Travelling light

Although I dither whether I want to live a minimalist lifestyle, one aspect of my life in which I fully support minimalism is when I'm travelling. I think travelling light is 100% the way forward! This is not to say that I've always done this- I guess I've learnt the hard way! On my recent trip (which covered 5 days, though only 3 full ones) I packed one carry-on rucksack and it was great. I've come up with some reasons why not taking 3 suitcases is great.

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You have more freedom. Picture this- you arrive somewhere after a flight/ train/ bus journey into a bustling station. With minimal luggage you can explore the place first, rather than your 1st priority being getting a taxi to a hotel to dump your stuff! Additionally, being able to first explore an area means that you may be able to find a better value/ nicer hotel if you haven't already booked. On my recent trip to S. E Asia I remember having to lug my 60l rucksack to our hostel in the heat for 40+ mins. This would have been so much easier if I had taken less stuff!


It's cheaper. So many budget airlines charge for bags in the hold now. These extras all add up so if it's just a short break, why not see if you can stick to hand luggage?

There is no risk of loosing your luggage. If like above you manage to travel without luggage in the hold you eliminate the risk of being the last person standing at the carousel waiting for your bag to turn up. Whist they mostly do turn up, you always waste a day or two waiting and wishing you packed more clothes in your carry-on!

There are no difficult decisions what to wear. With less clothes you often only have one option clean/ ready to wear! It's really easy to hand wash clothes or send them to the hotel laundry. If you plan multi-use clothes/ outfits all round a colour theme, you can get away with a super capsule wardrobe! My favourite multi-use item is my american apparel dress.

Keeps some room for souvenirs. If there's space in your bag you can buy more in the markets for you or as gifts!!

My little trip also gave me the perfect excuse to use some of the free samples that I'd collected recently. Here's a snap of my wash-bag that I took with me.

I've had the bag since I was about 10!! The only things I bought here were the toothbrush, the sunscreen, the deodorant and the face wipes!

Cheerio!