Lightweight travel compromises

[COcheesehead]

My Eagle Creeks have Velcro.

 

[Montecfo]

Rick Steves has a suggestion for newbies at packing light. Pack your suitcase. Then spend an hour or two hauling it around the downtown area of a fairly big city. Lift it over curbs and other obstacles. Pull it a block or two up hill. Carry it up a few flights of stairs. Stash it in an overhead bin. If you can't manage without difficulty, it's too heavy.

I spent three weeks in central Europe with just a carry on luggage bag and a smaller tote type of bag that I could secure to the handle of the luggage bag. It worked. Also, even on road trips when I have plenty of space in the car, I find I would rather carry two smaller bags in two trips up to a second or third floor room than one larger bag once up the stairs.

Amen to the smaller bags. We used to travel with two huge bags. No longer.

And we are getting better at packing light. Microfiber clothes make a huge difference. We just decide what bags we want to lug, then make each garment earn its place.

Bigger adjustment for my wife than for me.

 

[explanade]

I'm a big time over-packer, a lot of it driven by photo gear and electronics.

I'm more aware of it when I lift my suitcase up the stairs.

For now I don't see it changing, just look out for places with elevators.

I've tried things like getting wool clothing, which is more odor-resistant so can go longer between washing. I do plan for laundry so I may get to feeling comfortable packing fewer clothes. Or may have to even consider hand-washing a few things every night or every other night.

Most obvious way to lighten the load would be not to take my Nikon and gear on trips. As long as I'm able to hike distances with a kilo or two of gear in my camera bag, I'll keep at it.

I do take pictures with iPhone but it's a pale comparison, even on a computer monitor. If I printed, the difference would be even more obvious.

 

[kevink]

I guess I'll end up representing the extreme end of the scale here but after many years of global travel both for work and recreation I've gradually gone from carry-on only most of the time to ultra-minimalist and have never been happier. DW has joined me of late, though with a bit of carping.

Wheeled luggage is not just useless but hazardous in both the third world and on packed public transit (metro station escalators, trains) so we avoid it like the plague. Instead we use top-quality travel backpacks, which are super-comfortable as long as you keep them light. To do so that means they have to be light to start with: around 2 pounds - not the 4-5 pound expensive, complex bags made for so-called digital nomads.
I'll include a link to the single best source of info on these bags and this kind of travel I've found below.

A further distinction is between bags that are maximum legal carry-on size on most airlines (standards do vary and are stricter outside the U.S.) in the 30-35 liter range and personal-size bags that fit under the airplane seat. We most often travel with one of these: Cabin Zero ADV Pro or ULA Dragonfly. Inside that pack we have a super-light packable daypack from Osprey or Sea To Summit or a 6 liter sling bag and that is what we put our plane stuff (earbuds, water bottle, snacks, charger) in once on the plane and is also our sight-seeing bag on arrival at our destination. When packed into its own pocket such a pack is the size of an energy bar and weighs a couple of ounces

Four pairs total of Ex-Officio underwear, 2 pairs of pants (or 1 and a pair of shorts for trips to SE Asia), a pair of comfortable but neutral color shoes with tread suitable for both streets and trails on our feet (plus super lightweight Xero shoes sandals), 3-5 capilene or merino wool shirts (short and long-sleeved as needed), a smartphone with backup charging brick, USB-C charger with adapter if needed and a super-lightweight puffy coat or Patagonia Dragonfly rain coat. For longer trips we may take an iPad mini or Kindle. Total pack weight is usually in the 11-14 pound range.

This kind of packing takes some getting used to, and an investment in key lightweight clothing that can be hand washed and will dry overnight but once that's done it's incredibly liberating to never worry about overhead bin space let alone lost luggage.

Here's a video on carry-on size vs personal item packs:

https://youtu.be/SVlBJyW1FSw

And here's the same guy sharing what he took on a recent 2.5 week trip to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands:

https://youtu.be/mCLK16qUtNY

There's a pretty large worldwide community of folks who travel this way - including plenty of people in their 60's and 70's.