How to travel light?

How to travel light?

travel lightWeeks pass and your travel date is fast approaching. This time, you have decided not to repeat the mistakes of your previous experiences. You will spend all the time necessary for the proper preparation of your luggage. Indeed, a backpack that is too heavy or a string of small bags to carry can quickly make your life completely impossible.

Traveling light is the solution. What a relief to no longer have to constantly worry about that cursed luggage, to be able to take a taxi or a bus without it becoming a big deal, and to be able to go where you want and when you want. Bloggers and travel sites claim it, you can very well go around the world with a small five-kilo backpack. You still have to be able to know what to take, what to buy and what to leave at home.

Here are some tips that will allow you to prepare your luggage with complete peace of mind.

The choice of bag

This is obviously a very personal choice, but certain criteria must still be taken into account. If you really want to travel light, you will have to take a bag that can be accepted in the cabin. No more queuing at the baggage carousel or waiting at the bus for access to baggage. You will feel free as the air. To do this, you will have to ask the airline for the maximum dimensions of this piece of luggage and the maximum authorized weight (6 to 15 kilos depending on the company).

Ideally, your bag should have a capacity of 40 or 45 liters (or even less), but for some travelers this can go up to 55 liters. In this case, your bag will travel in the hold. There are many models available on the market and you should have no trouble finding one that suits you. However, you will need to select from the start a bag that has a front loading, much more accessible than a top loading.

There are bags for men, women or unisex. In any case, it is essential that you take the time to try it out. You should feel comfortable and feel that it fits the shape of your back well. Subsidiary question: Durability of the bag? It is obviously difficult to say, but you can however control the thickness of the fabric, check that the bottom of the bag is well reinforced and pay attention to the seams of the straps. Be careful, the strongest bags are generally the heaviest bags!

Now all you have to do is decide on the price, the color and the various small accessories that can be useful (bottle holder, rain cover, etc.).

A few organizational tips

Before starting to sort your belongings, it is surely interesting to come back to some good old principles: The Pareto 80/20 law for example, which consists in saying that 20% of the belongings taken away will be used 80% of the time, and 80% of those - these will only be used 20% of the time.

Indeed, everything that we consider essential in our everyday life is certainly not essential during this type of trip. If you only plan to use your wool sweater once or twice during your trip to Central America, leave it at home and find another solution. The technique of layering onion skins may very well solve your problem.

You must in fact ask yourself the question, for each object to take away, of its absolute necessity. And if I don't take this, what will happen? Is it really useful to me? How can I replace it? Don't forget that many things can be bought on the spot in case of imperative need. Also leave aside the eternal phrase “just in case…”. You cannot list all the disasters that can happen to you. Be relaxed! You are going on vacation.

 

 To classify your belongings, there are different ways to proceed. Yet the old principle of lists still seems to be the best way to tackle the problem. First, you will group everything you would like to take into three piles. First the essential things, then the necessary ones and finally those that it would be ideal to be able to take. Then you make the three lists and weigh each item. You will then be much better able to decide what you really need.

Now let’s take a look at organizing your backpack. An interesting option is to buy what is called a day bag. This small, very light bag, foldable on itself and equipped with two straps, can be used daily and allows you to leave your main bag at the hotel, the youth hostel…. Obviously, it will have to find its place once empty in your other bag, but you will congratulate yourself every day for having thought of taking it away.

Clothing Tips

Ideally, the weight of your backpack once filled should not exceed 8 kilos (10/12 kilos represent a maximum). To achieve this miracle, you will have to carry out a draconian sorting among everything that you would have liked to take with you.

When leaving for a long trip, it is advisable to bring clothes for a period of about a week. A good technique to optimize the space in your bag, is to roll the clothes, then store them by category in ziploc bags. You will save space and find your clothes much more easily.

travel light clothing Always in order to save weight, you will probably have to invest in technical clothing made of synthetic fiber or microfiber. Indeed, these new materials are now much lighter than traditional cotton. They wash and dry much more easily, are wrinkle-resistant and have an ideal behavior in the face of light and humidity. The good old blue jeans, heavy, taking up space and taking a long time to dry will therefore remain in your closet this time. The only problem with these synthetic materials is that their purchase price is about twice that of a usual material. Yes, you have to know what you want!

To take full advantage of these new purchases, it is best to find clothes that go well with each other. To do this, choose mat colors. In the same way, these clothes can be multi-use. Long pants with zips will turn into bermuda shorts. Your different T-shirts will serve as an underlayer in case of bad weather. Your wool sweater will become a very good pillow.

If you are the chilly type or if the weather is not good, this time you will need to buy woolen items, merino if possible, because it dries twice as fast as cotton. A big sweater or a fleece jacket should be enough if you add socks and a long-sleeved T-shirt, always in wool. A waterproof windbreaker could close the list. If you are traveling to a cold country, read our tips to be well prepared!

You also have to worry about the shoe post. If you really want to travel light, you can only bring the pair of shoes you have on (and possibly a pair of flip-flops). The choice is therefore not easy. Unless you have come for trekking, you will have to hesitate between a pair of sports shoes and a pair of walking shoes. Above all, choose a model where you feel good, and too bad for the look!

Tips for toiletries

On travel blogs, you will find a wealth of information regarding toiletries. Everyone (and everyone) has their little habits and can help you enjoy them.

As for the soap, you can get a solid multi-purpose soap. It can be used for the body, hair, but also for washing clothes and even dishes.

Ladies, regarding make-up, it is also recommended to limit yourself to the essentials. After a few sunburns, your skin will no longer require the assistance of your usual creams. However, do not forget to take a good sunscreen with you.

Also remember to place your various products in small plastic bottles not exceeding 100 ml. , the customs not hesitating to apply the regulation. Don't forget to put all the vials in ziploc bags afterwards, to avoid any risk of leakage.

It is also essential to offer you a microfiber towel. This will be much lighter than a cotton towel, and will dry all the more easily. Its absorption power is such that some travelers do not hesitate to cut it up to take only part of it.