Why is travelling light not for everyone?

Travelling light would mean having to wash your clothes on the go and/or re-wear them. Travelling light would mean bringing sufficiently enough, or even less than enough. Travelling light would mean going compact and prioritising what you need! I personally LOVE travelling light and I am always trying my best to "underpack".

Disclaimer: This is entirely based on my own comfort level and my own experience. You and I are bound to have some differences!

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In my opinion,

packing light depends on:

The country you are visiting and its weather

Some countries are so cold you don't even feel like changing your clothes, or you don't even feel the need to change what's hidden inside, since you are going to be wearing your jackets on the outside all the time! That being said, I had been to Iceland for a 10 days trip, carrying only one 18L bag, with my laptop in it!

On the contrary, in warm weathers, similar to that of Singapore would warrant a need to change more, and hence, an increase in the number of clothes brought overseas! For a 5D4N trip to Bali in 2013, I needed a larger bag - 22L bag. Still travelling light, but bigger than that of my Iceland trip!

The activities you are doing on your trip

Should you be doing several water activities, you might find yourself having to bring more clothes for change, more swimsuits, towels, and etc!

Accessibility to places like mini-marts/malls, where you can get what you are lacking!

In most countries, I can safely say that you are able to find mini-marts/malls to get your necessities. I mean, their locals would need somewhere to get their stuff as well right?! Personally, I would choose to take the leap of faith and trust that I can get any extra toiletries from wherever I am travelling in!

Your priorities when it comes to travelling.

My priority is always my camera gear - my SONY a6000 and my GoPro.

Here is my handy and compact SONY a6000, where I take most of my pictures. This was taken in Yogyakarta. Read more about the trip here!

These 2 cameras and their accessories - spare batteries, chargers and MOGICS (the compact extension bar) - tend to take up half or three-quarter of my bag space! On longer trips, I would bring my laptop along to transfer pictures out of my cameras as well! I used to bring a wide Polaroid whenever I travel but I gave up on that as it is wayyyy too bulky!

My GoPro Hero 7 is a must on all my diving trips! It is small, compact and waterproof up to 60m. The following pictures are taken on my trip to Komodo Island, Labuan Bajo in Indonesia. Read more about the trip here!

I found myself travelling with a bigger backpack (50L) on my 10-day trip to Sri Lanka! There is truly no hard and fast rule to travelling light, it's country-dependent and depends on what activities you are doing!

If I had a choice, I would choose to leave that pair of shorts or dress at home than to leave out 1 of my cameras. Hence, the size of my bag has to minimally be able to fit all my camera gears.

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Perks of travelling light

(especially in a backpack instead of a luggage)

• You keep your hands free to do whatever you need to - hold your cameras, hold onto maps, hold onto railings when you're on public transport, or even just to walk more freely without the hassle of a luggage!

• You learn to live minimally and simply - you learn to bring the clothes that you NEED and not the clothes that you think you might need to wear on random "what-ifs" occasions.

• For a short trip, you learn to bring one 50ml bottle of shampoo, soap and etc instead of ten 100ml bottles of toiletries just because.... you can't be bothered to fill and refill?

• You learn to pack compact - your clothes will be airtight in a ziplock, your toiletries would packed into a ziplock (instead of a bulky travel organiser), you learn to find unknown spaces you never knew existed in your backpack to squeeze that extra pack of tissue, that pair of slippers or even that compact towel!

• For the most obvious reasons - it is LIGHT! You don't see yourself struggling to pull that heavy luggage or lift off that heavy 15kg 65L backpack from the ground!

• After a trip, you have less "damage control", lesser to unpack, lesser to wash and it makes post-trip more bearable!

Cons of travelling light

• You may run out of clean clothes (which can be easily solved by washing them beforehand)

• You may run out of toiletries (you need to know your consumption and pack enough! Alternatively, you can just buy from there)

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Since travelling light has more perks than cons, why is travelling light not for everyone?

In my opinion, travelling light seems almost impossible for parents of young children. They would need to bring several extra clothes for those "what-ifs" situations. There are many considerations and logistics to bring - milk bottles, milk powder, thermal flasks etc. I am always in awe of parents and children who carry backpacks and travel together. I have always wondered how do they do it and aspire to be one of them :")

Travelling light may not be suitable for you if you have several personalised items. For example, your toiletries may not be as easy to find when you travel overseas, or you are uncomfortable with using a random brand of toiletries. As a result, you may feel anxious knowing that you did not pack extra toiletries, just in case. Moreover, should you feel uncomfortable hand washing your clothes or re-wearing your clothes, travelling light may not be for you!

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You would have realised that I used several "I/you feel" or "comfortable/uncomfortable" in this post. Yes, you are not wrong - travelling light is a feeling, and a test of your comfort zones. Many a times, it's all in your mind, which makes it harder to change!

Travelling light is a mindset and a habit, which requires practice - you may feel that everything is important to you and you need them in your bag! It will take some time for you to get used to bringing less, but let me assure you, once you get the hang of it, you will feel relieved! :)

There is absolutely nothing wrong with NOT travelling light. To each is own!!

This is merely my own experience, and I hope to share how I do it so you can take a step out of your comfort zone and try it (if you've always wanted to but never dared to!)

Trust your guts, and take that leap of faith to packing light! :)