When you’re doing a four-city tour in the span of 12 days, packing light is a prerogative. Even though half the time we were traveling by train, where there aren’t any TSA checkpoint hassles, weight is weight. Lugging it all in between the cities remains a chore regardless. The less poundage there is, the better.
This is usually a problem for me because I tend to bring my photography kit on my travels. It guarantees I’m unable to fit that and everything else into a one bag - physically impossible. During this recent vacation, I decided to not bring the big camera and lenses. Smartphone photographic capabilities have advanced so greatly that bringing along just my iPhone 12 suffices for casual documentary of the trip.
I didn’t bring my MacBook Pro as well, saving an additional four pounds. No need for the laptop to backup data from the big camera nightly if I didn’t bring the latter! That said, it would have been nice to have a laptop during the chill periods, but that’s what an iPad is for. The tablet also saved space in the bag because I didn’t have to bring physical copies of books along to read (14-hour train ride). The Kindle app is great for traveling.
It also helps to be traveling during the summer months: there’s far less layers to pack. I got away with just a few t-shirts and two pair of pants (one short, one long). All in all, I was able to pack for the two weeks with only my Tortuga weekender bag, 26 liters of carrying capacity. It can fit in an overhead bin or under the seats on a plane easily, which is super convenient and a time-saver.
Packing so lightly does present a problem: you will have to do laundry eventually. Hotels typically has that service, or do what we did: go to an actual coin-operated laundromat.
The cranes.