The Luggage that you choose is a critical component in the ease of your vacation or work travel. Bigger is not always better as the Luggage size guidelines vary significantly from carrier to carrier. Size is not the only issue that you will face. Durability, configuration, ease in spotting, and many other factors should be considered.
One way to plan a luggage purpose that will fit your travel situations is to work on packing for various trips in the most efficient way possible. Here is a list of key techniques to pack smaller, lighter, and in a way that will make your travel more enjoyable.
Packing Cubes
This is a great way to quickly organize items going into your luggage. We have all had the fun of looking for a specific clothing item only to make a complete mess of the interior contents of your luggage in the process. Packing cubes are the perfect solution to this problem. You can get them for a reasonable price on Amazon and they come in varying dimensions and shapes. Since they are in various colors you can even easily color code the types of items going in so you know which cube to grab when getting an item out.
Luggage Scale
Airlines have baggage allows that vary greatly in terms of size dimensions and allowable weight. IT is important to know how much you bag weighs before arriving and the check-in counter. By bringing a luggage scale you can avoid high baggage overweight fees. Remember to allow a small margin in case their is a difference in calibration between your portable scale and the airline’s scale.
Laundry on Vacation / Packing Less Overall
One of the best ways to make traveling easier is to pack significantly less for your trip. This takes some efficient planning on the front end before you leave but will pay huge dividends in complications while en route.
In past years we would pack to the maximum allowable baggage options so we could bring everything, including the kitchen sink. This was simply not practical, especially when we started traveling more globally. In developing countries, for example, many buildings do not have elevators. You have to carry all of those bags up and down to your accommodations.
We have noticed it is easier to find laundry services where we travel. This is a great option as you usually drop off the clothes and pick them up about 12-24 hours later. You will generally pay per pound (lb) or per kilgram (kg). Usually you just need to plan to find those businesses and drop off your dirty clothes on arrival in a new area. If you are staying in one city on your trip this is easier but is also manageable in multi-city itineraries with a little planning. You will want to be careful with any special clothing items as it is possible for items to get damaged occasionally. By using this technique you can potentially just pack about 5-7 days worth of main clothes. This will create a significantly smaller luggage scenario.
Shoes
The most important factors for packing shoes you will need on a trip is to cover the various functionality they will serve. They also need to work with the clothing you will bring. If you can wear clothing that works well with similar shoes you will find that bringing less shoes is much easier. If you are traveling for leisure you will likely be doing a significant amount of walking so keep that in mind when choosing the shoes you bring. We still have to bring a few shoes on each trip but generally we get it down to a limited quantity. For me I usually have a pair of simple flip flops for the room and my beach flip flops, water socks, and the tennis shoes I will be wearing. If I need to have a nicer shoe for the trip then I will also bring a pair of black dress shoes that look good with slacks or dark jeans. My wife and daughter might have a couple of other shoe types as well like a pair of pumps or loafers for other types of outfits. As their shoes fit into smaller areas it isn’t as big a problem but they still work to minimize the quantity of shoes they take.
You should also invest in shoe bags so you can keep anything that gees on the shoes from getting on other items in the luggage.
The Right Luggage
This is one item that is complicated by those differences from airline to airline in what baggage sizes are allowable. That applies both to checked luggage and in-cabin luggage. When choosing luggage you want to do a little research and read the comments of people who have purchased them before. If you can find consumer product or other reviews of the product that can be helpful. Spend a little more to get quality bags when you can so it will last and be more durable in varying travel situations and conditions.
One key, for me, is to make sure I am purchasing a primary checked luggage that has four wheels that can easily roll in any direction when wheeling it in the upright position. often you can find small carry on that stacks or attaches to those to make airport transit easier on you. I purchased a backpack that has a luggage handle strap built in to easily slide into place on my luggage.
