The plane landed, passengers went through border control and shaved to the luggage carousel: someone for half an hour to pick up their belongings and go to the hotel, and someone for half a day – to find out where the suitcase disappeared. Only one of them received a stamp in his passport and immediately moved to the exit. And this person can be you. To save time, nerves and money, try to fly only with hand luggage. Experienced travelers know that there aren’t many things you need to do for a trip. Hikers traveling lightly have developed into a new kind of tourism – easy walking. And if the professionals are able to walk thousands of miles with 5 kg of equipment, an ordinary tourist will certainly be able to pack things for 4-7 days in hand luggage.
Why travel only with hand luggage
- It’s faster. You don’t have to be nervous in baggage check-in queues or waste time at the baggage carousel, which could be dedicated to travel or rest after the flight.
- This is cheaper. Luggage fees for locomotives can easily double the price of an air ticket. For example, at airBaltic you will have to pay 20-60 € for one piece of baggage, at Vueling – 8-50 €. Multiply by two for round-trip flights or even 3-4 if you plan multiple flights and get a decent hotel room or car rental price for a couple of days.
- This is safer. Your belongings won’t leave in the opposite direction from you, they won’t be dropped by a careless loader and certainly no one will be able to dig through them and steal anything. Besides, a person with a big suitcase attracts more attention of annoying taxi drivers and small crooks.
How many things will fit in your hand luggage
Check your airline’s hand baggage allowance in advance. Also make sure that your bag is not prohibited. Usually you are allowed to take one bag with the weight of 8-10 kg and the size of 55×40×20 cm in hand luggage. It seems to be nothing, but if you pack a suitcase or backpack compactly, there are a lot of things that will fit inside. A tourist backpack with dimensions of 52×26×22 cm is enough for a two-week track in the Nepalese Himalayas, where you do not need to drag a tent and a burner. And for sure it is suitable for a week-long city trip. When you exceed the depth limit, everything is simple: do not pack your backpack too tightly. With suitcases it is even easier: many manufacturers have long established the production of models designed for hand luggage in the plane.
When choosing between a suitcase and a backpack, remember that airlines limit not only the size of hand luggage, but also its total weight. And if a suitable suitcase weighs about 3 kg, the backpack weighs no more than 1.5 kg. In other words, you can put 1.5 kg more things in your backpack.
What things to pack in your hand luggage
Most of us always take more things than we really need. Especially in short journeys. We put some clothes together, thinking, “Just in case I want to wear it. We often just take shampoo and shower gel from the bathroom in huge containers. Well, five pairs of shoes, obviously, are not needed for 7 or 14 days, or even for six months of travel. To gather correctly and not to carry too much, put all the things on the couch and think about each: what to replace it, how to reduce its weight and whether it is possible to do without it at all.
However, traveling without things is not so pleasant, and if you still need a certain amount of luggage, it is better to see how you can leave it for storage in an unfamiliar city. For example, the service http://bagstop.club provides such services, which is very convenient if you plan to visit several cities during one trip. In addition, it gives you the opportunity to enjoy shopping, then leave things in storage and fly on. When you return, you will simply be able to pick up your leftovers and move on.