Given the increase in travel and baggage fees by some airlines, it’s important to travel as light as possible. It simplifies the check-in process, and helps get you to your destination with a minimum of fuss. These are a few things we do on our business trips to make traveling light as easy as possible.
A Travelpro Crew 11 with suiter is ideal for helping road warriors travel light.
Use your carry-on as your only piece of luggage. With careful planning of your wardrobe and necessities, you can take all you need with you on the plane. You’ll avoid the time sink of baggage claim, the cost of checking your bag, and the fatigue of lugging what could be extraneous items through security to your final destination. It’s actually possible to carry 10 days worth of outfits in your bag if you pack it right.
Become a digital professional. Most anything you need can be retrieved from online “cloud” storage and printed at a hotel’s business center with a simple USB thumb drive. If you have documents you need to access, consider Google Drive or Dropbox for online storage. If you like to read while traveling, e-books take up no space in your luggage and an e-reader can be loaded on your tablet or phone so that you don’t have to pack a special, single-use device.
Leave your laptop at home. A tablet with a USB keyboard will still allow you access to email and stored documents instead of carrying your larger, heavier workstation. If you’re only going to answer emails and browse the web on your trip, rather than churning out a lot of work, you can get by with a temporary solution like the tablet and keyboard option.
Consider a smaller bag. You may have a piece of go-to Rollaboard® luggage, but perhaps a business backpack, a tote (learn more about our Crew™ 11 models here), or even just a garment bag could accommodate your clothes and toiletries. Speaking of toiletries, using the complimentary hotel offerings and hair dryer can free up valuable space in a smaller bag.
Plan your wardrobe. Even on a five-day trip, the hotel’s dry cleaning and laundry services can help you keep the number of articles of clothing you take to a minimum. Mix-and-match ensembles that allow you to pair one or two pairs of pants with three or four shirts, instead of packing pants and shirt for each day, will save valuable space. Think through your shoe selection as well, wearing your bulkiest pair while you are in transit to save space in your bag for other things.
You may never have thought traveling light was possible, but with some simple strategizing, you may find your next trip to be your lightest and most carefree.
How do you keep your luggage light? How do you streamline your travel experience? Share your ideas with us in the comments below, on our Facebook page, or in our Twitter stream.