Do you often see yourself dragging heavy bags during your vacation? Have you wondered if you will ever be able to travel light? Do not worry, you are joined by millions of travellers across the world who live with similar dilemma.
We were not that different,
though over time there were a few things we learned with our trips that made
our lives slightly better. Allow me to pen that down for you. You may find some
of these tips useful.
For all of us, travelling to
a destination obviously involve getting the required pairs of clothes for the
number of days we are expected to be there at the destination. If you are used
to buying new clothes for the vacation, this is where you could possibly make a
change. Before letting you know what the change is, let me add a disclaimer
that this option totally depends on the destination you are headed to and the
economic viability of such a change.
Before you buy all the
clothes from your own city for the trip, do quick research about apparel
shopping options at your destination. These days, it is a walk-in-the-park
exercise to figure out available brands and their prices, including designs of
your choice. If these match your preferences, do minimal shopping at your own city
and plan a day or two at the destination, depending on your itinerary, to
explore the apparel options. This way you have much lesser weight to carry from
the beginning of your trip. There is also the added fun of shopping at a new
city, especially if you enjoy that.
Another aspect to be
considered is, the weather at the destination. Pack or buy only those clothes
suitable for the weather. How many times did you have unused clothes in your
bags at the end of the trip because you never needed them at the location? All
of those could be avoided, thereby directly reducing your weight. In
addition, if you are heading to a winter location, instead of bulky and heavy
jackets, try a layered clothing approach. This will, not just help you with
packing, but also with effective use of clothes at your winter wonderland.
One other thing many people
carry with them are food of different kinds. This is especially true for
vegetarians since many times, options for them are quite limited when they
travel across different countries in the world, especially in Europe and some
places in far East. Even for those who are not used to the European smoked meat
and other kinds of food, their options for food are very less. Hence, they
carry ready-to-eat and other varieties of food with them.
For many, these not just add
to the weight, but can also pose an issue with Customs officers at certain
countries. An alternate to this is, in many countries if you could locate good supermarkets,
you could get options including ready to grill meat, salads and various other
options that you could easily prepare at your hotel room if you have a kitchen
or a kitchenette. Alternately you could get a compact grill with you which
helps you prepare the food at your convenience and preference.
For those things you
necessarily need to carry, ensure that you find light weight alternatives. Get
rid of cardboard boxes and glass materials if you tend to carry any items that
come packed in these materials. Learn to apply minimalism in your trips, where
possible, so that you do not end up carrying unwanted things with you thereby
just adding to your discomfort.
Remember, you are travelling
to see the world and experience new things. It is not to take your home with
you wherever you go. Sometimes the perceived inconvenience gives you new
avenues to explore, that may turn out to be one of the best experiences from
your trip.
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