On traveling light.
In about 3 weeks, I’m going on a little vacation. I will be going to England, Wales, Portugal, France, Romania and Ukraine. I will be gone for a bit over a month, which is not that long, but long enough to merit taking a tightly packed huge suitcase along with me. Right?
For the first time in my life, I have decided to travel nearly empty handed!
A bit of background. I am one of those people always over packs. I am one of those people who takes 20 extra outfits, just in case. I take a couple of books, a few extra pens, a few pads of paper – all just in case. You never know when writing will hit, or what I feel like wearing on a specific day or when I will need a whole box of bandaids. I am one of those people that has to have their entire wardrobe and personal belongings with them wherever they go. Lugging around your entire house makes for a very stressful trip however. Not only do you have to carry it all, but you also have the additional worry of it getting lost. And when you’re in a country where you don’t speak the language and you certainly don’t know your way around, navigating with a huge luggage becomes extremely difficult.
I learned this the hard way when I moved to Germany for a few months. I carried two big luggage’s with me. Little did I know that I had to catch a train to get from point A to point B, before I could catch my connecting flight. Running low on time, I began running with my big loads, probably injuring a few people on the way. I nearly missed the train because there was no escalator. Try climbing 40 stairs with 50 kilograms or more. Not that easy, especially if the weight is distributed into huge rectangular luggage’s. However, I think I would have preferred to miss the train than to experience what I had. As I ran to get through the doors of the train, I managed to get one luggage through the door, but the door closed on the second one. Panicked, I tried to pull but I was unsuccessful. A few men got up to help, but we all couldn’t pull the luggage through the door. The handle broke and the train started moving. Oh dear. Thankfully an attendant saw my luggage half sticking out the train and stopped the train. Doors opened and my luggage was saved – however I had to ride the next 30 minutes mortified of my own stupidity. Plus, the handle breaking on a 25 kilogram suitcase is not good, especially if you already have another one to carry. Overall, it was a disaster.
So, this time around, I decided to make life easier for myself. No worries, no heavy loads, no more embarrassing stories. This time around, I will only take a backpack with me. Yes, I won’t even check a bag in. I plan on walking off the plane and going my merry way without having to wait for any bags and then nearly missing trains because it just so happened that my bag was the last to spurt out of the luggage machine.
So how did I go about packing light? I came to the realization that traveling is something that takes you out of your comfort zone and that’s OK. You travel to experience new people and new adventures, not to surround yourself with your comforting items. Most of the time, I wouldn’t even use any of the comforting items I would bring with me. When traveling, minimal is always good. These are some questions that I asked myself in order to eliminate things that have my packing list look like this (I will also have a small purse with me which will hold passport, wallet, iPod and probably a few other items):
Please excuse the horrible picture. Starting from the top: Deuter backpack, a see through pouch with all necessities (deodorant, face cream, some makeup etc), hairdryer (because I get headaches if I air dry), 3 shirts, pjs, notebook/agenda, folder with printed out travel guides and printed out boarding passes and concert tickets, pouch for undergarments (useful because you can then use it as a laundry bag), hair straightner and 3 scarves.
1. Where are you going? Rule of thumb, if you are going somewhere where purchasing a forgotten item or something needed is easy, don’t bring it. Otherwise, make sure you really need it. If you need to take medication with you, take enough for the time you’re on the road + a few extras. Never take full sized shampoo bottles with you – it’s a waste of space and weight. Instead, invest (especially if you often vacation) in little 100 ml plastic bottles that you can easily fill with some shampoo. That will last you for a week or two, depending on how often you wash your hair. Remember, shampoo can also be used as body wash.
2. What will you be doing? Will you be hiking? Biking? White water rafting? Or will you be visiting museums and the more traditional tourist attractions? Having a good idea of what you will be doing on your trip will help you properly prepare and ultimately eliminate things that you don’t need to take with you.
3. What will the weather be like? No matter what the weather will be like, 4 shirts (including the one you wear to leave your home) is plenty. If you’re traveling during the winter, I think one sweater and the jacket you’re wearing is enough. The shirts can be switched around every day, that way the sweater itself will stay relatively clean. If you’re traveling in the summer, well… lucky you.
4. Where will you be staying? Hostels? Hotels? Guesthouses? If you’re staying in hostels you need to make sure that linens and towels are provided. Sometimes they’re available to rent for an extra $1-5 a day. Even if you’re on a tight budget, I would still recommend renting one if it’s not already provided – towels are terribly bulky. Guesthouses are often a nice medium and they usually provide you with everything you need + breakfast. Hotels are definitely the best way to go, in my opinion, but I rarely use them since they’re also the most expensive. This question will also help you determine if you should bring valuables with you or not. Although hostels are much safer now than they were a few years ago, I would still be weary of bringing any deeply loved items with me, especially if these items are worth a lot of money. After some though, bringing a computer with you can be one of the worst things you can do. Unless you are staying in a hotel, the possiblity of it being stolen is there, even if it is not high. Personally, I would rather have my computer for many months after I return than to only have it for the first few days of my trip. There are always internet cafes for the quick e-mail check and hellos.
Other questions you might want to ask yourself:
- Will you have access to a washing machine/somewhere where you can wash your shirt at some point during your stay?
- Do you have a lot of connecting flights? You may really want to consider traveling light if you do – checking a bag might become a terrible headache otherwise.
- How far is the airport/train station/bus station from the place where you will be staying? You might need to book an additional bus or train to get to the center city, or wherever you may be going.
- Will you be visiting monasteries and churches? Make sure you have proper attire for entrance (in most Georgian churches for example, women need to wear a head scarf and in some a skirt is required. Men can’t go in in shorts.
Some extra advice:
- Roll clothes – not only does that save you a bit of space, but it also reduces wrinkling – just make sure you roll them neatly.
- If you do decide to travel light and not check a bag in, make sure that your carry on complies to the size regulations. The standard carry on size measurements are 22”x14”x9”, but always check your airline regulations, as they might be different.
- Travel guides are wonderful, they will help you when you’re lost (make sure you have a recent edition, street name changes are common) and they will teach you the history of the area you’re in and also tell you what you can do to entertain yourself. Travel Guides however can be very bulky and heavy. Instead, photocopy the pages of the travel guide that you need, that way, not only will your bag be lighter, but you can also make it lighter as you go your way by throwing out the used parts. This is especially useful if traveling in many different cities/countries.
- If you’re a book lover, a book or two might be a good idea to bring along for those train rides or a relaxing read while munching down a croissant at a French cafe. However, don’t bring your nice copy of Atlas Shrugged. Instead, buy the cheapest version you can find. Once you’re done with it, you can pass it on to someone else or throw it out. Especially useful if you’re traveling for months at a time.
- Scan a copy of your passport, other essential documents. Upload these along with Credit Card numbers and useful phone numbers to your e-mail or somewhere else online. That way, if you lose it, you can go to the nearest internet cafe and retrieve your information. Make sure you add your credit card phone numbers, in case it gets stolen or lost, you can call immediately to cancel.
- If you’re traveling to a tropical area or a region that is known for tropical diseases, the boyfriend has one single advice for you. Be informed. Be informed of the possible diseases, know how to avoid them the best you can and understand its symptoms. Get your vaccinations done before you leave. But please, do not forget to leave your paranoia at home. Being scared will not help you. Chances are that if you’re well informed and you have all your vaccinations, you will be fine. In the case that you’re not, remember one thing. Having Malaria in a country where Malaria is widespread is better than having Malaria in the US. The symptoms of Malaria are headaches, fever, nausea, vomiting and general flu like symptoms. Take that to a doctor in the US/Canada or anywhere where Malaria is not common and the doc will most likely prescribe some flu medication.
What people most often forget is that in countries where Malaria is a common problem, doctors (even though they might not be as qualified as a Western trained doctor) know it as soon as they see it. And even if they don’t know it as soon as they see it, they will never rule it out. Simply said, places that are Malaria stricken know how to deal with Malaria much better than your average Doc in the western world. They’re surrounded by it, every day. ** Keep in mind that the boyfriend has traveled to nearly all the countries in Africa and has himself had Malaria in Senegal (although he believes he caught it in Gambia).
There are many other tips, tricks and advice out there, and if you have any, please comment and let us know. How do you pack for your trip?
8 Responses to “On traveling light.”
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I write about self-improvement. I write about my conception of beauty and love. I write about happiness and traveling. I write about cherishing the old. And I write Monday - Friday.
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These are some great tips! I always pack too much & end up coming home with clothes that never even made it out of the suitcase. At least they can just be put away.
Hope your vacation goes well! Enjoy!
Hello… Trouble. I never thought I’d call someone Trouble, it’s quite an interesting experience. I had a look at your blog and it’s a lovely addition to this blogosphere! And I think packing too much is a very common problem… it’ll be interesting to pack very little for a change. Thanks for stopping by!
Lots of excellent packing tips! I went travelling around Europe in 2005 for two and a half months, and that trip taught me a lot about what to pack and what to leave behind. Although I do tend to overpack when travelling within Canada (I’m very guiltly of the “just in case I need it” method of packing) now I try to remember how I managed to live for nearly three months with only the items I could carry on my back. I had a very large backpack (fully loaded I was carrying around 30 lbs) but as the trip went on I started to shed non-essential items. Half-way through the trip I started to realize that I could have survived with a much smaller and lighter backpack – next time I will!
I was travelling during summer and fall, so I brought cheap, yet comfy sandles for the beginning of the trip in August, so when late September came and I was wearing sneakers all the time, I didn’t mind throwing out the sandles to make room for an extra long sleeve shirt I bought along the way.
What I try to keep in mind when packing now is that even with access to a full closet, I still tend to wear the same couple pairs of jeans, the same hoodie, the same few favourite dresses. I’ve promised myself that for my next trip (a short visit to Newfoundland to spend New Year’s Eve with friends), I will only bring the clothes I will really wear – my favourite stuff, and not a whole suitcase of outfits I “might” feel like wearing… if an event comes up that I don’t have proper attire for, well that’s a fantastic excuse to buy something new!
As for towels – while backpacking I took one of these towels with me:
http://tinyurl.com/ygkwrqz
Significantly smaller than a normal towel, and it came in handy many times.
Your trip sounds like it will be very fun and exciting, I would especially love to see Romania and Ukraine someday, the farthest East I got while in Europe was Budapest. I think it’s awesome to go with just a small backpack, it will eliminate a lot of worrying about your luggage arriving in the same city as you! Good luck with the packing and I hope the trip goes well!
Alana´s last blog ..A little something to tide you over
Where in Europe did you travel? Since you got as far as Budapest, I’m assuming you traveled mostly in the Western part? I also traveled for a few months most in Western Europe when I lived in Germany. After my experience with the two luggage’s I decided to buy a backpacking bag (same size as the one you mentioned, if not bigger) to use for the travels and that was wonderful. There’s nothing better than to travel and have your hands free.
Indeed, if an event comes up and you don’t have the right outfit, it’s the perfect excuse to go shopping! But usually, if you think that there is a chance for a fancy event, if you bring a dress or a nice shirt with you, you can always dress it up with some jewelry. Jewelry is great because it doesn’t take up much space and it’s super light. Men don’t have the same luck. I’ve always wanted to go to Newfoundland, and I think that once I’m back in Canada, the first trip I’ll take is a Drive through Eastern Canada. Have fun over there for New Years. I will be in Ukraine over new years, which should be interesting since I’ve never been to Ukraine. Romania is beautiful though, you should visit!
On those towels, they look great and I like how nicely packed they are, but I do have a problem with taking towels with me on trips. They might come in handy some days, but I would absolutely hate putting a wet towel in my bag the morning before heading off somewhere new. I’d much rather pay the extra dollar or two to hire a towel. :)
Excellent tips on packing. I love the rolling your clothes idea. Never done that when i travelled. I’m going to do that next time.
I hope you have a wonderful trip.
Sonia
Hi Sonia, I used to think that rolling your clothes would take up more space and would cause more wrinkles, but it’s completely the opposite way around. Definitely give it a try! :) I will definitely have a nice trip, although it’s still a while until then, I’m already excited.
hey, just stopping by from 20sb. love your blog!!
I went traveling a couple months ago through Germany/Austria, plus some of Eastern Europe (I didn’t get to go to Romania though…you are so lucky!!), and I thought I packed light, but as I was dragging my suitcase over numerous cobbled streets, I realized my bag was nowhere near light. ughhhh. next time I will definitely only be taking a backpack.
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Hi Meg, thanks for stopping by! Backpacks are definitely the way to go – I will only take a suitcase with me if I was going somewhere super fancy, with a car and valet parking and fancy elevators to carry my suitcase up. Having said that, I think I will be traveling with a backpack for many many years until I can afford fancy.