Travelling light

I'm not sure whether I developed the habit of packing for ‘what if scenarios‘ or if I've always had it, but up until recently I've definitely been guilty of overpacking. I'll take along a whole load of stuff for a series of imagined events and situations that, in reality, are never likely to occur: A spare pair of jeans and a couple of extra t-shirts just in case one of them gets dirty or trashed; a spare pair of shoes so I have a choice of what to wear; wet weather gear just in case it's wet, warm weather gear just in case it's hot. All of it adds up. I think a lot of people subscribe to a similar way of thinking when it comes to packing for holidays or travel. This just-in-case mentality results a bulging, heavy luggage; and I hate carrying a heavy luggage.

This last weekend I travelled to London to catch up with a few friends, working from a café on the Friday. Normally when I'm in London I'll stay with different people each night, which means lugging my day pack around with me each day on tubes, trains and buses. It sucks when my day pack is rammed. So this time I decided to keep things to the bare minimum. No what-if-items. Nothing just in case. I only packed what I knew I would use, and nothing more. The list included (not including what I was wearing, which was 3/4 jeans, a t-shirt, cardigan, undies, socks, shoes, sunnies, wallet and phone):

• 1 t-shirt
• 1 shirt
• 1 wet weather jacket
• 2 pairs undies
• 2 pairs socks
• Thongs (for feet)
• Deodorant
• Toothbrush
• Laptop and power cord
• Keys
• Phone charger
• A book

That list would normally be twice as long (and in hindsight I could have gone even lighter with a bit of research and planning, ditching the wet weather jacket and phone charger).

Travelling light means you have less decisions to make, because if you don't have something when you get to your destination, then there is no decision to make (and it seems to me people have a hard enough time making decisions anyway). If you really need something you can always borrow or buy when you get there. Travelling light gives you a feeling of being more free. You're responsible for less, you have less to lose, and subconsciously you have less on your mind. You have less to carry, and your arms, shoulders and back don't ache after long periods of travel.

How often do you hear people say ‘I hate packing!’ People hate packing because it becomes an ordeal when there's too much to fit in and not enough room to fit it; too many decisions to make as a result of superflous just-in-case scenarios. It becomes an organisational nightmare and just about requires a project manager to figure out what goes where and in which order. The solution is to take less. If in doubt leave it, and save yourself a bit of time whilst packing, and a decision when you get to your destination. What's the worst that could happen? - chances are it probably won't happen; and it won't be that bad if it does. Less is definitely more.