Important Travel Tips
Experienced travelers the world over know one of the most important travel tips — Less is more. Who wants to carry around heavy, bulky bags when you’re far from home, most likely running from place to place and trying to make sure all of your belongings continue to be your belongings?
The trick of the trade, according to seasoned travelers, is to consider packing only one bag. What’s more, to consider making that bag the size of a carry-on bag. That’s right, the size of a bag that fits, or mostly fits, in the overhead compartment on today’s commercial airlines.
Sounds like an impossible dream? Possible, but consider the following reasons to travel light:
Safety
Simply put, one bag is easier to keep tabs on than two bags, or three, or… You get the idea. You don’t have to check your bags and risk losing them altogether as you travel.
Efficiency
One bag means less to carry, which means you don’t have to pay someone to help you or pony up for one of those Smarte Cartes at the airport. Also, with one bag, you won’t be as tempted to buy many useless souvenirs you’ll never need, because there won’t be room for anything extra in your bag on the return trip.
Flexibility
With only one bag, you don’t have to worry about getting to the airport so early or sticking around so long after your flight lands. You can run through train terminals more speedily and shove yourself more quickly into the backseats of taxi cabs. And customs inspections? No problem.
So, now you’re thinking it would be nice to limit your travel bags to one, but you may well be wondering how on earth to fit all your necessaries into a single suitcase.
The basic rule is to plan carefully what you will need for your trip and take only those items. If you think, “I might need this,” then it’s probably safe to assume that you won’t. If you think “I can’t live without this,” then into your travel bag it goes.
Other tips
* Plan to do laundry while you’re traveling (even if that means doing it in your hotel room sink!). This way you won’t feel compelled to take as many clothes.
* Take clothes that you can mix and match.
* For your toiletry items, use travel-size products. Even if they’re not easy to find, you’ll be glad you took the trouble. And remember that most of them can be refilled and reused—even toothpaste tubes can be refilled with enough patience and manual dexterity! (Ok, no I probably wouldn’t do that.)
* Pack underwear, socks, and other small cloth items inside larger items, such as shoes, to maximize all available space.
* Check the weather for your destination before of your departure so you can plan your wardrobe accordingly.
* If you’re the type of person who can’t resist a good—or a bad—souvenir, take one or two items of clothing that are mostly worn out. Wear them once, toss them, and fill up the space they occupied with that plastic replica of the Eiffel Tower that you just can’t live without.
And, of course, the most important travel tip of all–remember to have fun, wherever you go and however you get there
