I have packed so shockingly bad for this trip to India. For some reason, I was under the notion that I would be freezing my ass off in Uttarakhand and Kashmir and, while it is chilly, I don’t really need thermal underwear or fleece and, consequently, have items of clothing that are useless baggage weight when I could have more space for shopping. Goddamit.

One thing that I do have that I don’t regret having along is this:

Last night, it got especially nippy and, when I was still cold after putting on a sweater and trying to warm my hands under my butt, I finally brought out one of these. Friends had sworn by them, and I don’t know why I had waited so long to try them when I’d been lugging ten of them in my bag all this time…

It’s an adhesive that, when exposed to air, heats up. Don’t ask me how. You’re supposed to stick it on your clothing and it takes about 20 minutes to reach its maximum temperature and it supposedly stays warm for about 12 hours.

Anyway, last night, I finally peeled one off and stuck it to the front of my sweater, and it was like having a hot water bottle stuck to my belly. I would have stuck some to the soles of my socks as well, but I didn’t think Nicolas would have been amused.

Grabber Warmers. They’re a good buy. Only P100 from True Value.

Follow the directions. Except for the one about not sleeping with them but, then again, I don’t really sleep. So if you’re a heavy sleeper, you might want to monitor how hot they get first, lest you awake with a nasty burn on your belly. Or the soles of your feet. I had two layers on: a cotton night shirt and the pullover I got from Chile. The Grabber Warmer wasn’t searing hot, although it might have been had I only had the cotton shirt on. With the pullover, it was warm enough so that I kicked off the blanket in the middle of the night and was quite content with a thin sheet.

Unless those were hot flashes and not the Grabber Warmer…

Har.

Bugger that. I’m putting them on my socks tonight.