It may or may have been the smartest way to travel, but as I have written in the past my habit for more years than I care to remember was to carry one wheeled 29" suitcase and 70 lbs. (30 kilos) of content for each week of a trip. I usually spend a week in a single city, and those big cases have meant that the people I am with never see me twice in the same clothing.
2010 will be different, or so She Who Decides has said. I will be taking trains from London to Paris to the Pitti Uomo menswear show in Florence and back again in January, and I plan to lug only one 26" rolling trolley with perhaps just 50 lbs. (23 kilos) of life's necessities. So the call and the credit card have gone out to the estimable Ami of On the Fly for one of Mulholland Brothers' 26"Endurance bags in bridle tan and hazel (that is the leather version in the photo but alas, airline baggage handling is incompatible with checked leather).
So how will this new approach pan out? Well, instead of three pairs of dress shoes for the week, I plan to limit myself to two including the pair on my feet. And instead of four suits, I will make do with three. Those two changes by themselves will not get the weight all the way down but a reduction in electronic accessories should take care of the rest. After all, three sets of power plugs for all of the world's electrical systems was overkill even by the standard of one who has found himself with low batteries in some unique places.
There is some danger that the reduction will mean I feel under-dressed compared to the Italians at Pitti. Interested readers will of course be kept informed.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Maintenance: The Fifty Pound Bag
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9 comments:
FYI, Tumi makes one that is "Heathrow" compliant. It's ugly but works.
Knotty Problem
"It may or may have been" in your first sentence leads me to think you omitted the word "not."
Your humble self-appointed proofreader.
That's cute, "She who decides." Thank you for posting a packing post. I'm curious to see how this will work. I've been having packing thoughts lately.
Not only will the clods handling your new, fine luggage damage the leather, I am sure they will loose it from time to time. I usually get mine back. However, I'm now seriously examining the possibility of shipping (UPS, DHL, etc) clothing to the hotel I plan to stay at for each trip. If shipping is cheaper than the airline extortion rate, it ships.
Of course, the other issue with a leather bag is the inherent weight of the bag itself, which can add significantly to the overall mass of the luggage you have to cart around.
Much as it pains me to do so, I fly with hold luggage in man-made fibres, and reserve my leather goods for cabin baggage or car trips only.
dear Will,
interesting piece. a few thoughts from a heavy traveller (meaning air travel up to three times a week).
1. do not save on your shoes. you need three pairs. your shoes need to rest, at least 24h. you might want to switch during day, depending on occasion and circumstances. personally, i would rather add a 4th pair.
2. you might be able to save on suits. you have 2 options here.
a) take two identic allround suits, black or dark blue. you adapt to dress code & occasion with a variation of shirts, ties, pocket squares and most important: shoes. it is very common on the continent to wear a brown brogue during day time with a dark suit (may be less so in london). in the evening, you switch shoes, shirt & tie and you are done. you may switch suit as well and have the day piece ironed for next day.
b) treat yourself with a swiss army suit (http://steeds-view.blogspot.com/2009/04/sas-swiss-army-suit.html).
on luggage: two firms do luggage that do age well under airline handling stress treatment. one is the german Rimowa (the classic aluminium series). the second one is the original Globe Trotter model (www.globe-trotterltd.com).
both brands love to get scratched and abused and show off vintage appearance. both companies offer excellent repair services over years.
best wishes, D. H. U. Haerry, switzerland, dhuh@bluewin.ch
Traveling in the contemporary (or post-modern, or whatever else they are calling it) world is not the most convenient. Have you considered using separates i.e. odd jackets or trousers? The important thing is that you rotate your clothes as well as your shoes, and above all, never underpack shirts or underwear, as these latter suffer a great deal more punishment. Shirts and accessories might be the key to a good travel wardrobe.
I am constantly torn between my love of clothes and my love of traveling with nothing more than a single carryon bag. Luckily, I rarely travel for business, so most of the clothes I pack are casual. I also do NOT use a rolling bag, as the wheels and handles and such take up valuable clothing space, and add weight(which is definitely an issue if you're going to sling a bag over your shoulder). I use a Patagonia MLC (Maximum Legal Carryon) bag:
http://www.patagonia.com/web/us/product/mlc-maximum-legal-carry-on-bag?p=48107-0-687
which has served me well for a few years now, including during a 12-day trip to England (I live in the US). Patagonia also makes a garment bag called the MLC "Burrito" which ostensibly will hold "eight hangers" and still fit into an overhead compartment.
Packing light and dressing well is an art, but it can be done. The key is to pack versatile clothes. For a dress wardrobe, I would opt for more shirts and ties and fewer suits (but no fewer than two if you'll be wearing a suit daily), as a suit can look totally different with a different shirt and tie. I also never travel with more than two pair of shoes in total (that's counting the pair I wear on the plane), but if you're checking luggage, you can probably fit two extra pair of shoes, upping your total to three pair.
I agree with Adam. If you can carry a bag rather than rolling one, your carry-on capacity grows dramatically. My current favorite bag is the Red Oxx Air Boss (http://www.redoxx.com/Airline-Carry-On-Luggage/Air-Boss/91018-Air%20Boss/100/Product) , which is large enough for folded jackets and suits and two pairs of shoes plus toiletry bag. I've used it for 10-day trips in Europe and it was fantastic. I've also checked it with no issues - it is soft-sided nylon but overbuilt.
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