Ruminations on travel, packing, and maybe I have too much luggage?

[lagilman]

yes, I admit it: I pre-pack. Laying out what I think I'll need, and then fitting it into my suitcase a week before the actual trip allows me to reconsider, repack, and rearrange for minimum fuss. And yet, still I tend to overpack. Go figure.

But in the process this time, I've determined that my been-everywhere, done-everything 20" Tumi carry-on can no longer be trusted (it's fraying at the edges with the implication of imminent hardware malfunction).

[I also have a 18" plainside leather duffle, which is battered enough to look like it was a hand-me-down from WWII. I love it, but it won't do for this trip]

My next-up bag is a relatively-new TravelPro. It's 22" (expandable to 24"), and has served me well across the US, even though they usually take one look at the counter and say "check it." Compared to the Tumi, it seems huge. I'm staring at it, and wondering how it's going to fare hauling around Spain...

[and a friend of mine has already expressed a fascinated horror that I can pack for an 11 day, 2-country trip with one 22" bag. Sheeesh. What do you people PACK? Yes, I have a massive (28") rolling duffle that I've been known to haul out, but that's an embarrassing amount of overkill for when I know I'll be bringing home a half-dozen bottles of wine....]

What sort of luggage do you use? Are you pre-packers, or last-minute-slammers?

Comments

[quarkwiz.livejournal.com]

Yes! Travelpro for the win! I have a 22" Crew 5 suitcase and it's done great. I see they're up to Crew 8 now. I hope one of their improvements was to make them lighter-weight, because that's my only complaint. Every gram counts when you're packing it solid for a long trip and don't want the overweight charge.

I pre-pack, but not with as long a lead time as you. ::grin:: I'll lay everything out on the bed a day or two before and swap things in and out, and I still feel rushed for time when I'm minutes from going out the door.

[lagilman]

I have a MaxLight I bought on closeout (they're at MaxLight2 now) and I love it. It manages to be sturdy and yet not tip the scales too badly, even with wheels.

(next time I might buy one sans wheels... nah. Too many mad airport dashes have made me a firm believer in wheeled bags)

[quarkwiz.livejournal.com]

Yeah, so I just looked at reviews on Amazon of the Crew 8 and there's one from an airline pilot who was rather unhappy with it--said it was a downgrade from the Crew 5. Maxlight, eh? Must check it out if I'm ever in travel mode again!

Yep, the wheels are essential.

[girasole.livejournal.com]

I plan a lot. Not so much pre-packing, as laying out things and Making Lists. I sort of over-pack, but I have discovered that as the years go by I take more stuff instead of less. My own pillow. Sometimes my own washcloth (not always available in Europe, but more so now). The Kindle has freed me to not carry too many books - that's lovely. More than eight days and I plan on doing laundry, somewhere.

I hate hate HATE getting somewhere and discovering I am without something I absolutely need. Hence the lists and laying out of things.

I have good luggage in many sizes, but since I never travel alone any more, something always must be checked. I love my huge Tumi bag, and I love my small Laura Ashley (really! it's old) carryon.

[seachanges.livejournal.com]

I'm a pre-packer, but you knew that. :)

For the last few years, I've used one moderately-sized suitcase for clothes etc, plus a laptop backpack or small, under-the-seat rolling bag for hand-carrying electronics, knitting/cross-stitch, and books. If I'm taking a road-trip and have more space, then I'll pack extra things, like my End of the World As We Know It first aid kit, pillow, blanket, snacks, and so on. Otherwise, I try to streamline as much as possible, and get everything into one easy to handle bag.

The exception was the Alaska cruise. I took two full suitcases on that one, both crammed full of clothes and shoes for every possible occasion. But then, overindulgence was kind of the point of that trip. *g*

[mikaela-l.livejournal.com]

I have an old, small but perfect sized, canvas suitcase that I borrowed from my dad and never returned. *grins* My dad has suggested that I replace it with something sturdier. So far I have ignored it.( I prefer to spend my money on more important things like books)

[martianmooncrab.livejournal.com]

Last minute packer, but I do give it serious thought before hand, including leaving my empty suitcase in the middle of the floor for two weeks.

General rule of thumb is the for every 5 days of undies, pack one spare. Take at least one roll of my own toilet paper. Small sewing kit. Small first aid kit. List of people & addressess to send post cards to. Guidebooks in separate bag.

I am organized chaos.

[lagilman]

Ha. If I tried leaving my suitcase out, I'd end up packing a small cat, too.

(she almost got to go on a cruise that way - see icon. That's her, tucked into the side pocket of my bag, 5 minutes before we left the apartment).

[martianmooncrab.livejournal.com]

I dont leave the suitcase open, due to a previous feline leaving a "political statement" inside it.

Your cat seems to think that you cant function without Feline Supervision.

[lagilman]

She dislikes being left behind.

(she can also open drawers, and zippered pulls. Life is never dull... However, she is far too well-behaved to do her business anywhere other than the litter box.)

[elektra.livejournal.com]

With 20 cats, nothing gets left out or laid out or open. But there are lists . . . .
Unfortunately, I overpack horrendously. I'm better off if I'm driving and I can just throw it all in the SUV . . .

[threeoutside.livejournal.com]

I did so much traveling for my job that I made a study of packing methods. There are all kinds of web sites with advice. I put together the traveler's kit with a rubber doorstop wedge, a flashlight, a rubber sink stopper, a washcloth, and things like that, and I packed VERY lightly. I love getting ready for a trip. The actual journey, thanks to TSA and the airlines viewing us as cattle, is usually hell nowadays, but I love planning and packing. When I visited Paris for 8 days, I took my cpap bag (it also held my wallet, a magazine, imodium pills and benadryl capsules plus kleenex and a couple granola bars) and one little rolling bag. I don't know its dimensions but it's the smallest of my three pieces of matching luggage.

A good rule of thumb is, if it's not necessary (like medicine), you don't have to pack it. Truly. Other places have discovered combs, toothbrushes, shampoo! They even have places you can buy clothing! I lay out all my desired interchangeable clothing pieces, then reduce it by half. Next day, I go back and reduce it by another half. I LOVE LOVE LOVE walking off the plane with my two carry-on pieces and walking right past all those poor schlubs waiting and waiting at the baggage carousel...for luggage that may not ever show up.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

that's an embarrassing amount of overkill for when I know I'll be bringing home a half-dozen bottles of wine....

They do make very fine wines in Spain. Just sayin'.

[clanwilliam.livejournal.com]

When I was doing a certain amount of travelling for work, I bought a fantastic Tula carry-on with hidden backpack straps. Simple, sturdy, opened all the way up and I could do up to a week on it. Then Gideon kept on pinching it and I decided I wanted a wheeled bag. I got an Eastpak Traveler S, which is very lightweight (it's canvas apart from the trolley), the same size and is double-decker, which means I can pack to leave and then move stuff around so the dirty clothes live in one bit and the clean clothes remain in the other. It's utterly brilliant. I also have the largest one - the Traveler L, which can do me and G for a winter ten-day trip together (with a small bag for overnight stops), and I am sorely tempted by the medium size one.

[dennis mccunney (from livejournal.com)]

Wheeled luggage, using a set picked up at Macy's several years back. The issue I see is less size than weight, as I had to do a hurried repack at the airport returning from CA one time because no single piece of luggage could be over 50lbs.

The joys of the wired lifestyle: large suitcase for outer clothes, smaller suitcase for undies/socks/accessories, laptop cases, travel bag for powerstrips, device chargers, and device accessories...you know you're living in the future when your luggage has its own luggage.

But packing is mostly night before, because some stuff is permanently pre-packed in anticipation of travel.
______
Dennis

[cepetit.myopenid.com (from livejournal.com)]

Old habits die hard. I still keep a go-bag packed at all times, needing only a suit to be packed into it. I can get a "funeral attendance required" notice and be out the door in about ten minutes (and, unfortunately, have).

At least I no longer have to use an A4 bag and leave room for an extra set of gas-mask filters...

[mary cay martin (from livejournal.com)]

If I traveled more, I would use the War Correspondant's Rule of Luggage."Never pack more than you can carry yourself, at a dead run, for at least 100 yards."

[scarlettina.livejournal.com]

I use a small, square Samsonite spinner (which I think you saw at one point). I've used it for trips as long as two weeks, and people are always astonished that I can make it that long on so few clothes. Hand washing and non-wrinkling clothes are the key for me. That, and I took lessons from the best of the Rick Steves books. I'm going to need a different solution for my trip later this year, I suspect...but one trip at a time....

[kateyule.livejournal.com]

Depends greatly on mode of transport, of course. Driving, I can throw in my pillow, a bag of apples, guidebooks, etc. etc.

For air travel I can rarely do it on just carry-on. I blame the CPAP, mostly. I will also note that larger clothes take up more room. Together, these are perhaps a reason not to go to the bakery across from our hotel when it opens in 9 minutes.... but oh, the poppyseed kolačky!

We are in Europe for 4 weeks. I got it down to carry-on quantities for the original flight by dint of foregoing humidified CPAP for the duration... it's worth it, I think, but my sinuses are unhappy. My 2 pieces were a Rick Steves rolling bag that is ok for carry-on in its unexpanded mode, on most planes; and a large daypack. Two weeks in, books bought and a piece of Murano glass mean the backpack is full... I'll either ship a box home from Prague (where we lose the car & driver of the past few days), or pick up a cheap second piece of luggage in Berlin (final city, where there will def. be more book-buying).

[jslinder.livejournal.com]

I use a gigantic hardshell Lands End spinner almost all the time, but..

A> With status I don't pay for checked bags and
B> If its a leisure trip I am almost always carrying a tripod which guarantees checked bags.

With that and the use of e-bags packing cubes, the same suitcase can work for me for trips from 2 days to two weeks or more.

[mevennen.livejournal.com]

I pack a couple of days beforehand and make lists. I used to take a suitcase containing books and one containing my clothes, but e-literature has meant a change on that front.

[lagilman]

Happiness, I have decided this morning, is knowing all your essentials are dual voltage. And having a compact travel adaptor.

[lagilman]

If I were flying directly home, perhaps. This trip I'm working on notes, not acquisitions..... ( that is the plan, anyway)

[lagilman]

Since I am not taking my laptop, everything is usb based and dual voltage. Simplifies packing.....

[lagilman]

That is pretty much my rule......although I think of it more as "if I can't carry it through mass transit easily, I brought too much"

[sfmarty.livejournal.com]

When I travel overseas I pack the clothes and other items I have collected thruout the year that I was planning on tossing out anyway. No one knows me in Europe so I carry my rags and leave them there. Got a hole in a sweater? Put it in the travel pile. I don't have a tablet reader,so I take used duplicate pocket books. 5 of them. Three to trade for one, then I will have three to trade for another one, that goes on the plane with me and is left there.

The friend I used to travel with would roll her eyes at me when I would leave my undies in the trash the last 5 days(1 to wear, 1 to wash, 1 to dry and 2 for times when we couldn't get to a sink.)

When I was first traveling I carried a empty rolled up suitcase to stuff with souviners. Now I aim to come home with a fairly empty suitcase. .

[lagilman]

I'm too much a clotheshorse to ever do that on a non-camping trip, although I admit to occasionally bringing my oldest, comfiest shoes that, if they don't make the trip back, well, I was planning on replacing them soon, anyway....

[pbray.livejournal.com]

My packing method is to pile everything I might possibly need on the spare bed, then spend a few days weeping in despair that I don't own a bag of holding, and it's not possible to put a trailer hitch on my house and drag it along with me on vacation.

[mevennen.livejournal.com]

Totally. I need adaptors here - we seem to have several electronic items which don't fit standard British plugs.

[smoemeth.livejournal.com]

I live in a perpetually half-packed state, since I'm in a perpetual state of getting-ready-to-go. I can never check a bag b/c the band's gear takes up our entire checked-bag allowance and then some, so I pack a week's worth of clothes in my standard-sized carry-on and do laundry along the way. (I pick hotels strategically along the tour route so that guest laundry will be available on laundry days.) I keep a separate set of toiletries in my travel bag, so I don't have to worry about forgetting anything.

My only indulgence is making room in the bag for my travel tea kettle. I absolutely, positively cannot leave home without that.

[irishkate.livejournal.com]

If I can't make it fit in carryon I think seriously about whether I need it or not. I often then check that bag anyway so I don't have to lug it around the terminal. But if I have connections I try not to check the bag at all.

If I really must I will bring two carry on size bags and check which ever is the most losable.