I'm really anxious to hear what people here have to say.

I'll start:

2-4 day trip to visit parents in Detroit
* Laptop (depends on my mood)

* Moderately heavy roll-aboard
OR
* Light luggage weighing at most 30 lbs.
* Light backpack


1-2 day business trips (back when I was going for off-campus job interviews . . . oh the dot.com days)
* Light roll-aboard always!!!


7-14 day vacation to Europe
* (1) 40-60 lb. luggage
* Moderately light backpack


3-4 week trip to Asia to annoy relatives
* Light backpack
* Heavy roll-aboard
* (1) 60 lb. luggage

- Pat

I like to travel light.

I bring about the same amount regardless of the length of my trip. I try to bring carryon only. And I've taken a number of overseas trips of one, two, three, even four months in duration.

I usually succeed in carrying everything on. My rollaboard, packed, typically weighs about 10 or 11 kilograms (20 to 24 pounds); I also have a largish purse and another small bag which can piggyback on the rollaboard. Sometimes I am forced to check the rollaboard -- intra-Europe especially. (There's usually an eight-kilogram limit for carryon there but....) Another strategy I have to use (especially in USA) is to stick my purse inside the small bag, at least for purposes of getting in the security line (two item limit for carryon).

Kathy

I pack exactly like Kathy. Whether I'm taking a trip for 1 day, or for 1 month, I just bring one small roller suitcase and a backpack. For day trips where I fly out in the AM and come home in the PM I just bring my backpack.

Same basic story here. A carry on garment bag! If it doesn't fit - it doesn't go! Works well enough for me for up to three weeks away - and then I just do laundry on the road!

If tavelling with family on a holiday, however, all bets are off!

Like most I try to level light. On short business trips everything fits in the carry on, for longer trips I sometimes need to check my suitcase.

I make it a point, never to take my laptop on personal trips (not even to watch a DVD ).

[This message has been edited by ql2112 (edited 11-02-2002).]

Short answer, as little as possible.

I almost always take only one roll-on and a Chico's tote that is big enough to hold a book, my purse, a brush, hairspray, my makeup, airplane slippers, reading glasses, aleve and a black silk cardigan "airplane" sweater.

Best advice I ever heard for traveling light on a two to five day business trip is to lay out your clothes before putting them in carry-on; then eliminate 30% to 40% before packing. So far, no regrets while using this method.

I travel light but bring a LOT OF BOOKS and audiotapes too (ones that have talky stuff on them I can listen to.)

I am always concerned that I might run out of reading material.

I never check bags unless I am with my family. I have a carry bag with my laptop in it, tape player, headphones, some nuts usually and sometimes water, some books, and so forth. And I have a small suitcase with my other stuff in it and some more books (if I am going overnight or longer).

I can't remember the last time I brought more than this even for a trip of 4 days.

I have four bags, of which I choose one:
- A 46" Boyt garment bag, for when I have to pack suits. I am tall enough that a suitcoat does not fit properly in a roll-on bag without getting destroyed);.
- An expandable 22" Atlantic roll-on, what I try to use most of the time - I can fit 4-5 days of clothes in it without expanding it - on a widebody I can expand it and fit a week's worth and still fit in the overhead bin;
- An under the seat duffel bag for casual weekends like visiting friends;
- A hardsided Delsey 30" that I use about once every 2-3 years for a really long domestic trip; last time I used it was for a 17-day driving golf vacation.

I invested a year ago in a Tumi Deluxe Laptop Backpack. On any domestic vacation where I'm taking more than one day off, the laptop has to go with me in case of emergencies on one of my projects. When I go to Europe, all the laptop stuff goes out, and I have a touring HQ.

I try to take liberal use of in-hotel valet laundry facilities to lighten the load. On a long vacation, it's worth paying $5/day to not have to lug the Delsey around - I'll save 1/2 of that on rail station locker charges! At one of the Hampton Inns where I sometimes stay for work, shirts cost $1.75, compared to $1.10 at home, so that's a no-brainer.

I try to take a couple cheap paperbacks with me - I went to a couple of library book sales last month and got a 3-month supply at 50 cents each, so I don't mind leaving them behind when I'm done.

I don't take much in the way of medicine with me domestically, just my prescriptions, Advil, and a thermometer. Internationally, however, I have a small pharmacy!

Whenever I go to Europe, I pack a week before my trip. It makes things much less hectic, and I won't forget anything. I also fold and pack the duffel bag inside the 22" bag, so that way if I buy stuff I can carry it back in the duffel and check the expanded 22".

I think some pack light meaning not too much weight overall. Some of these people bring a moderate amount of weight on board (a roller bag) but don't check in.

I occasionally bring only a small bag when I have clothes at the other end. The coolest way I've travelled is between LGA-DCA with only a briefcase, no check in. That's suspicious behavior except on the shuttle.