Fight or Flight: How to Keep It Easy and Travel Light
Have you ever found yourself at the airport six bags deep feeling lost, anxious, and overwhelmed?
Travelling can be overwhelming, especially when you are weighed down by all that overpacking you did. That’s why the key to a stress-free travel experience is achieved when you travel light.
Not only does it make it difficult getting through the airport initially, it also makes it more difficult to get your stuff to the hotel or guest house, and even more difficult trying to re-pack before you head home.
Whether you’re traveling for business, for an event, or for leisure, traveling light will save you a headache, as well as help you to stay minimal while you are away. Read on to learn how you can travel light, and leave your worries at home!
What It Means to Travel Light
When I say traveling light, I mean leaving some of those things you don’t need that weigh you down at home. Often times when traveling, especially when you don’t do it often, you will have the tendency to overpack.
No one wants to be caught missing the things that you needed on the trip, but you also don’t want to be caught at the airport waving down a taxi on a three-day trip with five huge suitcases full of stuff.
With that being said, here are 5 effective ways to travel light and keep your trip simple and stress-free!
1. Consider How Long You Will be Gone and Pack Accordingly
Again, if you are only going to be gone on that business trip for three or four days, you don’t need to pack your whole wardrobe. You will probably want to bring a little more clothes than you need, just in case the weather is different than you expected, or if you end up accidentally staining your shirt before a meeting.
In that case, bring a spare of each, a spare pair of pants, a spare shirt, pair of socks, underwear, maybe even a spare jacket. Just make sure that you don’t go overboard.
If you are unsure about the weather, bring enough to accommodate for both. Bring outfits that can be worn well with or without a jacket, as well as with shorts, skirts, or pants. This way, you don’t have to have a whole separate outfit to wear if it gets cold.
What About Long Trips?
If you plan on being gone for two or three weeks, you can still travel light.
Look into the area where you’ll be staying, and find out if there are any laundromats, or if there are washing facilities in the hotel you are staying at. This gives you the opportunity to bring a smaller amount of clothes and not have to worry about wearing dirty clothes.
Just because you are gone for 14 or more days doesn’t mean you have to bring 14 different outfits with 14 different alternatives. This is a great way to travel light.
2. Research Where You Will Be Stating Ahead of Time
A lot of times, you can reduce the amount that you pack if you find out exactly what kind of amenities are offered at the hotel or guest house you will be staying at. For instance, most hotels give you free towels to use, free shampoo, conditioner, and soap.
If you don’t have to pack these kinds of items, then you should probably leave them at home. This will save you a bunch of space and headache.
3. Roll Your Clothing Items
This one is huge– instead of folding your clothes and wasting space, try rolling up your clothes and fitting them into your suitcase nicely. This will free up more room for the clothes that you need and prevent you from having to add on another bag the already growing list you have.
Simply rolling your shirts, pants, and such can make a huge difference. With something that is this easy, it just makes sense to give you more space, rather than not. It may take a little bit longer, but it’s totally worth it.
4. Reduce the Shoes!
Seriously, you don’t need to bring every pair of show you own. While it can be difficult to leave any behind, it just doesn’t make sense to take more than four or five pairs at the most. If you can reduce down to three or four, that’s even better.
Take into consideration what kind of events you will be going to, what the weather will be like, what kind of outfits you are packing, and what shoes you actually need to have with you versus what shoes you just want.
Shoes take up a bunch of space when you’re packing, so there less, the better. This will give you the ability to not only travel light, but also save room for other things that you might have had to leave behind because of all those shoes.
5. Buy When You Arrive
A lot of times, you can get away with buying some of the things that you would normally pack when you arrive at your destination, instead of trying to cram everything into your bags before you leave.
Things like toiletries are a good example of this, instead of bringing all your shower stuff with you and taking up precious space in your bags, travel light by purchasing some affordable shower gear when you get to your location (if they don’t already offer it at the hotel as mentioned in step 2).
The Moral of the Story Is…
Don’t bring anything that you don’t need. All it will do is add more bags, and more stress when you are traveling. One of the greatest benefits you receive when you travel light is freedom.
Freedom from stress, from checked-bag fees, and from the hassle of lugging your whole life around with you. Traveling minimally will give you the opportunity to just enjoy your trip, while still allowing you access to all the things that you need.
Check out our blog for more awesome life tips about anything from telecommuting job benefits to self-improvement techniques.
Now go out there and get traveling!