Above are the contents of my carry-ons (and the carry-ons themselves) for my two-day trip to Frankfurt. By the end of my travels, this lineup will probably look quite a bit different -- spiffier and dingier. The breakdown:

The back row:

• Peeking out of the upper left corner is my vintage (read: bought on eBay) plaid Burberry trenchcoat and Coach leather gloves.

• Leather messenger bag by A.G. Spalding & Sons.

• Wool turtleneck by Brooks Brothers.

• Jeans by Diesel

• Oxford shirts by Brooks Brothers.

• The black rectangle just below my messenger bag is: My dopp kit, a recycled Emirates First Class men's amenity kit.

The middle row:

• Jack Spade silk ties. Together with the Brooks shirts, these are my standard-issue reporter's uniform while traveling. They rumple easily and, I like to think, elegantly.

• Leather passport holder by Montblanc.

• Noise-canceling headphones by Bose.

• Universal power adapter.

• Leather sneakers by Tretorn. A new purchase, to replace my frayed Jack Purcells.

• Cell phone by Sony Ericcson. Cool five years ago, it barely works overseas now.

• 60 GB iPod by Apple, with stereo microphone by Griffin. My tools for tape-recording. It replaces cumbersome tapes with perfectly searchable, high-quality digital audio. I don't leave home without it.

• Sunglasses (in case) by Cutler & Gross

• The white square above the laptop is: a spiral-bound notebook, from CVS. A buck a piece, and I buy them by the dozen.

Front row:

• Cotton trousers by Trovata, grosgrain belt by Sophie Donelson.

• TWA logo t-shirt by Interspace180

• 12" Apple Powerbook

• For light reading on the plane: the new travel issue of CITY, and issue #2 of Monocle.

And off to right, on the floor, is my carry-on, a rubberized cotton bag by Rafe.

Read more of Greg Lindsay's travel blog, IN TRANSIT.