Make trips easy by packing light
Start a list, whittle it down to the stuff you really need
There’s a knack to knowing what to pack and what to leave behind.
Some travellers are good at it and the rest of us keep coming home with non-essentials lugged from here to Timbuktu and back.
Remember that your goal is to have a relaxing vacation; taking in the sights and not being a slave to your excess luggage.
Yes, taxis, trains, buses, boats and airplanes can accommodate all of your stuff in their trunks and cargo holds, but then there are all the points in between that you’ll be hauling it around.
And if your hotel checkout time is noon and your departing flight is several hours later, or vice-versa, do you want to spend the in-between time bogged down guarding all your gear?
Think of the money saved by not checking baggage, facing less risk it gets delayed, lost or stolen and the convenience of not having to wait around crowded baggage carousels.
Not only will you breeze past lumbering travellers and their loaded luggage carts, but with less stuff to tote you’ll spare your back, legs and feet the hoisting and hauling excess freight requires.
The first step in attaining balanced baggage is drawing up a checklist of travel necessities. Starting well in advance of the trip gives you time to think about the things you must have and scratch off the items you can do without.
Seasoned travellers are able to pack everything they need into one carryon piece of luggage and a smaller pack, bag or purse, allowing them to be the first to clear customs having bypassed the log-jammed throng in airport arrivals and departures areas.
“The weight of your luggage is equally proportionate to your level of misery on the road.”
That’s a phrase coined by “Professional Hobo” Nora Dunn, a Canadian travel blogger with a decade’s worth of expertise from roaming the globe with just her carry-on kit.
And it’s a sentiment widely shared by experienced travellers all over the globe.
Travel light tips:
Check with your air carrier on the amount, size and weight of the carryon luggage you are allowed to bring on board. In most cases, a carry-on suitcase and an additional small bag, purse or foldable garment bag are permitted per passenger. Wheels and handles must be within the allowable size limits.
Choose a good carry-on suitcase or backpack to hold all the clothing and other essentials you’ll need, and a smaller bag or purse for documents and personal-care items. Keep in mind the 100-millilitre limit on liquid items such as shampoo allowed on flights.
Make a checklist of all the things you think you need to pack and gradually whittle it down to the things you really need. Don’t take more toiletries than you’ll need for your stay and make do with hotel soap and shampoo. Make it your mission to be a lean, mean, minimalist packing machine.
Packing cubes compress clothing and other items to maximize baggage space, but rolling clothes tightly and squeezing them into a tight arrangement reduces the space that cloth, mesh and plastic cubes themselves take up.
In addition to the shoes you’ll have on — wear the heavier hiking boots and pack the loafers — the packed pair is a great place to stow socks, underwear, eye glasses, toiletries, etc. Flip flops double as casual outdoor and indoor footwear; they weigh little and pack tightly. The clothes you pack should be few and in complimentary colours to mix and match.
Pack for the climate you are going to and consider layers of clothing, a hoodie or a sweater for cool evenings instead of lugging bulky outerwear that takes up luggage space.
Restrict yourself to just one compact device, such as a smartphone — if you really need to stay connected — otherwise you’ll need more luggage space to haul stuff such as blow dryers, coffee makers, laptops and boom boxes, which may also require voltage converters, chargers and other accessories.
If you pack a minimal amount of clothing in carry-on luggage, it leaves you space for things you may want to purchase at your destination that you can’t get back at home, such as a guayabera, a serape, kimono or kilt.
While stuff you buy abroad will all have to fit in your carry-on, having an extra bag of duty-free is okay either way, on both departure and arrival flights.
Consider that the money you save in excess baggage charges when travelling by taxi, bus, rail, boats and planes, and tipping bell hops and porters, will leave you more money to spend on what should be an enjoyable stress-free trip. Contact Henry Stancu at hstancu@thestar.ca.