For years, I packed my things in a big suitcase when traveling. I put lots of clothes and bring many items that I thought important. I always make sure that I will have all the things that I need and things that I might want later on the trip. And usually, it will lead me into three bags : a luggage for the clothes; a backpack for my laptop; and a handbag for my cosmetics, document, snack, and other misc things.

By the time, I learned that actually not all of those items were useful. Lots of them were staying untouched until I was back home. I began to think and realized that I was over packed.

I tried to find the reason for that and I think it’s because I want to feel safe. I was afraid.

When traveling, it means that I’m not in my comfort zone. I’m not in my house/ office where I usually have my daily activity, I’m not in the position where I have all the belongings around me to support my activity. Yes, I was afraid that I will find some obstacle if I did not bring something (which I thought very important in my daily life) during my trip.

At that time, I knew that I was not in the right track. What’s the joy of having a trip if I did not want to have problems and not ready to have a new experience. Why bother to travel if I want to have my things to be around me. Why spent money if I’m not comfortable leaving my house.

Something need to be done here, or else, I have to stop traveling.

I began from my packing list. I wrote every things which (once again) I though important. I did not look back on the list and keep it for a day. And on the next day, I checked the list again and removed all the things that I think I can survive without them.

I left my toiletries and decided to use the hotel amenities. I packed limited clothes and decided to buy if later I needed it. I bring only one small book. No laptop (but I’m keeping my USB and MMC for my files/ images storage). No extra shoes/ sandals. No big towels. No extra gadgets. No complete cosmetics.

With those adjustments, I succeeded to eliminate the need to use both my luggage and handbag. And what I need to bring was only my small backpack.

I have to admit that at first I was a little worried with this decision. I’m worried whether I can survive with these light-pack or not. There are lots of bad ‘What If’ questions in my mind at that time.

By the end of the trip, I finally can concluded that it was a good decision. It turned that I can manage everything quite well. I could keep up with my limited stuffs and no bad things happened to me.

I’m so happy I can do this. The joy of packing light was not only make me more mobile, but it also teach me to be more efficient. Learning to pack light is maybe something simple, but the advantage was quite major.

Dare to do the same thing?

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This entry was posted on Thursday, September 2nd, 2010 at 10:23 pm and is filed under Diary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.