Some Tips for Packing Light
Musings—Mar 01, 2010
The Beginning
Finally, we get to some tips for packing light. By the way, thank you for indulging me in my last two musings about travelling light.
Because packing light is such a point of contention for many travellers and packers (and for those who sit on the edge of the bed and watch from the sidelines as they do it), I decided it would be best to ease into the ‘what to pack, what not to pack’ quandary rather cautiously.
There are two main principles that I always keep in mind, and make every attempt to practice, each time I pack for a trip—whether it is just overnight or for a couple of weeks.
- Take things you know you need.
- Take things that you know will add to the pleasure of your trip (including the getting to the destination, the time you are there, and the coming back home again).
Subsequently, there are two more main principles that I also take into account and that help shape my decisions about what eventually gets put into the bag(s).
- Try not to take more than you can physically carry yourself.
- Try not to put anything into the bag(s) that is prefaced with the thought “this might come in handy” or “I might need this”.
Notice I used the words “try” and “might”—none of this stuff is written in stone. Just do your best to pack so that you feel good about what you take and don’t take, and you don’t fret about any of it. One quirky thing I do after I get home, is I think about and evaluate in my head—did I need all that I packed, did I use all that I packed? And then I modify my packing list to reflect my new insights. Yes, I have a typed packing list I refer to. I am not beholden to it, I use it as a reference point, and it has been invaluable to me.
Travelling light is not what you will always want to do. For instance, when I am going on a road trip in the car, I indulge myself a bit and pack additional things. Just because I can. Just because I choose to. Just because I know I have room in the trunk. Just because it works for me to do so.
I have also packed very light when I travelled by car too. On one such occasion I was going on a long road trip with 3 family members and thought it was the responsible thing to do. I was going by car to Ontario with my sister (a different sister than mentioned in the previous travel light blogs) and two teenage nieces and I knew space would be limited. Of course I packed light because of that fact. Had I known that as I went to open her trunk to place my meagre backpack in, I would find a trunk totally jammed full of their stuff, I would have offered to provide some suggestions before they packed up the full size bottles of shampoos and other toiletry items, and began to pack the multiple backpacks and bags they managed to fill.
And for that trip we all packed for summer weather. After all, we were going to Ontario in July, and it is always hot there in July. Well, not the summer we went. It rained and was cold almost the entire time we were gone. Lessons learned. Lessons noted for next time I pack for Ontario in the summer.
Lest you should begin to think I am a perfect packer—I AM NOT. I’ve packed things that I never even needed once.
I’ve packed several outfits that never made it out of the suitcase.
I’ve packed things ‘just in case’, and ‘just in case’ never happened—not even once.
There are some things I always take just in case. First aid things. Who wants to wake up sick to their stomach or with a headache and not have anything to take? Who wants to try and find a 24hr pharmacy in an unfamiliar city? Not me! I take small amounts of common things that any medicine cabinet should have on hand.
One thing I’ve done warrants the telling of a story. (too bad it isn’t just a story, but a true occurrence!). I had a “carry-on approved size bag” which I was allowed to take on board the first plane on one leg of a trip back from Mexico. After I carried the bag across the tarmac to walk up the steps to the second plane I was told that the bag would have to be put in the hold; in other words, shoved into the dark depths of the plane before I would be allowed to board. I told the lovely, smiling flight attendant that I had some breakables in my bag and I didn’t think they were packed securely enough for that. I also told her that another airline allowed it as a carry on—and was she sure it wouldn’t be the case here. Oops! Wrong thing to say. Her smile left, and was replaced by a stern look. She basically told me that I was not getting on the plane with that bag… said and done! No choice but to let them put it in the hold.
Had I anticipated that, I would have packed differently. I would not have put that bottle of nice “imbibement” in my backpack among my clothing, and so near that large textbook that I also had in the bag. (I was taking a little holiday south and also taking a university degree. I, being the responsible person that I am actually took schoolwork to do—which I actually did do!). If only I had listened to the little voice in my head that was telling me to just take the bottle out. Sleep deprivation fogged my better judgment, and I resigned myself to giving them my bag.
The first sign of trouble was not when I took my bag from the luggage carousel but when I noticed the liquid dripping from my bag as I made my way from the baggage collection area. After a trip to the washroom to clean up the mess inside my bag, I went home. Lesson learned. Lesson noted for next time. My textbook never recovered and was never the same again. Although it did garner a lot of stares from the other students during that class.
