Travellers of the world, lighten up. It’s good for you

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jun/11/travellers-world-airlines-carry-on-luggage

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Packing has never been the fun part of travel. But in recent years, as we’ve abandoned check-in luggage for any hop shorter than a week, it has become fiendish – the world’s most difficult puzzle, in which far too many clothes must be squashed into far too small a case, while the packer swears about baggage charges.

And it’s only going to get worse. New recommendations from the International Air Transport Association suggest airlines reduce the size of permitted carry-on bags, in an effort to free up space in overhead lockers and establish a consistent set of dimensions for hand luggage across all carriers. Which sounds perfectly sensible until you consider the teetering pile of essential items that are only going to make it on to the plane if you wear them – three sweaters at once counts less as chic layering and more as lumpy swaddling.

A year spent with just two suitcases and a rucksack’s-worth of possessions was oddly freeing

For maximalists, the challenge is particularly marked. I have watched removal men eye up my possessions with something approaching panic: my wardrobe groans, my bookshelves overflow, I could probably open my own kitchenware shop. But even I can see that the airlines probably have the right idea – force us all to edit our possessions and we choose things more carefully, use them more creatively, view them more affectionately.

A year spent living on the other side of the world with just two suitcases and a rucksack’s-worth of possessions was oddly freeing. I could neither take trunks of possessions with me, nor acquire a stack of things while there unless I also acquired a great vat of money with which to send things home. (Although of course I did: maximalists are not easily changed.)

I missed choice and variety – particularly of colour and pattern – but enjoyed how free it allowed me to be. Essentially: less stuff equals less time spent taking care of it. You don’t have to clean and organise things you don’t actually possess. You have time and money to spend on experiences that bring you joy, as opposed to things that clutter up your hallway. Plus there’s the knowledge that, environmentally, you’re doing something to offset all those cabin-baggage-only flights you’ve got booked.

But while I can recognise the freedom that comes with chucking stuff out and prioritising living over acquiring, there is also a limit to this minimalism. (A friend perhaps took pared-back living a bit far with an aged towel that pretty much disintegrated after 12 years of overuse, although fair dos for wringing every drop of value from it.) Sinking on to my sofa surrounded by its stuffed shelves and crowded walls after a year away was bliss – albeit bliss that was swiftly followed by a serious edit and several car boot sales.

Travelling light allows us enough time to really appreciate the value of every item that’s gone into the suitcase, but also some of the things that haven’t. The airlines are doing us a favour by making us take a proper look at what things we really need – even if the answer is the cardigan you left at home because your 55cm-high case was stuffed with inappropriate shoes. Although then, of course, all you really needed to do was check your baggage into the hold.