It’s easy to assume the first question we are asked is, “Where are you going?”. However, it’s actually, “How are you going to pack?”.
Confession: I tend to over pack. Whether it’s two nights in Cincinnati, a week in Spain, or Tuesday at the office, I like to be prepared for anything the day may bring. The result of over packing, however, is post hurricane level wreckage when opening your bag. At one of my low points, I had 4 pairs of shoes, a half used tube of toothpaste, a yoga mat, a sweater, a giant inflatable pizza slice, and an unopened toaster sitting in my office. And that wasn’t even a Tuesday. The thing is, on a trip like Megatrip, when your luggage is essentially your home, overpacking like we are used to really isn’t an option.
Before diving into how to pack, David and I had to start big picture and decide what we were going to cram our lives into. Our current gear had a lot of baggage, consisting of everything from incorrectly booked flights, long sprints through train stations or one glass of red wine too many in the airport bar before taking airplane Ambien (that’s a story for another post). We wanted to start Megatrip with #goodvibesonly, meaning it was time open our hearts wallets and invest in new luggage.
There were several important qualities we were looking for in our new luggage. Lightweight, durable and large; but not TOO large as to sink a Thai long boat or stall a tuk tuk. Thanks to Amazon reviews and countless travel blog articles, we found our perfect matches. After an exhausting month of research, we even gifted each piece with a Neal Lane diamond framed luggage tag as a sign of commitment. Well, okay, it should have only taken a couple of hours if it weren’t done while watching the Bachelor, hoverboarding, and listening to Hamilton.
Yes, we enjoy multitasking. No, we did not buy diamond luggage tags. Because we’re not even 100% sure these bags are keepers. They could be too small. They could be too bulky. They could be in this for the wrong reasons. There’s no such thing as first impression roses in the luggage game.
So who are the lucky winners of our travel affection? David will be living out of an Osprey 80L back pack with detachable day pack and a small duffel. I will be dragging around an XL Samsonite hard sided 360 rolling suitcase, back pack and small duffel.
I realize the solution to my over packing problem or how we packed has yet to be addressed here. Give us another week and we will get back to you.
