Who here can travel light?

[kari]

So, it's 19 days until I'm off to Madrid. (19 days to a: buy new shoes (I hate hate hate buying shoes nobody makes them to fit my feet!) and b: go to the hairdressers :( ) I've been writing up my packing list ... I always tell myself that I'm going to travel light as the more I pack the more chance I have of losing something, the more I have to carry etc etc.

The abbreviated list currently stands at 33 items and growing.

Advice please.

:)

[Lynda]

Kari. I am the no 1 champion for taking everything with me, but I am trying hard. How many nights are you staying and do you need to dress up for dinner?

The one tip that has helped me most is to lay your clothes on the bed and take a good look at them , do the colours co-ordinate so that you can mix and match, I just used to put lots of tops in my suitcase and then did not wear them at all. Think where you will wear them and plan your clothes for each day. Buy shoes that you can wear for many occasions. I once took 3 evening dresses to Orlando!! never wore them at all.
Decant cosmetics and creams in to small pots and buy travel sizes of shampoo's etc.

Happy packing. When you have it all figured out you can pack for my Cyprus trip in 6 weeks.:)

[tabbygirl]

I'm proud to say that both my husband and I beat British Airways' carryon limit of 13 lbs when we went to Greece. John's bag was 12 and mine was 12.3. Of course our "purses" were rather on the heavy side since we put quite a bit of stuff in those to compensate...

But seriously, we did pack very light. We attended a Rick Steves seminar and got some great ideas. His website is full of all kinds of tips about everything, actually. Don't know if anyone outside the US knows him but his shows air on PBS here and he has an office and travel store a few miles from my house - lucky for me.

We each bought one of Rick Steves' suitcases that weigh about 3 lbs empty. You can carry it the usual way, or use its backpack option, which was wonderful for walking from train to hotel, etc.

Mostly we took clothes that worked for lots of hiking around - t-shirts, shorts/light-weight convertible pants, etc. For dressing up a bit, I took clothes from http://www.chicos.com/store/home_intro.asp . John took microfiber slacks and shirt.

Here are some packing tips for women: http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/tips/womenpacking.htm

Here's the page where actual travelers offer tips: http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/graffiti82.html

We washed out our own underwear each night and twice we sprung 9 Euro for an actual laundry where all our accumulated dirty stuff was washed and folded.

[noflyingfan]

So, it's 19 days until I'm off to Madrid. (19 days to a: buy new shoes (I hate hate hate buying shoes nobody makes them to fit my feet!) and b: go to the hairdressers :( ) I've been writing up my packing list ... I always tell myself that I'm going to travel light as the more I pack the more chance I have of losing something, the more I have to carry etc etc.

The abbreviated list currently stands at 33 items and growing.

Advice please.

:)

Buy a bigger suitcase.

Actually, my biggest problem is shoes. I like to get a lot of life out of my shoes, so I don't wear them two days in a row (if you do, your sweat breaks them down faster, because they don't have as much time to "dry out" as it were). So I tend to want to take more shoes than I really need on a trip, and shoes take up a lot of room. My advice to you is to take only a few pairs of shoes, ones you know will go with just about anything you have to wear.

Lynda gave you some great advice on the clothes. Plan your outfits for each day, but do make sure to take a few extra things, just in case. If you only have three days' worth of clothes for a three-day trip, and on day two, you spill something on your clothes, you either have to wear day one's clothes again or move on to day three's, and then on day three, you're stuck unless you find a laundromat or go shopping.

As for losing things, make a list of everything you take, and, when you pack to come home, check the items off as you pack them. Then you won't leave anything behind.

[EyesSkyward]

The one tip that has helped me most is to lay your clothes on the bed and take a good look at them , do the colours co-ordinate so that you can mix and match

We each bought one of Rick Steves' suitcases that weigh about 3 lbs empty. You can carry it the usual way, or use its backpack option, which was wonderful for walking from train to hotel, etc.

[snip]

We washed out our own underwear each night and twice we sprung 9 Euro for an actual laundry where all our accumulated dirty stuff was washed and folded.
There you have three of the most useful tips I've found. Trust me folks, they work.

I use a suitcase that's very similar to the Rick Steves one, only it's made by Patagonia. It's soft-sided, has no frame or wheels, and converts from a suitcase to a backpack with ease. Wheeled luggage sounds good in theory, but in practice, assuming you're more or less able-bodied, it's waaaaay better to be able to sling your bag on your back and just walk. (Or run... like after the last shuttle bus!) If your bag is so heavy that you have to have wheels to get it around, well... you've got too much stuff!

I try to pack so that everything goes with everything else. None of this "outfit" jazz. Yeah, I'm a guy, but you gals can do it too if you put your mind to it. Choose clothing that has multiple uses and keep layers in mind.

And yes, I do laundry as I go. Much of my "travelling wardrobe" is quick-dry stuff from places like REI. A few minutes every other night or so is all it takes for a quick bit of sink laundry.

You can pretty much travel indefinitely like that. I've gone as long as two weeks with just the one bag, but I could've easiily done longer.

I know wash-as-you-go may sound like a pain, but I personally find it much more appealing than dragging a bunch of pre-planned outfits along, wearing each for only 16 hours, only to have to lug them around as dead weight afterward for the rest of the trip.

Here are a couple other good websites that I often mention here. Check 'em out:

Travelite FAQ (http://www.travelite.org)

One Bag (http://www.onebag.com/)

And I just found this one, which looks good too:

Packing & Traveling Light Recommendations (http://www.verber.com/mark/travel/packing.html)

You'll notice that these sites (as well as the Rick Steves site) all say much of the same thing. Well there's a reason for that... it's well-tested, good advice.

- Jeff

[tabbygirl]

I try to pack so that everything goes with everything else. None of this "outfit" jazz. Yeah, I'm a guy, but you gals can do it too if you put your mind to it.
I'll vouch for that! It does help quell any problems from spilling on something, as you say Jeff. I like the flexibility of choosing by mood rather than, "This is Day 3, I must wear (X)."

Re: the wheeled bags, my mom and sister always use them. When we travel together I usually end up dragging my mom's and I find it awkward - maybe some roll more smoothly than others but I always feel like I'm walking oddly to accomodate "dragging" position. I always end up shoving in the long handle and just carrying it like a regular suitcase. My sister loves hers, for some reason. She's shorter than I am; maybe that matters.

Thanks for these additional sites!

[glamtart]

I went on a 9 day honeymoon with nothing but a wheeled carry-on and a small backpack! In Europe, in November! And we managed to buy a big winter coat while we were there.

We fly standby everywhere we fly, so checking bags just isn't an option for us. I've learned to pack light so that all I need is my carry-on. Here are my personal tips:

1. Take bare minimum makeup... For me, this means just one eye shadow compact instead of three, one color of eyeliner instead of two... I still wear all of the makeup I normally wear; I just limit my choices.

2. Take bare minimum toiletries. And take small bottles, like others have said.

3. Layers!! You can wear the same thin sweater two days of your trip if you wear a different shirt underneath it.

4. Mix and match it. A black skirt can be worn two or three times with different shirts. I try to stay in similar color families so that everything is mix-and-match. I figure if I get filthy, I can always wash clothes in the sink, at the hotel, or in a laundromat. If you take jeans, take one pair - they take up so much room! I tend to just wear skirts (with stockings if it's cold) because they take up less room and are comfy for me.

5. Shoes - take the bare minimum. I love shoes, so this pains me. I try to take two or three pairs... One for daytime and one for nighttime if possible. If I'm wearing a wardrobe based on blacks and grays, I don't have to take brown shoes, so I try to limit my wardrobe choices as much as I can to minimize shoes. Make sure what you take is comfortable enough to walk around in all day. An outfit with cute shoes isn't cute anymore if you are hobbling along.

6. Little or no jewelry. You don't have to pack it, and it doesn't get stolen.

7. Don't scrimp on inflight entertainment, but pack it well. Use a DVD case instead of taking the actual DVDs, etc.

I'll try to come up with more!

[EyesSkyward]

7. Don't scrimp on inflight entertainment, but pack it well. Use a DVD case instead of taking the actual DVDs, etc.

That's a good one too. I like to bring NetFlix DVDs on trips. When I'm done watching them, I just drop 'em in the nearest mailbox. No need to even bring it back home!

Magazines, newspapers, and puzzle books are good for reading material because they're disposable.

For books, I'll often hit a used bookstore before I leave and get a cheap, used paperback or two. If I finish reading it before I get home, I'll stick a note in it saying "free!" and just leave it somewhere (coffeeshops are good for this) for someone else to find and enjoy. :tongue:

As you might have guessed, I just really hate having to haul things around on vacation that have outlived their usefulness. For one trip, I even boxed up a bunch of running gear and other junk that I only needed to use for the first few days of the trip, and mailed it home. :thumbsup:

- Jeff

[LeslieDEN]

I love these tiny Woolite packets (http://www.magellans.com/store/Toiletries___Kits___Clothes_CareTL464N?Args=) for washing stuff in the sink.

[kari]

Thank you all for your help! :)

I'm 4 nights in Madrid and 2 nights at my friend's house. So I've 4 days of travelling for which I'm wearing my travelling clothes and who cares if I re-wear something. Doubt we'll be dressing up for dinner. So that leaves three days outfits (and, try as I might, I just can't mix and match - it's against my principles :) )

I had to give up on that packing tips for women site though when it told me to get a pair of shorts with an elasticated waistband. No no no, I can't wear that!

PS - Jeff don't do that again. We want people to buy books, not pass 'em round! :lol:

[kari]

Thank you for all your advice, I've utilised it all and now my case is so light I could lift it with my little finger. Or maybe not. But still, it's pretty good! :D