why do you travel light?
 

I just read a post on travelling/packing light. I was wondering why there is such an emphasis.

Don't get me wrong. I have packed light in the past, especially when I was bicycling. My wife about died the first time we went cycling to France and I told her that she could pack only two changes of clothes!

But almost everyone on this forum is not cycling. So why do you pack light? Is it because you are taking the train and then walking to your hotel? Is it because you can't find a porter or luggage cart in the airport. Is it no trunk space in the car?

Our travels in Europe tend to be a bit more labor intensive...planes, trains, etc. We also tend to stay in apartments, so no bell staff to carry stuff for us.

However, when taking a resort type of vacation, where we can totally avoid ever lifting our luggage as long as we are willing to tip folks, I do tend to bring a few more things.

Hi, just less problems - no checked luggage, no lost luggage. Less weight and bulk to get from airport to hotel and back. Just less bother really.

Mine is, why take more than you need and have to carry with you?

Bill

I schlep my luggage when I travel - its adds to the pain and the glory of traveling cheap, so I always travel as light as I can. When its rainy or if there are bridges to go over, the luggage seems like it weighs 10 times more. If you are willing to pay someone to carry your luggage - then by all means, pack as much as you want.

I like to be able to easily handle all my bags without assistance. I want to be able to quickly and easily get on and off trains and walk thru streets to a cab stand with my bags. I realized a few years ago that no one knows that I might have worn the same outfit a couple of days ago. Once I got over worrying about that, I am a very light traveler.

"Hi, just less problems - no checked luggage, no lost luggage. Less weight and bulk to get from airport to hotel and back. Just less bother really".

ditto.

Only carry on luggage in the last five years.

Here are a few reasons:

* Fewer pieces of luggage = less chance of one getting lost in transit

* Avoid the excess/overweight baggage fees that many airlines impose

* When traveling by train, less luggage is easier to store near your seat in the overhead rack where it is less susceptible to theft than in the luggage storage areas which are also often full esp. in cl. 2.

* It is also much easier to manage a tight train connection with less luggage in tow.

* Many budget hotels do not have porters. Many budget hotels do not have elevators. Those that do are often coffin sized - less of a hassle with minimal baggage.

* When traveling with a group, it can be difficult to find cabs to fit everyone plus a lot of luggage. Larger rental cars to fit a group with a lot of luggage are difficult to find extremely expenive. Public transit can be even more difficult to manage.

* If one packs smart, you can make a few outfits go a long way lessening the need for a lot of clothes.

* Full and self service laundomats are everywhere.

* Gives one the option of packing or purchasing an extra bag en route to fill with souvenirs or other goodies without worrying about over-the-limit baggage fees. Personally I don't really care too much about the fees - they are generally minimal - but I can't stand the delays/hassles.

To me it is fine to overpack if you have someone to schlep it around for you. When I just stay in one place and have a driver pick me up, I do take whatever I want. If I know I am going to be taking trains I pack more lightly, or at least I say I am going to and end up packing moderately.

My downfall is I have so many clothes that I love I want to take more than I really need so I will have a choice. Maybe at some point I will get over that.

My problem is shoes. sigh. It's much easier in the summer since I own the most comfortable pairs of flip-flops (Reefs) that I can walk in for hours and hours, but in the winter? Forget it! I want to bring my cute boots!

Because basically it's a PITA not to.

I've done both - but it has been light for more than 12/15 years now. Light doesn't deprive you of anything. I still take nice clothes, cosmetics/toiletries, shoes, etc.

But 1) European hotels/apartments tend to have small rooms and small or non-existant closets, 2) schlepping "stuff" on trains, buses, through airports is a pain, 3) many places either don't have elevators - or if they do there are steps to get to it, 4) One tends to dress better when they take the trouble to make sure everything coordinates, and 5) it is just so liberating not to be saddled w/ so much "stiuf".

Luggage schlepping is my motivation too. It is just easier to move around with less stuff.

One experience with lost luggage was
enough for me to swear off excess
baggage forever and accept the fact
that I was going to be wearing and
re-wearing a very select group of
basic clothes.

I pack for a month - six weeks in one
hold-all plus a briefcase-sized bag.
And I LOVE shoes and clothes so the
selection process is a long and sometimes sad procedure.

Of course, coming home is another story. I check through
a big duffle bursting with odds
and ends from my trip plus the
clothes I've grown to loathe
and the cobblestone- ruined shoes.




Would I like to go to Europe with big
bulging suitcases filled with all my
fav. outfits/shoes? You bettcha -
but the specter of them disappearing
into the ether is more than my fragile
little mind can handle and as I age,
the weight of the bags is more than
my fragile little body can handle!

Usually, if I'm renting a car for the entire trip or staying in just a few places, I don't pack that light - I will take a 26" bag for a 3 week trip.

I don't do the 29" bag anymore because I'm not that tall and I have to lift it too high to be comfortable to carry it up stairs, etc.

However, if I'm not renting a car or I'm changing locations every few days, I'll pack lighter. As I travel alone, I don't have the luxury of getting tired halfway to the hotel and handing off the bag.

I don't worry about lost luggage to the point that I only take a carry on bag. I figure if I have to limit myself to 2 pairs of pants for 3 weeks for carry on, then I can easily check 4 pairs of pants and buy 2 pairs if the luggage doesn't arrive. If the luggage isn't lost, then I have 4 pairs of pants; if the luggage is lost, then I shop and have the 2 pairs I would have had with the carry on.

While I still check a bag, I prefer to be able to handle it all myself. I've yet to find anyone who noticed whether I wore the same thing twice.

After a while, it becomes a game to see how light your luggage is.

My vacation time is too precious to wait for a delayed bag ever again (or gasp, deal with a lost one).
However, it is about more than making the flight easier. I rent apartments instead of staying in hotels whenever I can. I use public transportation. And most of all, I just know I don't need any more than what I can fit in my backpack (or 22" wheelie). Mix and match solves it all, and washing in the sink. And it's a good excuse to shop before the trip to pick out the perfect few outfits. I feel free and unencumbered.
{I've never travelled in cold weather, I will have to adapt then}

I'm the mule, and do not enjoy hauling more than one 22" suitcase and another carry-on. Moreover, when we rent a car, we look for the smallest available, which means that the trunk space is quite small.

The number one reason is so we don't have to check our bags and then worry about them getting lost/delayed etc. Plus we almost always take transit to and from the airport so it's a lot easier to carry less.

For me it is because I often travel solo, so never have any one to watch my bag to run to the restroom or whatever. Also because I travel on the train, and a big suitcase is too much hassle. That said, I do check the suitcase on the plane ride over and back.

Because about the time you think, "heck, I can pack all that! A car/taxi is meeting us so we won't need to carry it more than a few steps, no big deal" you'll run into a crazy situation that WILL require you to haul it all over a terrain and distance you never could have foreseen. Been there, did that, and NEVER again.

Plus, a smaller bag is easy to maneuver in elevators and trains and a wonderful excuse to buy some new things wherever you are. I am lucky that Mr. Cupid agrees with this, not so lucky that dress shoes are his favorite thing to buy in Italy!

P.S. your wife is a hero in my book!

Bigtyke-I don't travel light-ever.

Last Aug./Sept./Oct. -I traveled all over Italy from Milan/Venice/Florence/Trieste down to Naples, over to the Amalfi Coast, then back up to Rome, over to Paris, and then to Brussels. The whole time I had a 28 inch suitcase with me that I personally lugged on and off boats, trains, buses, vaporettos and also up to the airport check-in. I have to have what I want to have with me, not wishing I had brought it, and didn't.

I think it's easier to travel light, but not quite as light as two changes of clothes :-) We used to do it because we wouldn't check any luggage, but I have problems lifting, and it became difficult for my husband to lift both bags and put them over our seat. Still, we pack the same, as it's just easier going from the car to the airport, and from the airport to the hotel. We do fine with the amount of clothes we're able pack.

Sandy

I travel light because I don't need to travel heavy. There's no point in my taking along the entire contents of my closet on holiday with me.

>why do you travel light?<

It's easier than traveling heavy.

One other reason - small rooms.

I remember booking into one London hotel with my little bag and the family in front of me were American complete with the full set of steamer trunks.

I saw them a little while later complaining that the room was too small to get their bags into it - my room was so small it was easier to go over the bed to the other side of the room

On my last trip, I switched from a wheelie duffel to a duffel with backpack straps. The wheels add weight, and for me, a wheelie bag isn't that maneuverable on stairs. Also, I usually have a camera bag with at least 10lbs of gear in it, so it definely helps to keep the suitcase lighter.

I travel light for independence.

I'm teaching the kids too... one small wheeled case for EVERYTHING and manage it yourself at all times. The 9 yr old gets help if it's past her normal bedtime or on the tube or whatever but generally they know, appreciate and follow the rules.

Really most people have too much stuff and remember you can't take it with you in the end!

Because I am visiting the place I am traveling to not MOVING there.

As a single traveler, it's also about safety. Not looking like a victim waiting to happen in busy rail stations or public transit, hauling more stuff that you can easily manage.

We started traveling light after British Airways lost our luggage.

Woody

Yeah, Alitalia did it for us. Misplaced our luggage for 3 days 12 years ago. We have been travel-lite fanatics ever since.

Odd question. Why wouldn't you travel light? Even if you're not backpacking on public transport, there are still going to be many occasions when you're lugging your bags from a to b. Who needs non-essential clutter at the expense of mobility?

twoflower: &quot;<i>Why wouldn't you travel light? </i>&quot;

Because some think &quot;packing light&quot; means wearing the same thing every day, shlepping to laundromats, and looking like a street person after the second day.

But if one takes the time to plan and coordinate their clothes you can easliy get 15 to 30 outfits into a 21 inch rollaboard. 2-3 pair of slacks/skirts, 5-7 tops and 2 or 3 jackets/cardigans means you don't have to wear the same outfit twice in a 3 week trip . . . .

It looks like it has been a learning process for most people .
The best part : there is always an excuse to buy something Europe.

JanisJ, I don't think that. But I always take a full size suitcase because I usually travel in winter (bulkier clothes) and like to leave room for shopping.
Twoflower, if you can find a way to fit two weeks worth of winter clothes for business and leisure (inc. skiing) and formal occasions in a 22&quot; suitcase AND still have room for a several bottles of wine, 3 or 4 men's shirts (in their packaging), full size toiletries (German brands I can't get at home), two kilos of Meinl coffee, Styrian pumpkin oil, and Austrian apple vinegar, I'd love to know how! Sometimes people do have reasons for not taking a 22&quot; suitcase.

When I get home from a trip, I take everything out of the suitcase and ask myself, what did I carry all over Europe and not wear.

The next time I travel, I leave it out.

Don't ever pack something you have never worn; especially shoes.

Traveling with a large suitcase is, by no means &quot;taking MY entire closet&quot; with me, I can assure you of that!

And I also don't buy into the &quot;mobility&quot; factor-like I said, if I can lug a 28 inch suitcase all over Italy then on to two more countries, it obviously didn't affect my &quot;mobility&quot; in the slightest-and never has, in decades of traveling the world.

While I by no means &quot;backpack&quot; around europe, I always use a backpack for my luggage in europe (and hence pack it light as I carry it). I feel great about my decision while I'm walking through Rome streets from the train station to my hotel, passing folks trying to navigate their rolling suitcases over cobblestone. I also prefer walking around a city to my hotels than taking a cab. It also makes a funny impression with hotels, for example last summer I got the Waldorf Hilton downtown for $100US on priceline, and walked past the limos and doorman and up to the front desk with a backpack and t-shirt. Magic.

I have made five trips to Europe this century with just a regulation convertible carryon (and a small case with a lightweight, handheld computer).

Several advantages I have found to packing light are mobility (I don't care what you say, a small sized, lightweight bag is easier to get around with than a big suitcase) and convenience (easier to put in the overhead rack of the train or on the seat next to me).

However, I could handle a larger, heavier bag. Mobility is not the biggest advantage. The biggest advantage I have found is being able to carry everything on instead of checking it. Twice in the last century, in three trips, when I checked luggage, my bags (1) were sent to the carousel instead of to my connecting flight, and (2) nearly stayed on my Frankfurt to Paris flight that was going on to So. America. In the first case, I would only have had to live in my travel clothes for a day or two; in the second case, I doubt if I ever would have seen my bags again.

After those two near misses, I happily embraced Rick Steves' packlight, carry-on philosophy, and it paid off again this century when my flight to an eastern city was an hour late for an hour connection. The airline picked us up at the gate and took us to the international flight, me with my carryon. I'm sure checked luggage never made it.

In addition to knowing my luggage will arrive with me, there is also the convenience of being able to just walk out of the terminal after clearing passport control. I have never gone into the baggage claim room, and I have never had to go through customs.