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"You sure this is all your luggage?" the steward asked as he wheeled my aircraft cabin-sized suitcase into the stateroom. To be absolutely sure, he asked the question again, his face incredulous. He was used to hauling masses of luggage for each passenger.
But here in this faithful, well-travelled, orange wheel-along was everything I'd need for a couple of weeks from home. Underwear, T-shirts, two polo tops, one collared shirt, one pair of trousers, one pair of shorts (I was wearing the other), boardshorts, a pair of shoes, socks and toiletries.
There's liberation in travelling light. It's a lesson I've learned over many years after being inspired by a person I'd held in great esteem as a child.
His name was Bill Peach, the former host of the ABC's This Day Tonight, in later years a travel journalist.
Bill was a delightful fellow, his smile warm and sunny, his manner so pleasant one felt privileged to be in his company, which I was on a familiarisation trip many years ago. Arriving at one of our destinations, I asked the same question the steward asked of me. "Is that all your luggage?" All he had with him was a well-worn, small, brown Samsonite suitcase.
"I always travel light," he beamed.
Standing in line at airline check-ins, I often think of Bill as I watch fellow passengers place enormous suitcases on the weigh-in belt, their faces anxiously bracing for an excess baggage shock. And I exchange knowing glances with fellow travellers, like me, unburdened by mountains of luggage.
Travel itself should be liberating. Yet so many travellers insist on taking with them everything but the kitchen sink.
I wonder, when I see the same passengers who've checked in multiple suitcases break into a sweat trying to cram too many cabin bags into the overhead lockers, whether they're fearful of leaving the familiar behind.
To be fair, I remember when I, too, was like them, tied down by a just-in-case mentality that inevitably meant packing too much. Then, after one trip on which I'd hefted a heavy suitcase halfway around the world, it twigged. So many of the clothes, thongs, sandals, shoes and shirts which had weighed me down had travelled thousands of kilometres without being used. They'd taken a holiday from the wardrobe for no good reason.
I've learned that not having something you need when overseas adds a chance for discovery as you go in search of it. Looking for that sunscreen in a Thai supermarket or pharmacy introduces you to a cornucopia of other things and before you know it you've had an enriching hour marvelling at the unfamiliar products on the shelf.
You'll eventually leave with the sunscreen and one or two other things you never knew you needed. Like the face mask containing concentrated snail mucus she now swears by.
A couple of nights before I leave, I pack that trusty wheel-along. I return to it the next day and cull, my inner voice asking, "What would Bill pack?" Out come the extra shirts, jeans and shorts. And I audit the toiletries bag, leaving nothing but the bare minimum.
If the joy of travel is leaving your troubles behind, being unencumbered by baggage will make it even better.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Do you pack lightly when you travel? Or are you happier when you have everything you might possibly need with you? Do you quietly seethe when fellow passengers take all the overhead lockers with large cabin baggage? Email us: echidna@theechidna.com.au
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- Five motorcyclists are among more than a dozen road deaths nationwide over the Easter long weekend. It brings the number of lives lost on Australia's roads in 2024 to 318 as of April 1.
- Voters in Western Australia are shifting away from Labor towards the Coalition, as the Opposition gains ground among young people. A Newspoll published in The Australian newspaper on Monday, shows a rise in support for the Coalition in key areas, but Labor still leading 52-48 on a two-party-preferred basis nationally.
- Labor is "sceptical" about breaking up supermarket giants amid warnings proposed powers could push up food prices and harm job security for workers. As households struggle to pay for groceries, Woolworths and Coles are accused of price-gouging customers, stifling competitors while undermining suppliers.
THEY SAID IT: "I travel so much that life has become a matter of honing things down to the barest essentials. Nowadays, I almost never go anywhere with anything more than hand luggage - and a laptop." - Carol Drinkwater
YOU SAID IT: They're cute and persistent. But don't be conned into feeding visiting wildlife. It might make you feel good but can be disastrous for the animals.
Jennifer writes: "I learned my lesson when living in Jervis Bay, with a scrawny sick looking crimson parrot for which I felt sorry, becoming a persistent visitor at 6am each morning, tapping on the bedroom window for food. Now, I keep water on my balcony for the birds, but nothing else. They visit, they drink, they leave and don't hassle me nor eat inappropriate stuff. There are plenty of trees and shrubs nearby which provide healthy food for them while giving me the joy of watching them."
"Catch 22!" writes Stephanie. "Here in the southwest of WA, we've had virtually no rain since October. Consequently, the local wildlife have little to eat or drink. As our property is a highway for roos and emus, I've started leaving a container of water for them. Sadly, the downside is that they now feed on my fruit trees, even the grapefruit with its evil spikes. The problem is that I love to see them visit even if they are destructive."
Dominique, from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge writes: "Yes, wild animals need to remain wild and know how to survive in the wild. The question is: Why are encounters with wild animals getting more common? Why are wild animals and birds so common in urban areas, eating human garbage, and becoming bold enough to beg for food? Modern humans have appropriated more and more of the best land for their own use, never asking permission from native animals and birds (nor from the first Australians, for that matter). With ever shrinking natural land areas, where are animals supposed to live and find natural food and shelter? And when native wild animals (e.g., kangaroos in ever-expanding Canberra, cockatoos in agricultural areas) are considered too numerous, they are culled. Perhaps it is time for us humans to realise that we are the most invasive species."
Anita, who lives close to the Royal National Park south of Sydney, writes: "Possums live in my mature trees and, I'm visited daily by an assortment of colourful birds. The best they can hope for is the remains of an apple core as I practise 'tough love' and make them fend for themselves. There's plenty in my garden if they bother to look."
Four decades in the media, working in print and television. Formerly editor of the South Coast Register and Milton Ulladulla Times. Based on the South Coast of NSW.
Four decades in the media, working in print and television. Formerly editor of the South Coast Register and Milton Ulladulla Times. Based on the South Coast of NSW.
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