Packing Light, Part 1: A First-World, Economy-Class Problem
After having traveled to several distant locales in the past couple years (and constantly scheming visits to more in the immediate future), I've gotten a number of questions about my philosophy of packing light. As a rule, I travel carry-on only, jamming everything I need for my trips into my trusty Osprey Fairview 40. Both bigger and smaller than it looks. As carry-on only travel has become more common in the US - mostly thanks to increasingly aggressive nickel-and-diming tactics by US airlines that make travelling with more a staggeringly costly affair - I've gotten fewer and fewer mind-bogglingly surprised reactions from people when I say I brought so little to, say, a weekend conference. I still, however, get expressions of confusion and awe when I mention that this bag also did me just fine for a nearly three-week hop-skip around South Korea. This is when the questions begin. And for the most part, I love talking about this stuff. I am, as any who know me well...