THE PROS OF TRAVELLING LIGHT

We all love holiday and getaways but sometimes it can be pretty stressful to prepare a perfect luggage for a short trip, a few days holiday up to 2 week vacations. We like to travel knowing that all important items go with us. I am sure that already weeks before we try to visualise our outfit for every day, adjust our wardrobe to weather forecast, character of our trip and last not less important baggage allowance of the airlines.

Our first question is… Is it possible to pack for a few days, week or more with nothing more than one carry-on-sized bag? The answer is yes, it is.
And here are the advantages of travelling with only one bag :

The price of the flight is generally lower. So the ticket costs you less.
Once at the airport, you don’t have to queue for checking in as you can do it online before you travel. After arriving to your destination, you don’t have to stand in queue, chasing your bag on baggage carousel.
You travel faster as you don’t need to carry to many things with you and the chance of being robbed is reduced as well.

Second important question is what is the correct size of the hand luggage? Well, luckily we can find this information online, each air company has a slight difference for the size and weight of the hand baggage. (See the Skyscanner Guide to hand baggage sizes and weight restrictions).

Before you start packing, take a paper and pencil and create a list of essential items you can’t travel without (passport, plane tickets, boarding pass, bank cards, some cash). The list completes important items such as clothes, accessories such as sunglasses, camera, mobile chargers, headphones, maps, guide books. We can’t forget to pack toiletries, medication and child nourishment in case of travelling with kids.

However at this points can arise doubts about what could be taken on board and how much (volume of liquids) in order to get thought the security scanning without problems. Luckily this information provide air companies in the section called ‘Hand Baggage’, ‘Hand Baggage Allowance’ or ‘Security Rules’.

Once the list is created we can start to pack. That seems like an art that you need to master if you don’t want to skip any of the items from your list. Depending on type of traveller you are, you might prefer one or the other way of putting items in your suitcase. Some prefer folding, the other wrapping or rolling. Whichever way you like, don’t forget to use any spare place in the case, such as pockets and the corners of the case.

So… Have you managed to prepare your perfect hand luggage? Remember that most of the not essential items can be bought in destination and what is the most important thing is enjoying the trip.