Many months ago I published a blog that showed the luggage I
had gathered for my travels. Here it is again.
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| The original plan - too many bags. |
Well, the big purple duffel bag didn’t make on the first
plane. Neither did the green backpack or the collapsible luggage carrier I
bought. It took me days to wheedle down my possessions into what I considered “must
haves”.
Well, I’m here to tell you that many of the things we think we can’t
live without are actually quite expendable. The following picture shows a
further cleansing that resulted in the Rubio’s bag full of things I gave the
maids when I left the Philippines.
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| Donated journal, book, clothing, perfume, shoes, etc. |
Now I’ve traded the small purple
carry-on for a much smaller and lighter duffel (yes, purple) like you might buy
for a gym bag. Lightweight is the key here.
I’ve scoured my possessions,
weighed them in my hands to further eliminate heavy packaging. For instance I
had a foundation that was in a glass container and surprisingly heavy. I
scraped the makeup into a small plastic container and lost about 4 oz. of
unnecessary weight.
My prized huge beach towel will
stay behind in Thailand too. In nearly two months, I’ve never actually used it
except for swimming in the pool at Alona Beach where towels were provided. Out
it goes.
You quickly learn to be brutal
about the shedding of unwanted weight (in my luggage, that is) because paying
extra in baggage fees on short flights is unpleasant. From Manila to Cebu on
AirAsia was only $32 but the extra baggage weight cost me an additional $92!
If you decide to travel as a
lifestyle, you are bound to go through a similar process unless you’ve been a
major traveler for years. It is much different to spend two weeks living in a
place and move on constantly than to go somewhere for pleasure alone. The party
dress isn’t needed in my world but if I was headed to Cancun for a week, the
beach towel would be an absolute must. Another thing I realized is that I don’t
need to have as many changes of clothes because there’s no time for other
people to get sick of my ten tops (I’m the only one to suffer that fate).
So if you’re headed out on
long-term travel, think through your options carefully and KEEP IT SIMPLE!
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