The Reid

Following up to Carrie

    >I've been thinking mostly about Spain, Portugal, France, England.

All good choices. You could combine Spain and Portugal easily, or
France and England using Eurostar betwwen London and Paris.
--
Mike Reid
"Art is the lie that reveals the truth" P.Picasso
Fellwalking, photos, London & the Thames path "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk"
Spain, food and walking "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" (see web for email)

Me

"voyager" wrote in message news:...
[snip]
    > - Pack light. You don't want to be burdened with trying to handle heavy
    > luggage for and especially if your using public transit to get around. Take
    > clothes that you can rinse out in your hotel room and plan to do laundry
    > periodically. I personally carry about 5 days of clothes and try to do
    > laundry every 4th or 5th day. What I pack is generally the same for 4 days,
    > 4 weeks or 4 months of travel.
[snip]
    > - Don't overbuy souvenirs etc. As the trip progresses you don't want to
    > find yourself relegated to the role of packmule. It can get both
    > frustrating and expensive to try to bring a bunch of "stuff": on to the
    > plane home. For those things your do buy, you can ship small packages home
    > to yourself periodically without breaking the bank. Try to get the merchant
    > to ship bulky or breakable items for you and be sure to pay via credit card.
    > It doesn't cost that much more and you usually have some guarantees of
    > getting your items home safely.
[snip]

This kind of advice needs a bit of quantification to be useful.

"Light" is a variable term and needs to be understood in a functional
sense.

Don't pack anymore than you can carry up a flight of stairs. This
will be different for everyone but probably is somewhere around 25-30 lbs
(about 13 kg). Unless you absolutely have to, don't count on being
able to use elevators (lifts) or other forms of powered assistance.
In some hotels they may not exist. There also may not be a porter
handy either. And the elevators may be broken.

I'd also consider your ability to pick it up over your head. Luggage
racks can be quite high up, especially on trains or buses and shuttles.

Don't pack more than you can pull/carry in one hand. A second bag
has to either "piggy back" on a wheeled bag or be carried on your back.
Over the shoulder isn't exactly the same thing. You need one hand
free for working doors, holding tickets, that kinda thing.

Wheeled luggage is extremely useful even for fairly small bags.
Travel can involved some long hauls and arms can get tired even from
fairly small bags.

Consider that you may bring home more than you leave with. Either
bring an extra bag, or be careful what you buy.

For a whole lotta reasons, as you pack, consider that you may have
to unpack and REpack several times. Ziplock bags and other of this
sort of item can make this much easier. Extremely large ziplocks
(3 gallons or so) can be had which will hold folded shirts.

Consider the weather. This means both the common temperature extremes
and also things such as rain.

Clothes have to be "multi-use". Especially clothes like jackets
and shoes. Try to bring ones that can "double" as warmth, rain protection,
as well as possibly "evening wear".

Personally, I hate doing laundry on vacation, and I tend to move around
enough that waiting around for my laundry to get done would be a hassle.
Some people can wear the same stuff for days. I do alot of walking and
that just isn't an option. I can cram 2 weeks worth of laundry in a
29 inch wheeled pullman and a large carryon. But I can also lift it, and
haul it. I went too large one year and it was a hassle. (36" wheeled
duffle, never again).

Greg Byshenk

me wrote:

    > Don't pack more than you can pull/carry in one hand. A second bag
    > has to either "piggy back" on a wheeled bag or be carried on your back.
    > Over the shoulder isn't exactly the same thing. You need one hand
    > free for working doors, holding tickets, that kinda thing.

    > Wheeled luggage is extremely useful even for fairly small bags.
    > Travel can involved some long hauls and arms can get tired even from
    > fairly small bags.

Mostly good advice, but a comment on the above.

Bags should have at least one or the other of either wheels or a
shoulder strap (for the "long hauls" reason above). Carrying bags
by the handle for a long distance is very tiring. I don't like
wheels, and prefer to carry things over my shoulder; others may
prefer wheels -- but one or the other (or both) is strongly
recommended.

More than two bags is a hassle. One bag is better, if possible.
I normally travel with a smallish travel pack and a small "book bag"
sized bag. When I am on the move, the smaller bag goes inside the
larger bag, leaving me only one bag to worry about.

As noted above, you need to have at least one hand free; having
both hands free is better still. Backpacks or travel packs are
good for this, as are shoulder straps. One of my bags is a travel
pack, but I have yet to use the "pack" feature. My travel is
almost solely urban and via public transport, so a shoulder strap
is more convenient for me. But one bag on my shoulder means that
both hands are free.


--
greg byshenk - [email protected] - Leiden, NL
hate spam?