Cookies Are DisabledIt looks like your browser is not accepting cookies. Cookies are required in order to login to this web site, and to use some of its more interactive features. Please enable your cookies in your browser. Click here to learn how to enable cookies in your web browser. |  | Jul26Written by:Erik Folgate
7/26/2010 11:34 AM
 Last night I was returning home from a family vacation, and in front of me at the airport was a woman who had one large piece of luggage, a carry-on piece of luggage, a medium-sized duffel bag, and two shoulder/purse bags. That's five pieces of luggage for one person. I am not sure where she was coming from or how long she had been staying at her other location, but doesn't 5 pieces of luggage seem a little excessive to you? My wife and I had one large piece of luggage, one laptop carrying case, and one medium shoulder bag for a five day trip. That's two people with three pieces of luggage versus one person with five pieces of luggage. Throwing aside the eco-friendly considerations, that would be maddening to lug around all of that stuff while traveling. Packing and traveling light is one of the most common green travel tips you'll read about on the Internet, but we often don't go into depth about why it's so good for the environment.
From an article recently posted on Terra Curve:
A new study released today shows a quarter of us spend between two and three days packing our bags for our holiday, but once there only 16% of us actually use and wear everything we’ve packed.
When I read that, I knew that statistic definitely had some truth to it. I make a conscious effort not to pack too much, but I always end up pulling out about 30 to 40% of my clothes that are still clean. My wife is the same way.
And the impact is clear. If those who don’t utilize their luggage reduced their items by that 25% it would save 7,537 tons of carbon dioxide going into the atmosphere each year. This equates to taking a staggering 2,216 family cars off the road.
That's an incredible difference! Not only are we making our traveling less complicated and less stressful by packing light, we're impacting our environment in a HUGELY positive way. So, how can you pack light and still look good on your trip? Well, these tips are coming from a man, and we tend to have more simple wardrobes than the ladies, but here are some principles me and my wife stick to when we're packing for a trip.
- Bring essential clothing pieces that can easily be mixed and matched. A pair of jeans, a pair of khaki pants, a white button-down shirt, solid t-shirts/blouses, an solid color skirts are all essentials that you should pack one or two of to create multiple outfits.
- Plan out what you're going to wear each day and night. If you can visualize and plan what you'll be wearing each day BEFORE you leave, this will cut down on the amount of outfits that you wear.
- Don't be too proud about wearing clothes twice. When traveling to a tropical location, it can often be frustrating because you will wear very light and informal clothes during the day, but you might want to dress up each night. Just because you wore an outfit to dinner one night doesn't mean you can't wear it again the next night if you go to a club.
- Only bring three to four pairs of shoes. My staple is to bring one pair of athletic shoes, one pair of dress shoes, and one pair of sandals. Girls can definitely get away with one pair of athletic shoes, two pairs of dress shoes, and one pair of sandals.
- If traveling with a partner, combine carry-on bags. Why do you both need a carry-on bag? You should be able to get all of your carry on items to fit in one bag unless one of you is traveling on business, and the other is along for the ride.
- Tone down the accessories. Bring jewelry that can be worn multiple times, only one brown and black belt, and less socks.
- Download eBooks to read. If you have an eBook reader or a smart phone with an ebook reader app, consider downloading the book electronically and reading it on that device rather than bringing a heavy book. Imagine how heavy it is when each passenger on a large airplane is carrying two or three books.
I really do love traveling light, because it helps reduce carbon emissions, and my trip is so much more enjoyable because I don't have to lug around a ton of stuff. I can get through the airport quicker and I can spend more time on the beach rather than unpacking and packing up my stuff in the hotel room. What tips do you have for packing light? Make sure you share them with us in the comment section!
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