Travel Talk

It is a rainy and gloomy day in D.C. It's not helping that I feel sluggish and lazy too. It could be the weather or the frustratingly slow traffic this morning; I can't tell.

I think my brain decided to go on vacation earlier than it should because all I could think about is Vegas. This feeling is probably conjured by my travel backpack sitting in my bedroom ready for another adventure. With my travel experiences, I have learned to skillfully fit all my clothes and travel necessities in one, red backpack, and this I do for trips that are a week or less. Last year, a fellow passenger en route to London was astonished that I was only carrying one backpack for a week vacation; she was lugging two suitcases plus her huge carry on bag. I laughed.

I find traveling with a backpack liberating for the following reasons: 1) it's faster to move around airports especially with strict security checks these days; 2) I don't worry if my check-in luggage will make it to our final destination (talk about bad luck in that movie "Meet The Fockers" ; 3) I don't worry about weight restrictions; 4) my attention is "only" in one backpack so I'm not stressed if I forgot something on my seat or at the airport (travelers carrying too many bags end up forgetting their stuff because their attention is so divided); and 5) less hassle and less stress. I do know that traveling with kids is a different story.

With packing, this is even if you have packed everything on your list, you'll always find out later that you need something that's not in your luggage. I have convinced myself that it doesn't make sense worrying about forgetting or not having enough in my travel bag because I can always run to the nearest store or pharmacy to get what I needed.