Packing Light

Travelin’Oma, your post today was right on and gave me some great ideas for packing in the future… Week 3, Day2.

Packing light.

The plane reached the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris later than scheduled and as the passengers exited, Joseph and his fellow travelers hurried quickly to deplane, knowing it would be a real feat to make the next flight on time with the delay encountered already. As they rushed into the concourse and up to the counter to check on the gate for the connecting flight, they were devastated to find that their luggage was not being transferred automatically and that they would have to retrieve it themselves and then check it in to their next flight. There was very little chance of catching the next flight, the one taking them to their destination of Madagascar, unless they left the luggage behind. As the others in the expedition frantically attempted to communicate with the airline employees about how to take care of the situation, Joseph casually walked over to a phone booth and called me with his calling card. “Wow, I’m glad I only ever travel with carry-on and never check luggage,” were the first words out of his mouth following his greeting.

That is precisely how I feel as well. As far as I can tell, it seems fairly rare to have two people with such sentiments married to one another. We are a few of the lucky, I suppose. Both Joseph and I almost never check luggage. In all of his trips around the world, and within the United States, he keeps it to one carry-on and a small bag for a book or snacks. In my many adventures, I have tried to do so as well, although I have gotten better about it over the years. Even on my six week trip to Europe, I took only a backpack (small enough to easily fit in the overhead compartment) and a small satchel and that had all the belongings I could have wanted. So did my companions. It made our trip much less hectic than the episode a year later when Joseph’s traveling companions had not.

The debacle in the airport in Paris is only one of many reasons that we are strong advocates of carry-ons. Have you had any experiences to add to the list of why it is nice to not check luggage?

Me and a friend of mine in Bacharach, Germany, each with all our luggage for six weeks. June 2004.