I've always prided myself on being a minimalist traveler. Going away for a month? Give me a pair of pants and two shirts -- three, if formal wear is required -- and I’m good. I'll take only as many shoes as I can comfortably wear at one time, and whatever necessary toiletries that cannot easily be gleaned from a motel bathroom, 7-11 or local shelter. I want to travel light and, short of losing weight, this is the best way about it.
There are many excellent reasons to limit your encumbrances to one bag. Packing is faster. Getting through security is almost trivial, as is getting out of the airport. You have fewer things to accidentally leave behind and startle the housekeeping staff. It’s suddenly much easier to be caught up in an exciting cross-country web of intrigue since you won't have to ask the mysterious blonde stranger to wait while you find your garment bag and collection of multi-colored totes. There’s a quiet satisfaction to be had, knowing you can stand up and go anywhere at a moment's notice.
And it’s a satisfaction I relished, before the electronic age. Now I’m finding I may have one or two extra things to haul along.
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One of the best things about reading your articles Chris is that no matter how good they are, and this last one was fantastic, I get giddy with anticipation on how you are going to end it. You really know how to tie it together. No pun intended. Posts: 2445 | Registered: Oct 2004
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Actually, I find it's no longer worth it to travel light. My carry-on gets all the scrutiny, and maybe I don't want to spend an hour figuring out how to pack toiletries in such a way as to not get wrestled to the ground by TSA. So, whereas I used to travel with just a carry-on, these days I go ahead and check luggage. Seems like I could bring a rifle collection along, if I check it in.
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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I don't trust the baggage trolls, based on stories from airline employees and my own case of bad luck. The last time I flew, I packed everything into my carry-on.
Good thing it was summer, and shorts were in order. Posts: 1813 | Registered: Apr 2001
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I was only going to be in town for two days all together, so I went with two shirts plus the shirt and jeans I was wearing, plus some socks and the shoes on my feet. But I was chuckling to myself at the amount of electronics I felt compelled to bring along...
When we vacationed a few months ago we each took tote bags for our clothing and backpacks for our personal stuff -- neither of us pack very heavy -- and carried both onboard. I hate checking luggage.
Posts: 7790 | Registered: Aug 2000
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quote:My carry-on gets all the scrutiny, and maybe I don't want to spend an hour figuring out how to pack toiletries in such a way as to not get wrestled to the ground by TSA. So, whereas I used to travel with just a carry-on, these days I go ahead and check luggage.
LOL! This is what I felt like waiting to go through security during our recent trip while TSA inspected and swabbed and wanded and probed (and heaven only knows what else) the carry-on of someone ahead of me. I felt rather silly having to take off my flip flops to go through security and commiserated with a poor confused elderly gentleman in front of me that they would soon have us all go through naked.
I had to chuckle to myself as my husband and I packed up all our gadgets for our recent trip. We each had our own cell phones, pdas, and ipods (but we could share the chargers for each of those, luckily). Then we also had our digital camera (which did get used for taking pictures of our niece's birthday party), our laptop (good for watching movies on the plane), and hubby's pager (for work to page him in their dire need). Without all our technoumbilicals, I think we might perish.
Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
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