What to Pack and what not to Pack
Although there are still a few more things I take for granted as a frequent flier (see post No 2), I have decided to discuss the very tricky point of what to pack and what not to pack. This will probably also be in a few posts!
Packing will be very different for a man and a woman, and in most cases, woman will need much more stuff. Having said this, I recently travelled to scientific conferences in Singapore and Scotland with a few of my female post graduate students. I was very surprised and most impressed with the small suitcases that most of them had with them. Very impressed ladies!
When packing, there are a few basic rules which will go a long way to help with the packing and making a pleasant trip.
1) Weight limits. All airlines have weight limits for both checked luggage and cabin luggage. Stick to these weight limits! Make sure that you know the weight limits on all of the flights you are doing, including internal flights. Most carriers have a 20kg weight limit. This is pretty much the international standard, but it does not always apply! For example, the domestic flights in India have a 15kg weight limit which is normally very strictly applied. It is quite a surprise when you have packed very carefully and managed to get you case to the 20 kg limit for your international flight to find out that you are now 5 kg over the limit for your domestic flights in India!
2) Think about coming home. If you start your journey with a case which weights 20 kg, how and where are you going to put all the things you buy on your travels? Leave a bit of spare "weight" so that you can get a few things on your travels. I have a little trick which can help with a bit of spare packing capacity. As I mentioned in the first post, I am a keen photographer. Camera equipment and lenses are quite heavy. I have a nice camera bag which holds most of my camera equipment with a bit of spare space for the international adaptors, cel phone changers, headphones and other essential items. I normally put my camera bag into a small cabin bag (which must have wheels). This is not as dumb as it sounds - for two very good reasons. As I have mentioned before, the camera bag gets quite heavy. Walking around at the airports with the camera bag on your back is quite uncomfortable (not to mention the fact that you could very easily knock things off the shelves in the crowded duty free shops!) It is much easier to have the heavy camera equipment inside a cabin bag with a set of wheels. The other good reason for doing this, is that when you take the camera bag out of the cabin bag, you have an empty bag! Very handy if you are a compulsive shopper (which I am not) and your checked bag has reached it weight and packing limit. You can normally get passed the one cabin bag policy on most flights if you have a cabin bag, which is not too heavy (normally a 7 kg limit on the cabin bag) and a camera bag with expensive camera equipment in.
3) You must be able to carry your own luggage. There is a very big difference between being able to drag you suitcase along a nice flat surface on its wheels and being able to carry your luggage. Unfortunately the world is not flat! Many train stations, bus stations and hotels might (and often do) have steps. The metro stations in Paris, for example, pretty much all have steps! There is a big difference between being able to drag you luggage and lugging it up steps. Make sure that you can not only drag you luggage but can also lift it. Getting on and off a train can also be a mission if your suitcase is too heavy for you to lift. Just another photo taken from the plane. This is the horn of Africa from the air!.
Packing will be very different for a man and a woman, and in most cases, woman will need much more stuff. Having said this, I recently travelled to scientific conferences in Singapore and Scotland with a few of my female post graduate students. I was very surprised and most impressed with the small suitcases that most of them had with them. Very impressed ladies!
When packing, there are a few basic rules which will go a long way to help with the packing and making a pleasant trip.
1) Weight limits. All airlines have weight limits for both checked luggage and cabin luggage. Stick to these weight limits! Make sure that you know the weight limits on all of the flights you are doing, including internal flights. Most carriers have a 20kg weight limit. This is pretty much the international standard, but it does not always apply! For example, the domestic flights in India have a 15kg weight limit which is normally very strictly applied. It is quite a surprise when you have packed very carefully and managed to get you case to the 20 kg limit for your international flight to find out that you are now 5 kg over the limit for your domestic flights in India!
3) You must be able to carry your own luggage. There is a very big difference between being able to drag you suitcase along a nice flat surface on its wheels and being able to carry your luggage. Unfortunately the world is not flat! Many train stations, bus stations and hotels might (and often do) have steps. The metro stations in Paris, for example, pretty much all have steps! There is a big difference between being able to drag you luggage and lugging it up steps. Make sure that you can not only drag you luggage but can also lift it. Getting on and off a train can also be a mission if your suitcase is too heavy for you to lift. Just another photo taken from the plane. This is the horn of Africa from the air!.
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