Just a question...does it count? Packing light for a 5 day trip, I mean?
Well, I think it's harder to pack light for a short trip than for a long trip. On a trip of a week or less, you're not going to want to do laundry, so you actually need more clothes. Also you're less likely to say "Oh, I'll just buy it there if I need it" So, in my world, I pack much heavier for short trips. And, if we're travelling entirely by car, well, then all bets are off... you end up bringing as much as will fit in the car!
-Krista
Posts: 1688 | Location: Santa Barbara, California | Registered: 21 May 2004
I went away for 3 months on one expandable 21 inch roller suitcase and 1 small backpack. I was travelling alone so I knew I had to be able to handle all my luggage by myself including possibly taking everything into washroom cubicles with me for security reasons! Also had to manage lifting everything up and down stairs and up onto overhead racks.
I bought scissors and a knife once I was in places where I would only use ground transportation so I didn't have to check luggage on flights. I left them behind when taking the next airline flight.
However, last year I tried to do a 6 week trip on an 19 inch expandable suitcase and a backpack. It didn't work and I ended up buying some extra clothes and an extra suitcase. I couldn't believe how much difference those extra few inches made! (But it could have been the Armani suit I bought at the Mall in Florence for a song that made it difficult)
This past March I went to hawaii for 10 days and took a 24 inch and a 19 inch and a backpack! Most of it was electronic stuff with the attendant charging units (portable DVD, Ipod, digital camera, cell phone, gameboy, DVDs) - way too much stuff! I was ashamed of my inability to whittle this down before I left.
But, I'm trying it again this summer - a ten day trip to Europe with an 19 inch expandable suitcase and a backpack. Wish me luck!
I always take expandable luggage so I can stuff it full at the end with my souvenirs. i don't mind checking the stuff on the way home.
And, I always discard as I go - either mail stuff home that I absolutely want to keep and can't carry, or just leaving it behind, especially reading material.
My own personal rule is I never take more than I can carry/roll on my own. I don't want to rely on anyone (even hubby) to get my stuff around. I have to be able to get into my personal bag easily to get tix/$/passport whatever I need at the airport also.
So far it works for me! I used to only carryon-but lately I so hate putting things overhead (I am short), dealing with lack of overhead space (from the heavy packers, ha ha) and rolling it down the aisle, that I check it all, except necessary meds etc. Knock on wood so far my luggage has always made it with me. I like feeling unencumbered while I'm actually on the plane.
Does anyone else feel that in a perverse kind of way, this is one of the funnier threads on the board? We were laughing about it at the Vancouver GTG this morning.
Palma -- you done well, compared to previous trips. This time, no 800 lb ceramic table top!!
If you want an example of packing pros, we hosted the darling parents of some friends last summer. They were driving up the West Coast and when they arrived at our house, their rental car trunk popped up to reveal 2 large suitcases each and 2 little carry-ons. I thought "uh-oh", there's barely enough space in our guest room for the bed let alone all that luggage." They sweetly pulled out the little carry-ons, which were packed with just the stuff they'd need for 2 nights with us. I was in awe. The wife was my girl guide troop leader. Hmmm ... I don't remember merit badges for travel packing.
I don't think I will ever earn one of those merit badges. I spent the entire day trying to pack lighter than last year. The problem is all the electronic stuff, chargers, batteries, etc. I finally broke down and bought a nano the other day, so that is one more charger and cord because of course no one could make a universal cord/charger for everything.
So far my bags seem slightly lighter than last year, but I am not a one bag person. Due to a lost bag which was never recovered (most likely stolen) when flying back from Rome and another year of a 2 week delayed bag, I pack more than I should in my carry on but cannot yet just go with a carry on and that is it...so my carry on usually weighs more than my check in but it all balances out once I arrive.
But for those that know me, I am much better at packing "semi-light" since traveling to Europe. Before that, I could hardly even lift my 2 check ins as well as a carry on or two. Now, it is one carry on (backpack), one check in (rolling bag), and a small bag with the essentials for the plane ride. AND, the bonus is that I develop arm muscles by the end of my trip with all the lifting the bags on the racks on the trains.
I love also Callie's 3 tops/3 bottoms that coordinate suggestion and will try use it for my fall 2 weeks. Try is the operative word here, as I had a huge 28" roller last fall for my month in Rome--totally unnecessary and too heavy.
Charity, overweight people and their clothes are no different than those who overpack...should we prohibit both overpackers and overweight people from traveling? I don't think you meant that, but geesh, it felt so judgmental.
Posts: 241 | Location: Monterey Peninsula, California | Registered: 28 May 2005
Another contributing factor is... if the airlines didn't loose your luggage you could just pack a 24" and be done with it. As it is, almost everybody needs more space than a 21" carry-on so you end up taking the 21" and another to check.
I agree, suncoast - that is almost exactly what I pack (+ weapons of mass destruction such as tiny sharp scissors, an Opinel knife and accurate tweezers). I don't take too much clothing, but I do have watercolour supplies and always several books etc upon returning from France or Italy (things I can't find here).
Thinking it might be worth my while to ship books back. Has anyone done that from Italy? Does the Italian post have a cheaper book rate? Is the post dependable now? (I don't care if it is slow).
Posts: 868 | Location: Montréal | Registered: 29 January 2006
Okay you guys, think of packing in the early 19th century. Have you ever seen the steamer trunks, hat boxes, or stand alone wardrobes. We are packing light compared to that period of travel. Of course then you had porters and bellboys and sepoys and every other manner of hired help.
My daughter is reading a book about Nellie Bly and she went around the world in 72 days and only took one tiny carry on! So even some light packers then.
I have been enjoying this thread because I have been known to be a very heavy packer ( you would not believe what I brought on a trip to the USSR & on top of that added a balalika at the beginning of the trip and shlepped that too all over Russia).I am having lots of anxiety on how we will ever travel light on our very slow trip around the world.
Yes, but Nelly Bly was a journalist, a "roving reporter" and a pioneering investigative journalist. A crowd that has often tended to travel light, out of necessity, and often, out of slender budgets.
Posts: 868 | Location: Montréal | Registered: 29 January 2006
I bought two nice matching rolling duffles for our trip to Italy last year. To make a long story short, the airlines lost our luggage for five days. We were in a B&B near Amalfi and I spent all of my time trying to contact airlines. British Air was the worst, (it was the connecting airline with my American Airlines flight)and I could never get a human in baggage to speak to me. After that experince, we bought two 21 inch cheap bags that we are carrying on with us this year. We found that you can buy many things there, shampoo, etc, and save a lot of aggravation.
Posts: 64 | Location: Texas | Registered: 19 May 2006
Originally posted by readytotravel: ..the airlines lost our luggage ..British Air was the worst,
Gee, I am really surprised to hear that. We "lost" a bag last year on BA. Flight was LA to London to Rome arriving on a Friday night.
We didn't even bother dealing with it at the airport because we had a driver waiting for us (a long time due to passport control line).
When we got to our destination, Città di Castello, we called BA, and the bag was found, in London, and delivered Sunday to the home we were staying in, 3 hours north of Rome.
We were pretty impressed.
As far as packing? The more I go, the lighter my bag gets. No more lugging heavy or bulky bags up stairs, onto trains and overhead bins, up and down bridges in Venice and so on. Yep, I've done all that too, and now a 22" is all I need for 2 weeks.
On a road trip here though, I seem to need everything I can possibly fit into the trunk and back seat of the car!
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This message has been edited. Last edited by: Pauline,
Pauline, this thread is just too funny. Would Slow Travel like to create virtual merit badges for 'Packing Light' and 'Packing Heavy' ? Think of the photo submissions to prove your packing skills - or lack thereof.
A downside of downsizing, maybe: On solo travel to and from the U.S. I seem to attract more than usual attention from security. Would like to believe I look dangerous, but I suspect it's because I'm pretending to be on a weeklong vacation with just a shouldered carry-on.
Just back from my 5 day weekend in Vancouver, and I can honestly tell you that I packed more for those 5 days than I needed! Remember my post earlier? I was trying sooo hard to pack light? NOT! I took 2 pairs of pants, 3-4 T-shirts, a couple of sweaters, and a leather jacket, plus other various odds and sods like toiletries, underwear and so on. Confession time? I wore about half of the clothing that I so studiously packed in my little 21' rolling bag.
Now, safely at home, with ALL of my belongings close at hand, I think it's safe to say I'd have likely been able to take only one small bag and not 2! Eureka! How's that for an AHA! moment?
The other little window into the world that opened for me this weekend is that I pack much more for farther distances, as if going further from home requires more stuff! Anyone else done that? It's not the length of time that I'm gone, but the distance I am from my home and all of my 'neccessities' that determines how much I'm likely to pack with me!
"Adhesive transparent map dots: Get a variety pack from a map store, use them on your maps and in your guidebooks. Use the red ones to emulate chicken pox at the border. Customs officers don't think it's funny, but you'll get a good arrest story out of it." Leslie Strom's 'Things to Pack' Brenda
I learned to pack light when I went to Greece for a month with a backpack (I was much younger and fitter then). I knew I would be carrying my worldly possessions on and off ferries, never mind through airports.
On the other extreme, I went to Antigua for a week and took the same amount of stuff and all I really needed was a couple of bathing suits, and one or two 'off the beach' items. Most of what I brought stayed in the suitcase.
Then I completely lost my mind and took a really big suitcase for a week in London and a week in Paris. I was travelling with a friend, and thought it might be inconsiderate to be hanging laundry in our bathroom every night. The curses we got from people on the underground in London cured me of that forever.
My last trip to Italy (2 1/2 weeks) I packed everything in a carry-on, and then chickened out at the last minute and moved it to a medium sized bag "so that I would have room for purchases". On my next trip, I swear so help me god, and you can ban me from this message board forever if I break my word, I am going carry-on.
Posts: 688 | Location: Toronto | Registered: 18 February 2006
Originally posted by Palma: OK, I am the queen of packing heavy. I just returned from 2 weeks in Italy with a 69 lb and a 40 lb checked bag plus my carry-on. One week into the trip, I spent 261Euro to MAIL MYSELF home clothes and dirty laundry to make room for stuff I bought. It was also quite cold, so I sent home short sleeves and kept mostly jeans, sweaters and jackets. I traveled with 2 other women, so my usual schleppopotomus husband was not with me to carry anything. What did I learn? Bring fewer shoes, no one cares (except me) if I accessorize well, always take a leather jacket, even in May! Don't travel to Italy without my husband!
Ahhh another woman after my own heart. Every time I start packing for Italy my husband starts singing "Let me be your beast of burden"!! Between the 2 of us we had 4 suitcases - 2 full size and 2 medium plus my wheelchair. Weight was just under the 75 pounds per bag that BA imposes. And yes Jane we bring our plastic hangers and laundry detergent (hypoallergenic).
Now let me add a caveat. We go and stay in one place. This last trip we did travel for one week. We did NOT take our big suitcases for our traveling week but instead packed down into 1 medium case for the 2 of us. The other cases resided at the baptist parsonage in Roma that week. Believe me porters in Italian trains are figments of your imagination. Even with prenotazione with the wheelchair they would move me on the forklift but hubby had to haul the bag.
Wierd things I have packed include an air mattress and air pump, brownie mix, an IPOD and speakers (gotta have my tunes), spices, good knives (man were they a BI*** to get through security even in checked luggage!!!) a lap top, and probably the wierdest thing yet? A 1988 Amiga computer. Fabio's had died and he wanted spare parts - this man can do more with a TRS 80/Amiga than I can with a top of the line brand new IBM laptop!!
Thinking it might be worth my while to ship books back. Has anyone done that from Italy? Does the Italian post have a cheaper book rate? Is the post dependable now? (I don't care if it is slow).
Yes, I've shipped books back. It's a very complicated process from Italy and I was grateful that Nathalie was with me. It seems about equivalent for prices. The Italian postal system has gotten significantly better over the years. In over 100 boxes shipped to CdC Nathalie says she never lost a single box. I OTOH have had presents go astray to Roma.
I always take some kind of good knives (always checked, obviously). You can't cook without them. Usually folding ones like Opinels, but the blade is obvious to the x-ray.
Posts: 868 | Location: Montréal | Registered: 29 January 2006
I spent 5 weeks in Florence with a single carry on, and I didn't wear everything I brought. I don't have a "light packing" philosophy - I was flying standby on a buddypass. I also pack light because in order to fly frequently, I need to control costs - I offer myself up to be bounced on a regular basis. I don't want to check my bags for a flight to Kennedy if I'm willing to end up at LaGuardia or Newark. The best thing about packing light? When you go to _____ (Buenos Aires), there's room in the bag for the new ______ (leather coat)-you can fill in your own blanks!
One thing my husband (this is Mrs. Lazy Traveler) and I find useful is disposable clothes. There always seems to be things in my closet that are presentable, but I don't really chose to wear them much. I wear them in Italy and throw them away. I also take underwear I would normally throw. (I also take several Walmart bags to put the old undies in before putting in the garbage!) This makes your bag a little heavier, but it gets lighter and emptier as time goes on. This leaves room for wine and food purchases. Since the weight limit on checked bags has been reduced to 50 pounds in the states, we carry a very small scale we got from Travelsmith. You hold onto the top handle and hang your bag on a hook and there is a numbered dial in between. Very handy. That way we know how to pack on the return trip. We each carry a carry on and check a bag. The carry on must hold toiletries, all necessary pills and at least one change of clothes in case the checked bag does not arrive. (Luckily it has only happened once and they got there in a little over a day.) I agree that shoes are a problem and we both get by with one, waterproof pair. A person can actually live with this, though I wish I could replace mine with something a little more stylish. I have to be able to lift my suitcase at least once and awhile by myself as we are budget travelers and always use public transportation, and all of this really helps lighten the load. I usually don't get caught with too much out of season clothes as I plan layering for colder weather and take at least one very light outfit that dries quickly so I can wear it over and over if needed. My husband and I both have excellent mid-weight Columbia coats, water resistant with zip-off sleeves so they become vests. They have a million pockets. We have increased our Italian purchases so much that my husband is now checking 2 bags for the trip home. The scale helps us figure out how to distribute the weight correctly.
Topic Closed
So even some light packers then. 
