Made of straw. They don’t get much lighter than that, do they?
Travel light, pack light,
you always pack too much,
guaranteed you won’t even wear half of the stuff you’re bringing,
whatever you need you can easily purchase at the location, even the whole new wardrobe if you like;
and more of the same … this is what I hear/read in every single travel resource. Travel light.
So true. I know from my own experience many things we pack for our trips come back home untouched so the packing can be definitely downsized quite a bit. However, the South East Asia travel experts want us to downsize still more, travel even lighter, much, much lighter, minimalistically light, ideally, we should fit 1 year of travel gear into a 45 l bag. (Hey, there is hardly enough room for my electronics in a 45 l backpack – what about the rest of my stuff, clothes for example?)
Sure it may work if you’re 20 and a backpacker wearing most of your backpack on your back, tossing the contents away when dirty and then replacing it with the whole new wardrobe that costs less than a load of laundry at the laundromat.Then all you really need is a couple of t-shirts, pant/shorts/skirt and something for the beach. And a pair of shoes/flip-flops. It must work,
(almost) fine dining PQ in Dubai Marina
But what if you are not a backpacker. What if you don’t like to stay in hostels but in a comfort of a hotel room with own bathroom and wi-fi (and maybe even an iron).
What if you are no longer 20 but older and don’t carry a backpack (not with clothes anyway), don’t wear t-shirts, don’t want to buy local cheap wardrobe (nor the expensive one for that matter) but want to wear your own clothes, plan for occasional fine-dining, visit some fancy places for a glass of red, might get an invitation for gala dinner? – then packing light becomes a bit of a challenge, even more so when you’re traveling for months and months and when you travel, the train is your means of transportation.
So, there it is. This is my dilemma. What to pack and how much. Electronics go in the backpack. Yes, I need to have one. My first ever. No need for toiletries, hair dryers, towels as they will be provided by hotels. The only concern is – the clothes. Not that I mind living like a ‘hippie’, in fact, I’ve been one all my life. At heart. But I am not so sure I’d like to look like one. (no pun intended). It could be the ‘age thing’ but I just want to wear my own clothes. Why can’t I? Too much to ask?
not so very different backpacker’s beach fine dining .. with a few
My clothes are part of my life, part of who I am. There is absolutely no need for any major changes or interruptions only because I travel other than perhaps choosing clothes for summer or winter, rain or beach. The life continues. Same life. When I ‘come to town’ I don’t come for a visit but to carry on with my regular life. I may eat different food, walk different streets but the life as such stays the same. Same life different location. No matter how short the visit is I don’t want to be just a visitor. Neither do I want to be a tourist. I like to be an inhabitant, feel like one and be treated as such. Truth be told – don’t even care all that much for landmarks but would rather grasp the feel of how it is to actually live in that particular place and do things the locals including expats do. I’d rather socialize with people living there than other visitors.
There is also another aspect – say Hanoi – Hanoi is not a little village somewhere in the jungle but a large city, a metropolis with millions of inhabitants, offices, embassies, businesses, corporations … people in suits. (And I like people in suits.) Say, I have a business meeting. What do I do then? Wear my hippie pants? Buy something I don’t want to buy?
talking about the hat …. this one is definitely not coming
So, what to do? What am I suppose to do? To clear my head a bit I am currently clearing out my closet. Sorting, sorting, sorting, sorting. Tossing away some, giving away some, packing away some. And whatever is left – I’ll take. My only hope is that it all will fit in one middle size suitcase as opposed to the THREE large ones my son thought I’ll be needing. Luckily the warm climate of South East Asia will slice the volume of my luggage in half or more so there will be room for a gala dress or two and other must-have items. What may be challenging however and what worries me the most is finding room for shoes and perhaps a couple of bags.
There are still 2.5 weeks to my departure. Will update this page and let you know how I succeeded in downsizing my bag and by how much when the packing is done.
