A Cebu Pacific advertisement goes: Uuyyy, daming baggage!

But I will not be talking about the excess baggage that weighs down on our lives. I am talking literally about excess baggage when traveling!

Have you experienced having problems meeting the maximum luggage allowance? Have you experienced poring over your stuff when packing, at loss at what to bring or what to leave behind? Or have you, during a trip, wanted to buy more stuff but held yourself because you have a luggage limit to think about? The “excess baggage” problem, even in small ways, can put a dent on our trip.

I know there are lots of tips on avoiding to exceed the limit on luggage weight [just try searching the Internet], but here are some [small] tips that I have learned [and realized] over the course of some of my trips.

• It all starts with the basic: choose a lightweight luggage. If your luggage weighs a ton [eg, 2 to 3 kg], then it will take up a lot of the [normally] 15- to 20-kg weight limit for luggage, leaving you small room for your stuff.
• Packing for a “tropical” holiday is easy, since it will involve mostly bathing suits, tank tops, shorts, and the like. But what about when preparing for a trip to cold countries, where jackets and thick clothes are a must? The key is to mix and match your clothes. Bring clothes that can be matched with multiple pieces. For example, bring a basic pair of black pants that can be used with different tops. For other items of clothing, like shoes, think multipurpose. The key is that a certain piece of clothing can be used multiple [read: many] times.
• If traveling with others, especially family or close friends, share what you can share. When my sister and I stayed in Europe for around 3 weeks, we didn’t bring 3 weeks’ worth of clothing. What we did was, in addition to following the second item above, bring around half of what we would normally bring and then just swap clothes [as we do at home]. We had one toiletry bag, one medicine bag, three [or four, I can't remember] pairs of shoes that we shared, and other stuff as well.
  
• Throw away as much as you can while on the trip. This means bringing sachets of anything possible: shampoos, conditioners, facial wash, lotions, moisturizers, and others. Bringing bulky bottles of each of these significantly add weight. By bringing sachets, as you go along your trip and as you throw away the used sachets, your luggage will eventually get lighter. [I realize that this would mean more trash, but it's just once in a while diba? Anyway, if you cannot stomach too much throwaways, then you can just bring small bottles of each. Buy small empty bottles and just refill with shampoo, conditioner, lotion, and whatever you have.]
• Shed as much as you can. Okay, this part is tricky. When I go on a trip, what I can leave behind, I leave behind. For example, I always bring my own towel on trips [even if the hotels have their own towels]. But this means a bulky, heavy piece of cloth! So what I do is bring the oldest usable towel at home and leave it at the hotel! Yay! One less bulky stuff going home! The same goes with slippers and sleepwear. I always bring those I can do without, so that I can leave them behind! And that means more room for shopping items and pasalubong! Yay!
  
• Bottom line: Bring only what is needed!

There! Hope these help the next time you travel.

You may also share a tip if you have one. It would be very helpful!

With all my travel experiences, I thought I knew it all. I thought I can consider myself “knowledgeable” when it comes to traveling. Well, I do know a thing or two. But my recent trip to Europe has still given me a few lessons that I would like to share with you. Let me emphasize though that the tips might apply only to Europe, but it will not hurt to heed them when you’re going on a vacation.

1. Do not underestimate the value of high-quality luggage. With all the lugging around in many parts of Europe, your luggage will experience many bumps and beatings. This is especially true when you are hopping from city to city or country to country. So my tip is invest in quality luggage. Also save some space for the pasalubongs (unless you want to use moving boxes).

With all the train and airplane “hopping”, quality luggage is a must!

2. Be kind to your feet, bring comfortable shoes. Believe me, this is one tip you should remember! Europe is a place where one will walk distances…especially if you want to experience the culture and learn more than by just riding the taxi. Slippers are the best, but if you might not be able to stand the cold, bring sneakers or rubber shoes. Regardless of what kind of footwear you bring, make sure you’re comfortable in it. (Rick Steves advises trying it on before leaving the country. Try walking long distances using the shoes to make sure it is really comfortable.)

Take care of your feet…sit down every once in a while.

3. When going to non–English-speaking countries, attempt to learn a few words in their language. Start with basic words such as hello, thank you, goodbye, how are you. Not only is it fun, but it also gives an impression to the locals that you are taking the effort to learn their language…and they will like it and respect you more for it.

Even minimal interactions with locals, like asking for directions, will provide opportunity for you to speak their language.

4. For your body, don’t forget to bring the following: lotion, lip balm, and moisturizer, all for the intense cold of Europe, as well as sunblock, because being in the intense cold will make you follow the sun, and before you know it, you have sunburn.

Do take care of your skin, unless you want to come home like a fish (with scales).

5. Be wary of pickpockets but do not be too uptight. Travelers will warn you of the pickpockets (stress, pickpockets, not hold-uppers, not snatchers, not murderers), and you should be very careful. But do not be too anxious or nervous because this will decrease the fun of the experience. My sister was constantly pestering me, “Your bag,” when we are in crowded places (as if I needed remindering), but it actually made it worse because I was constantly on my toes, making me wary of bad people rather than appreciate the sights. Just be careful, but not too anxious.

Keep a tight hand on your bag, but your eyes should be on the sights!

There, simple but very helpful! Hope to hear some vacation tips from you too, my dear friends!

Au revoir!

This entry was originally posted at kumarenggrace.i.ph.

(http://www.backpacker.com/2007/images/edchoice2008/sanddunes0408spenceross_445x260.jpg)

For the past weeks, because of an impending vacation (I refuse to tell where until we are sure to go), Rick Steves has been my companion. For those who do not know who Rick Steves is, he is a traveler who spends months of research on great vacation spots. His books are such a great help…they’re simple, very useful, and easy to read. But I’ll talk about these books more in some other post.

Why, then, talk about Rick Steves? It’s because I can never overemphasize the importance of careful planning when going on a trip. Yes, I’ve experienced traveling without planning. And a few times, it worked…if you are in a super adventurous mode. But then, there are certain trips where planning is a must.

Where planning is the first step, finding the right sources is the critical part. For the past weeks, I’ve literally scoured hundreds of Web sites, read a number of books, and scanned so many brochures in planning for my vacation. Finding the right hotel, the right transportation, the right places to visit is very important (especially with this type of trip!).

Let me share some tips that you may find useful in planning for a trip:

1. The Internet can be your best friend. Let me tell you why.

Information: The Internet can give you literally millions of links to information on hotels, transportation, tourist spots, what-to-dos, what-not-to-dos, and many more must knows! This can go against you though, because choosing the important (and authentic) information can be hard. But if you get the hang of it, it will be so much easier!

Not only does the Internet give you the a wide variety of best options, but it also makes booking for transportation, hotels, and tourist spots/tours easier. I’ve just booked at four hotels thousands of miles away at the comfort of my home! This is certainly a plus, plus, plus! I’ve found the following links to be particularly very useful (especially for international trips; some were from Rick Steves):

–Transportation

Sky Scanner Flight Search (www.skyscanner.net)

Mobissimo (www.mobissimo.com)

Wegolo (www.wegolo.com)

Raileurope (www.raileurope.com)

–Accommodations

Hostelworld (www.hostelworld.com)

Hotelscombined (www.hotelscombined.com)

Hostelbookers (www.hostelbookers.com)

-Travel information

iExplore (www.iexplore.com)

What I love about these sights is they search the whole database for the right transportation or accommodation for you, according to your preference, that is, by price, by location, by availability, and others. They certainly make planning a lot easier! I swear that I love these sites!

2. Try joining forums, or even just read entries. It is very helpful to read about the experiences of others…what works and what does not, what is worth seeing and what is not. It is very importnat that you do not waste energy, time, and money on sights or places that are not worth it.

3. When you are searching on the Internet, do not be contented on the first results page that appears. Go as far as you can.  Sometimes, the best information come after much searching.

4. Know how to filter information that you read (very important!).

5. Learn from the experiences of others…ask, ask, ask.

There you have it! Know that things might still go wrong after the most careful of planning. But then, I would rather have things go wrong even with planning than things go wrong without planning!

This entry was originally posted at kumarenggrace.i.ph.