Originally Posted by RobbieRunner

I have not flown much since the pandemic began, and have even cut back significantly on ground travel. Recently, I went on my first longer trip post pandemic. A 10 day two city hop. And I packed like I was going on a world tour for six months. It was actually tragic.

I used to have a very thrifty packing philosophy. I could go to London/Paris for two weeks with nothing more than a small carry on duffel bag and a laptop case. I had truly adopted the principle of the late Antoine de Saint-Exupery - "He Who Must Travel Happily Must Travel Light". That was me. I don't know what happened during the pandemic, but it is like I emerged a new person, devoid not only of my past travel skills, but of any reasonable aptitude for packing whatsoever.

I went from a spartan carry on duffel bag and laptop case to carrying an entire storage facility with me. I brought a wheeled duffel so large you could pack for an entire family of four. Easily. But that was not enough. I also had a large wheeled garment bag, and a large wheeled accessory bag for electronics. Lots of electronics. I could have provisioned my entire floor of the hotel with electronic accessories. Of course I also brought a carry on bag stuffed with clothing and accessores as well as a laptop bag for my laptop, phone, tablet, Kindle, and who knows what else I jamed in there.

No joke. When I got to the first hotel, and the Bellman helped me with my luggage (believe me I absoulutely needed help), he asked me when the rest of my party was arriving. Yes indeed. If that wasn't sadly accurate, it would be comical. I certainly looked like I had packed for a party of six or seven. And with that extreme packing and high luggage volume comes other issues. Let's not even get into the amount of stress (both mental and monetary) that this amount of luggage can put on your mobility in an airport or limo or taxi or rental car. That's another discussion on its own. We'll just talk hotel logistics here since that's your home away from home.

First, all that luggage takes up a lot of space in your hotel room. Unless you have booked a large suite, a normal room is going to be cramped if you try and squeeze in a high volume of luggage. Second, it makes life difficult with regard to finding the things you actually need. It's easy to find a particular item when you have a small bag or two. It's not easy finding a particular item when it's among 250 other items that are stashed away somewhere in four or five large bags. Finally, if you dare unpack everything in your room, where are you going to put it all in a standard hotel room? You don't have the closet or drawer or shelf space for that kind of packing. And when it's time to move to another hotel or return home, you are faced with a laborious re-packing attempt.

I have to press the reset button very firmly with regard to travel packing. I need to get back to my roots of traveling light. I don't travel as much as I used to pre-pandemic, but what travel I am going to do needs to be manageable, especially with regard to packing. I might not be able to get back to a small carry on duffel, but one sensibly sized carry on and a laptop case should be plenty. I seem to have forgotten how to pack like that.