Luggage Travails

We go on a holiday to enjoy. The whole idea is to be rid of stress, not add some stress in the holiday too. Before we start off on this post for you, we would like to give you 2 scenarios. Please just imagine them.
 
Scenario 1
You are travelling from India to USA. Everything ready, sitting on the jet plane and ready to party.
You land in New York and grab your bags for the next flight to XYZ and guess what? You are rudely informed (yeah, very rudely most of the time ) that you cannot take your luggage with you just like that, but you have to PAY for your luggage. Now, how can anyone travel without any luggage and why should they have to pay for luggage???
But that’s the bitter truth. If you are travelling to the US, be prepared. Either the airlines will make you pay for all or some of your bags, depending on which carrier you’re using. So, you may be allowed to carry 2 bags out of India but that really may not help you for US internal travel at all. Maybe you should re think the 2 bags.

Scenario 2
You decide to go to Europe. Your family all excited, thrilled to be going to all over Europe, that too you are doing it by Eurail. You have to do Europe by road. Otherwise it’s no fun at all. You are absolutely set. So, you are on your train, enjoying the scenery and soon comes your station. Say you have only about 5 minutes to offload. You gather your luggage and round up the kids. You get off successfully (though the heavy bags were quite a pain) and the train moves on. You check all your living and non living belongings...and oh..wait...there’s one short. Is it a bag ?? Is it a child???? Oh my god!!! What the hell just happened????
Calm down. It’s alright. So what if you lost 1 bag, what’s the big deal. And in case it was a child you left, well... ooops.

Relax. Just kidding. You just have to catch someone responsible at the station and they will get whatever you lost back for you in a couple of hours. BUT was it worth it? The sheer stupidity of the situation?? You and your family are stressed ...could the situation be avoided?

Well, yes it can.

Over packing tops the list of travel mistakes. Learning to travel light is an art. It has to be, travelling as if your bag has nothing and yet has everything you need. This is one of the most productive and stress free skills you can develop. It has many benefits.

Economy

You don’t have to look for or pay porters to carry your luggage. Most airlines in the USA, charge for Checked in Baggage, you invariably save on that. You can use public transportation like trains and buses with greater ease instead of resorting to taxis due to excess luggage. Why, if its a backpack, you can even walk and truly enjoy the sights, sounds and flavor of the country you are visiting. Scenario 1 was an example for this benefit.

 

 

Security

It reduces the need to have someone else care for your belongings. Give the kids responsibility too. Let them too take care of their own luggage. Thus you are less likely to lose you luggage due to theft, damage and delayed or lost luggage.

Flexibility
Lighter your load means greater mobility. You don’t have to arrive early at airports. You don’t have to wait in long queues at customs to get your bags checked, you don’t have to wait for your luggage when you land, you don’t have to worry about your luggage being lost due to multiple connections, you will be the first to leave the airport, you can board and disembark trains, buses and coaches with greater ease, cheerfulness and efficiency. Scenario 2 was for both these points.



Satisfaction
The bottom line is that travelling light is hassle free, saves time, energy and money. If you make observations at the airport or train station, see the hapless travellers, fretting over something lost or panic stricken expressions. Travel, specially to foreign lands, is unfamiliar and unpredictable. It is important for our own peace to have fewer things to worry about.

 

The Action Plan

1. Make a list. This takes time and you get it with experience. But everyone has has to make a unique list of their own. Discover, explore and create your own.

2. Make separate small convenient kits. Preferably transparent ones, so you can see at a glance what your looking for.

3. Never stuff you bag to the brim. Keep some free space. It eventually will get filled and, somehow during a trip the clothes seem to occupy more space.

4. Give the children some responsibilities too. They will appreciate it more than you realize.

5. Lastly, pack light, pack light and pack light. 



The trick to packing and travelling light is to understand, create and use a list. This takes time but can be done. Always remember to carry a small bag and keep the bag empty by a third. You cannot become an overnight expert and a lot of things are to be taken into consideration. Individually many things seem unimportant but they are necessary and can very easily fit into very small kits. Try a couple of times and you will realize everything can indeed fit into a very small bag or even a backpack, which in fact is one of the best ways to travel.
As we said, travelling light is an art and a science. Understanding takes time but will benefit you a great deal and bring you serenity.