No Check-in
Having just carry on luggage and traveling light is one of the most useful and in some sense liberating part of travel.
And even in life generally. If you know us, we have over the last decade deliberately downsized life! Moving from acreage to a two bedroom unit. From two cars to one. And in so doing removed a lot of clutter and time and money consuming stuff! Leaving time for living rather than sitting in traffic and mowing lawns and repairing broken stuff.
Our ‘phase of life’ has allowed this. It may have been a bit harder with three kids in tow and a business that required a lot of space for stock. But we love this season of our life.
It also allows us the freedom to travel for business and pleasure with out any real hindrances.
In the last couple of years we really only ever have travelled with carry on luggage. Which is not too hard when traveling domestic for a few days interstate.
The stakes are raised, however, when it is overseas and for a couple of weeks or more. Our first real test was with a cut price airline for a holiday to Sri Lanka which had a strict total 7kg carry on limit and to book Check-in was almost $200 more so we gave it a go. Figuring we could buy quite a few clothes in Sri lanka for that sort of money if really needed! We managed it including a computer, but that only required holiday gear and only tropical weather.
Our current round the world in 60 days is from tropical weather in Cuba and Barbados to winter snow at the southern most part of Chile and Argentina. And from conferences in 5 star hotels to serious mountain trekking along the Inca trail. So the stakes are raised significantly along with the fact we both needed our computers for keeping in touch with work along the way.
We have 23 separate flights and at least 15 exit points. So we really didn’t want to be waiting at carousels more than 15 times hoping our luggage made it!
And walking straight off the plane to immigration means you are ahead of the queue and half way there whilst the rest of the plane is still waiting for their luggage and fighting off annoying porters!
Our target was 10kg for our main bag and 2kg for a small backpack.
To get there we had to look at everything we took and see if it can be done different and ‘lighter’.
Bags
It is not hard for a standard carry on suitcase to weigh 3-4 kg. That is 40% of your luggage taken up with the luggage holder!
So in the year prior to our departure we started to find the lightest possible bags. It became obvious that the very lightest were backpacks, even though Samsonite came in with a roller cabin bag at just 1.8kg. But a good quality light backpack from High Sierra came in at just 800g. That is an extra 1 kg of luggage! But even many backpacks that are supposedly light are well over 2kg’s so check the labels and get the luggage store to weigh them. Our second backpacks came in at or under 250g.
We figured (correctly so far) that international flights, which are nearly all self Check-in, that we could get away with the 10+2 kg. Walk on stow it, walk off and keep going!
And buy a set of those packing cubes from the luggage shop.
Clothes
We also started to scout the serious hiking stores for light weight quality clothes. We found not only our hiking clothes but some of our ‘good’ clothes too. They have shirts that are cool in the heat and warm in the cold that can be washed and quick to dry.
T-shirt’s that are made of material that can be worn more than once without smelling and even can be turned inside out or back to front so that you have a different pattern and the ‘effect’ of a different outfit. They are also quick to dry when you get around to washing them!
Merino wool long sleeve shirts for layers in the extreme cold. Same thing on the amount of times they need to be washed and the ‘wicking’ of sweat.
Also merino wool socks. It’s amazing how many days you can wear them before they start to get on the nose!
Shoes
We really needed serious waterproof hiking shoes for the Inca trail so got some lower cut ones that could be used for all our walking (also means you mostly don’t have to take them off when going through security, high cut ones do) plus one other pair of ‘good’ shoes for our conferences (also made sure these were light shoes. Check out AllBirds made of Merino wool and super comfy) and thongs for the beach. If we didn’t have the Inca trail our good runners would have replaced the boots.
Then there is also underwear that can be purchased from the hiking stores which can be washed and hung to dry overnight too.
So you are really just washing a couple of items each day as you go and they are usually dry the next day.
Toiletries
Think about this. My wife decided a few months before to change her hair style so she didn’t need to use a hair dryer and straightener any more. Instant weight saving (and time saving!)
Do you really need two soaps and two toothpastes and shampoos if traveling as a couple? Nope.
We managed to track down a block of soap that worked as shave cream and shampoo in one. But really if you are ending up in hotels most of the time you hardly need to take any of these. Although we have kept a hotel sized soap and the missus a conditioner in our packs. The rest we use what is there and don’t bother packing any. There is no where in the world you can’t buy a block of soap!
A microfibre towel has also been a handy item. Small but helps if you end up at a beach and there is no beach towel supply around, or you end up with some damp clothes that didn’t quite dry (they can be rolled up in it), well worth it.
Those air sucking bags to squash you clothes down. Not so much. Well not the ones we had anyway. They always leaked air back into them so really defeated the purpose.
Zip lock bags. You can’t have too many. Put your phone cords, power cords and medicine and toiletries and other bits and pieces in them and they won’t be tangled or lost. Also handy to water proof items if your bag is not a water proof one.
Computer and phones
We both have the same computer. So we only need one power pack between us.
We have different phones. So I found one cord that has multiple connectors.
How bout this. We used padded post it envelopes for our notebook computers as a protective sleeve inside our small back packs! The lightest back packs don’t have much protection and computer sleeves or covers are themselves not super light. But these are and they have worked a treat! Brilliant if we say so ourselves!
Medicine
As we are away for extended time and ending up in weird and remote places we did get a pile of medicines for the various travel ailments from our Dr. But keeping them in their packets is unfortunately required so that they can be clearly identified if requested. This became quite bulky to say the least! But absolutely needed. Last thing you need to be doing is trying to translate your tummy bug ailments to a hole in the wall pharmacy that you eventually found on google maps. Who knows what you might end up buying!
Packing and rolling
Now get those packing cube thingies and sort your clothes into tops, shorts, underwear etc. and start the Kondo rolling of them real tight and put the like stuff in each pack.
And make sure you keep them all in the same bags as you travel so that it is easy to remember where your stuff is.
As we had definite winter and summer destinations we split our stuff that way. So we weren’t rummaging and repacking half of the stuff each time. The rolling thing does take extra time and is annoying but saves space. Cubes help with stuffing the rolled items in tighter still.
Then have the cubes go into your bag and your second pair of light ‘good’ shoes and thongs, then the random items go around them. Once you get the set up ‘right’ keep doing it the same way each time you pack.
That is about it really. We got the other to check what we had and we explained the outfits and what would go with what to make sure. Did we really need three jumpers if we had other layers and most of the time in the real cold we will have the same heavy jacket on top? What we have underneath is moot! So we knocked it back and knocked it back again.
So you have all your gear, you have it all rolled tight and stuffed into your packing cubes and then into your bags. We did this and came in spot on our target weights. Even with a few little extras, like packs of tim tams for gifts and we even put in a couple of disposable bowls and plastic cutlery for the end of our trip when we are catering for ourselves.
So traveling without so many variables in the destination types and weather would be a piece of cake and carrying less than 12kg is always a bonus on the old shoulders!
Travel on the plane
The standard trick is to always wear the heaviest (and most comfortable) jeans as well as your heaviest shoes and a jacket on the plane. This will save a few hundred grams of weight. And if you really need to cheat put the extra battery packs in your jacket pocket if you have to do a desk Check-in and they look like they are going to weigh your hand luggage.
But do you know what? Only our first flight with Qantas did they do this. Every other airline has simply asked if we have Check-in and we simply have just said nope! No seeing how many items, nor weighing them or really caring! And if you self Check-in there is no checking of weights as there is often no specific weight limit just the size or number of bags or just don’t care what you carry on! Take note Mr Qantas that has 14kg for domestic Carry on and seriously only 7kg for international carry on?
Souvenirs
People have asked what about souvenirs and gifts where do you have space for them? And I say what souvenirs and gifts?
We have no space in our place for more stuff and our kids and grandkids all have everything they need and most of what they want.
We do however collect fridge magnets. Tacky ones! Of the places we visit. They don’t take up much space as we travel nor when we get home and they are a constant reminder of the places we have been to as we grab the milk from the fridge.
This time we have been buying postcards and sending them to the grandkids from the various places we visit. Actually getting mail in the letterbox as a child from exotic places is hopefully more memorable for them than some dodgy T-shirt or tacky something else. And is surprisingly cheap in most places to buy and post.
That is about it. Taking less takes longer by far to make sure you get it right. But if you missed something, like your two pairs of slacks you bought specially for the trip that somehow missed the final pack, then you can always buy a new pair on special in London can’t we?!?
We might focus on gadgets and gizmos we have found helpful in the next travel hack.
#travelroundwithus
#roundtheworldin60days
#checkinonly
Excellent work, wish I could sell that concept to my wife.
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