have a backup.) I am heavily reliant on notebooks. I like to be able to make a list whenever, wherever. I’m wild like that.
3. Brolly. It took me a surprising length of time after moving to England to cotton on to the fact that it rains here often and without warning. After my umpteenth time trapped dripping in a shop doorway during a surprise deluge, I learned to start carrying a collapsible umbrella in my bag. Of course, on the occasions I have to use my umbrella, I tend to leave it propped somewhere and then forget it, so I’ve been through a fair number of them. If it looks like rain, I try to crouch in the doorway of a shop that sells umbrellas.
4. Book. I can’t leave the house without my book. And if I’m getting close to the end of my book (or if I’m reading something a bit dry, like the history of the Crusades I started recently which is longer than death), I also carry a spare. I am horrified at the thought of being forced to wait somewhere and not having a book to read. That’s my personal vision of hell.
As you might guess, my handbag is quite large. It’s more of a satchel, really. My last one was army surplus and I still managed to wear holes in it.
So: what do you carry in your handbag?
