Why Packing Light is Important When You Travel

It’s going to cost you a lot less money to bring smaller and fewer bags with you. Airlines tend to charge for every little thing (and even more if you are flying on budget airlines). The more bags you bring, the more you’re going to be paying to check them.

 If you have overweight luggage you’re going to be charged a lot more money. You also want to be aware that if you need to collect your luggage at a layover, you’ll more than likely have to pay again for those overweight and extra bags to get on your next flight. These add up extremely fast because it’s both there and back home. 

Packing Light Tip #2

Less Stress, Sweat and Exhaustion

I realize you’re not carrying your bags all the time, but on travel days, it becomes even more exhausting. Travel days are always tiring even without a lot of luggage, but when you’re lugging a ton of luggage, especially if you’re traveling alone, it becomes a sweaty, stressful exhausting day. 

Keep in mind that you’re not necessarily taking a taxi everywhere on your travel days. It can be a train, or bus too. Yes, you can take a taxi to the train station, but you’re still going to have to lug all your luggage onto the train yourself. Make note of all those little points that you’ll need to do, especially if you’re in places where it’s pedestrian only. 

For example, say you’re going to Venice, Italy. You have all your luggage and you’re not taking a private boat to a waterfront hotel. First, you can take a water taxi to get you close to your accommodations, but you have to bring all your luggage onto a busy boat and take it off at your stop. Then you need to lug them up and down stairs and over cobblestones until you get to your accommodations. Trust me, I know from experience, you will be extremely grumpy and sweaty when you get to your accommodations. It will be at this point you will see what you can get rid of so you don’t have to go through that again. 

Packing Light Tip #3

Less of a Target for Thieves

Thieves are opportunists. They will definitely be looking at tourists who have a lot of luggage,  and are unsure of where they are going. When you have a lot of bags to keep your eye on plus figuring out where your accommodations are, or what train you should be taking, you are a prime target.  When you’re distracted, you don’t necessarily have your hand on all your luggage. If you have more than one bag, you can’t keep your eye on everything. They’re going to be watching you to be distracted and sweaty and just annoyed at all the luggage that you’re carrying and be able to swoop in and pick up the stuff that you put on the ground. 

I find we learn packing light one of two ways. First is to go through the misery of over packing  ourselves and really discover how frustrating it is and do better next time. Second is to take advice from experienced travelers, and work at it a few weeks prior to going on your trip to get what you are bringing down as much as you can. 

Remember you can pick up some of the heavy toiletry items on your trip, and also inquire where you were staying if they provide any toiletries. It obviously won’t be everything, but it can cut down on the weight of your bags a lot more. 

I hope this gives you some inspiration for packing light on your next trip. Trust me, it will seriously change the way you travel because you’ll be so much happier. If you do end up buying a lot while on your trip, you can always mail it home (choose surface mail for the cheapest option). This way you don’t have to lug around all your new items with you.