How to Pack Light?

[m_calingo]

How about not taking your GF lol................ well i someone had to mention that

Sasha

Well, if this was Whine and Cheese, I could elaborate on that with my own experience...

I now treat travel as the semi-urban version of backpacking, pack light, travel light. I hate waiting for my luggage at the luggage claim section of the airport. On some overseas flights, I've waited up to 45 minutes for my one suitcase to come out on to the conveyor.

As an aside, just wait until those super jumbo A380's come on line. With all the luggage those planes will disgorge, a forty-five minute wait will seem like the blink of an eye.

When I travel with one carry-one piece, I can skip that 45 minute waste of time at the airport.

 

[Return of the J.D.]

My 2 cents:

1. You'll never be unhappy that your baggage is easy to carry a long distance. Hence, I recommend a backpack (maybe an internal-frame one that kind of morphs into a suitcase if you zip it up) over a suitcase. You're much more agile and mobile that way--which can help you avoid trouble, and look less like a potential victim to muggers, pickpockets, and the like.

2. Best advice I ever had on packing light came from outdoor humorist Patrick McManus, who wrote something about how sawing off half your toothbrush handle to eliminate the extra weight was not a bad idea, but clipping every second bristle out of the head of your toothbrush was a tad extreme. It's not so much these two things that will lighten your load--rather, it's the attitude they illustrate: of making lightness a game that requires and rewards creativity in problem-solving. Once you internalize this, you'll be well on the way.