Of all the travel skills you might acquire, travelling light is the one most likely to result in enjoyable, productive, stress-free travel experiences.
Doug Dyment, “The Go-Light Guru,” one bag.com
Welcome to Packing Light Travel, a site dedicated to helping travellers refine the art of packing and travelling light. If you would like to hone your skills in these areas, or simply share what works for you, you’ve come to the right place.
Sprinkled among the tips and resources on packing and travelling light are destination posts describing various travel adventures. You’ll also find tips on how to reduce costs by travelling on miles and points. Hopefully you’ll find them useful when planning your own travels.
Packing and travelling light
The concepts ‘packing light’ and ‘travelling light’ are the threads that inspire and link what you’ll find on the site. I see them as having physical, mental, and emotional dimensions.
Packing light is the physical piece. It’s about choosing luggage and its contents to make the best use of space and weight limitations to travel unencumbered by ‘stuff’ but includes the bare essentials.
Travelling light deals with the mental and emotional aspects of preparing to travel. It’s concerned with leaving home and familiar surroundings and worrying less about what was left behind or undone. It means having fewer qualms about not having the tools to deal with an emergency. At the same time, it’s about being prepared to embrace the excitement of travel and appreciating what’s new and different about places you’ll visit.
They’re connected and interdependent. Both contribute to “enjoyable, productive and stress-free travel experiences.”
My own ‘go-light’ story
I left Australia in 1972 (in my early twenties), travelled for a few years, and ended up settling in Canada.
The mostly minimalist packing style of my youth was guided by the fact I owned few possessions. Besides, I quickly learned that packing only what I could carry kept me mobile and spontaneous. This came in handy when trading an old motorcycle in Iran for three Persian carpets, or when the Volkswagen Kombi picked up for a song in Munich died on the way to Istanbul. Hitchhiking in the Middle East or jumping freight trains in Canada were so much easier if one packed light. The post, What was it like to tavel in the 1970s? What’s better — then or now?, captures some of the highlights of what it was like to travel in that era.
Munich, 1972
Now retired, I’ve refined the packing style of my youth. I still like to be mobile and spontaneous, yet well prepared and organized for each new travel experience. Compared to the earlier years, I’ve money to spend on taxis, hotels, and restaurants. However, I relish the sense of satisfaction and accomplishment from travelling on points, navigating public transportation, and staying in hostels.
Equity Point Hostel, Marrakech, 2015
What I’ve learned about packing light has transformed me into an enthusiastic and dedicated carry-on traveller. Needless to say, I believe the art of packing and travelling light has elements unique to individual travellers.
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Contact
I can be reached via email at anne@packinglighttravel.com. I’d love to hear from you.
Disclosure: I also write about specific products and services I’ve used, especially those I would heartily recommend to family and friends. Please note that some of the links are affiliate links, meaning the site earns a small commission if a purchase is made. Blogging is my hobby but there are costs associated with managing a website. Affiliate links help support the costs of maintaining the Packing Light Travel website and keeping it free of advertisements.
