In 2005, this was my very large, massive, unwieldy, bulky 31" luggage that I traveled with before I became the more wiser, light traveling Slow Traveler that I am today! What was I thinking! :) I snapped this photo while traveling with my friend by train from the Cinque Terre to Rome in Italy (btw, her luggage was just as gigantic)...
This is my new and improved less bulky luggage. I snapped this photo while traveling by train from Prague to Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic. Notice how it neatly fits on the luggage rack above my seat.
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Love the improvement! Great take on the theme!
ReplyDeleteLOL Kathy! What a great take on the theme. Don't feel bad - I did the same thing my first trip to Venice and took a horribly heavy and bulky bag that I had to haul up and down the bridges. I've got a much smaller bag now. :)
ReplyDeleteHope you're having a great weekend!
Love your new suitcase! I'm a fairly light packer myself, partly because am so paranoid about going over the weight limits, which are pretty minimal on airlines like EasyJet and Ryanair. Generally is much cheaper for me to fly charter airline from Halifax to Europe, and then fly EJ or Ryan to my final destination. The larger carriers never have decent prices out of Halifax to Europe.
ReplyDeleteI remember my Mom had a bulky suitcase when she and I travelled a couple years ago...damn thing kept toppling over whenever she'd set it down in airports or train stations! lol
Hope you are enjoying your weekend, Kathy!! Oh and I see our blog feed is fixed and your blogroll shows my most recent entry again - hooray!
Hi Kathy, love your take on "bulky". I remember the days of traveling with way too much. I try and keep it as light as possible now.
ReplyDeleteHope you are enjoying your weekend.
Hi Kathy, I'm afraid my luggage usually looks more`like your before photo -- the more bulky piece -- than the`after!
ReplyDeleteYes your older luggage was definitely very bulky. I think I have the same luggage as your new bag. If it is Victornox rolling backpack - it is great ! Not bulky at all. :)
ReplyDeleteHi Everyone, thanks so much for your comments.
ReplyDeleteCandi, yes I love the improvement too. And so do my arms and shoulders.
Annie, thanks for liking my take. The looks my friend and I had at the train stations in Italy are unforgettable. Yikes on the big luggage in Venice. I think especially in a city like Venice it is really better to travel light with all those bridges and no door to door taxi service. Glad you switched to your smaller bag. :)
Anne, kudos to you for being a light packer. I had to train myself to travel light. And you raise a good point about the airline weight retrictions and the smaller airlines within Europe. I have not yet tried to use them. That's a cute story about your mom's bulky luggage. I know the feeling. And yes, my blog roll seems to be working again and I can now see all the current updates. My blog lines worked really well too. Yay. Have a great day today!
Maya, thanks for liking my bulky take. Traveling lighter and with a smaller suitcase has made such a huge difference for me especially when using the trains. I really like it and try to travel as light as possible too.
Sandra, I think the interesting thing about travel is that everyone has their own style, needs and level of comfort. I remember on this trip, my friend had to bring her own personal blow dryer, and I was okay using the ones in the hotel (as weak as they were). I also think it changes depending on where we go and what we plan on doing. This last trip I had to make room to pack some bulky hiking shoes, a tripod and a couple of thick fleece tops for the cold. I actually ended up having to mail back my souvenirs along the way otherwise everything just wouldn't of fit in my suitcase. Also, I think if I had a car (I realized the huge benefit and convenience in having a car on this last trip), I may not be as concerned with the size of my luggage. It's all very interesting.
Marta, yes...my luggage is a Victornox and I just love it. I got it in 2006 and have used it ever since. In fact, I also have the 22 inch which I recently used as a carry on and it is also great. It is so light and flexible and I can really fit a lot of stuff in there that I probably wouldn't be able to fit in other similar luggage. Plus I love the color! :)
Thanks so much everyone for all of your comments. Have a great day today!
Hmmm.. On my way to do a google search for online stores that sell Victornox. Love the look!
ReplyDeleteOh, I need pointers. Will have to check out Victornox. Alas, I have not progressed altho the airlines have forced me into a bit of a reduction. I realize the older I get, the less I need to take because I either 1)forget I have taken an outfit or 2) just wear what I know is comfortable when I arrive at my destination. But I always need room for shoes (have an EMarcos thing) and toiletries. m
ReplyDeleteGreat improvement! I think many of us have learned our lessons after at least one bad traveling experience with bulky luggage. I still struggle though trying to fit everything into smaller luggage. What usually ends up happening is I have no room to bring anything back home with me from my trip.
ReplyDeleteHi Kathy, I just wanted to stop in and say how much I love your rainbow Isle of Skye photo! Have a good week!
ReplyDeleteHi Everyone, thanks so much for your comments...
ReplyDeleteDeborah, Victornox is a great brand. I have pushed the limit in terms of putting as much as I can in there, I've pulled, yanked, shoved and pushed it and it has survived it all and still looks in great shape. Plus with it's backpack rounder look it is very distinguishable from all the other luggages. It's a great look. :)
M, since you pack light you will really like the Victornox brand. And I've had it now for 4 years and it's still in excellent shape. I do think that our packing habitd as we get older changes too. The heaviest thing I carry is my toiletries bag. Every since I got sick in 2005 I carry my own little pharmacy, because the cough medicines I got in Italy just didn't work for me. Now I carry my own on each trip, just in case. So you have a EMarcos thing eh....
Girasoli, it gets expensive for me but I have found it very helpful to mail my souvenirs and maybe some clothing back during my trips. If I didn't do that I would not be able to fit everything in there. I have a tendency to bring one two many outfits and always end up not wearing it throughout the trip and when I mail back my souvenir I'll mail that back too. I got spoiled a little in Scotland with my car. But before I took the train back to Edinburgh I went to the post office on the Isle of Skye to mail some stuff home to lighten my luggage. So far this system has worked for me.
Sandra, thanks so much for stopping by to say how much you love my rainbow...I love it too. My first full rainbow, always reminds me of that song sung by Judy Garland in the Wizard of Oz.... Somewhere over the rainbow, Skyes are blue, .... and the dreams that you dare to dream Really do come true...(well the skye wasn't quite blue on this day, but the colors of the rainbow were gorgeous)
Thanks again everyone. Have a great week!
Love your before and after "bulky" post. Being a traveler who haven't learned to travel light, I relate to the before scenario.
ReplyDeleteHi Eden, thanks for your comments. I can relate to that before photo as well. I think the more I travel the more I realize the things that I can do without for a while. That experience has helped me to thin out my bags a little. And yet there are some things that I continue to pack and mail home...:)
ReplyDeleteHave a great day today!
Great improvement, Kathy! I was also on the "heavy and bulky" bag category until about ten years ago. Now I do only carry on with two small bags. I think that using public transportation while traveling changed my packing habits.
ReplyDeleteHi Maria, I'm glad you liked my improvement. I'm impressed that you only travel with carry on now. I haven't quite gotten that light yet except for short domestic trips. But traveling by train has also changed my packing habits and also my past experience has also changed my habits because I have slowly developed a better sense of what to bring an and what to leave behind. Well, I still need more work on that, since on each trip I have to mail some unused clothes back home to make room for my souvenirs. Maybe I should stop buying souvenirs altogether. But then I wouldn't have my cute Kilt and Spanish dress for my wine bottles. LOL!
ReplyDeleteHave a great evening!
On my first trip to Europe (pre and post cruise), I had a 26-inch bag plus a 22-inch one plus other smaller tote bags. We were planning on taking the train from Lucca to Florence, but we didn't think we could manage all of those bags getting on and off the train, so we hired a cab to drive us.
ReplyDeleteI can't remember what the cost was - I have probably blocked it out. But I learned from the experience and don't take as much luggage.
That is a good idea about mailing back souvenirs and some clothes. How long does it take to arrive back home?
Hi Nancy, thanks so much for your comments. It was after my trip in 2005 that I too learned that it is best to travel lighter. I think at one point my friend and I missed our connection train at La Spezia, mainly because they changed train platforms on us but I think we could've made it had we had smaller and lighter luggages. We missed it by a hair....I have since learned to travel lighter. Mailing my souvenirs does take a minium of three weeks. When I was in the Czech Republic, it took 4 weeks but in Spain and Scotland, they arrived before I got home. The only down side is the added costs. But so far I have been willing to pay it in order to lighten my luggage. But I am learning not to over pack to avoid the task and added cost of mailing them back.
ReplyDeleteTaxi fare from Lucca to Florence.... I've not yet been to Lucca so I don't know how far that is but I'm sure it is an added expense that you would prefer not to have so I don't blame you for packing light these days.
Thanks again for your comments. Have a great evening!