Traveling Light; second thoughts

Sitting in the airport in San Francisco, first leg of the trip behind me. The bag is performing admirably. Even though it is packed so full that you can read the labels on the clothes inside, it is holding up like a champ. The zippers on this thing must be made of Kryptonite because they can be forced closed like no zippers I've ever seen before.

The second thought is this; next time I am going to carry a second bag (satchel, backpack, not decided yet) for all my electronics. The computer, camera, etc. are traveling well up to this point, but man they are squeezed in amongst the underwear and socks like battery toting sardines. I'm not sure cramming them in like that is such a good idea. If all I was packing was clothes and a laptop, I'd be golden. The camera, extra batteries, chargers; et al, are what's causing the majority of the potentially seam-busting, electronics busting pressure.

I'll fill you in on the other side......

Traveling Light

Anyone who really knows me can attest to the fact that I am a compulsive learner. If I am going to undertake some new activity, I'm going to read as much as I can about it and talk to as many knowledgeable people as I can to make sure I get it right. Those people who know me can also tell you I hate doing something if I'm not good at it. I think both of these traits comes from a deep seated desire to not look like a doofus. If there's one thing I hate, it's being the unintentional source of other people's amusement. Another thing I hate is trying to get through an airport with too many bags. We've all seen that person. Very "touristy" looking, he's got one bag draped over a shoulder, a roller suitcase big enough to house a third world family, a smaller bag perched atop it like some kind of oddly rectangular baby monkey hanging onto its mother's back, a coat slung over his arm, talking on his cell phone and lugging this emormous load through the airport, all the while looking like Charles Loughton in "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (look it up). In short, a highly amusing doofus.

Here is the bag fully loaded, including computer, toiletries
an extra pair of shoes and enough clothes to get me through
the first week.  

So, back to the learning thing. I started doing research on the internet about traveling light (see previous paragraph). I found a website called "onebag.com". For anyone interested in the concept of traveling light it's a must read. On onebag.com he mentions a company called Red Oxx which is based in Montana. Red Oxx makes a bag that conforms to international carry-on standards called the "Air Boss" and it is one bad-ass piece of luggage (go to Redoxx.com and watch the video). And that is the bag I chose for my trip. The idea is to get through my two-week trip abroad with only a carry-on bag as luggage. I will be commenting in the future on the efficacy of this strategy and how it works for a two week trip to Europe. This should provide plenty of  fodder for future posts and plenty of amusement for my followers. I just hope I don't end up looking like a doofus.

Traveling Light

Anyone who really knows me can attest to the fact that I am a compulsive learner. If I am going to undertake some new activity, I'm going to read as much as I can about it and talk to as many knowledgeable people as I can to make sure I get it right. They can also tell you I hate doing something if I'm not good at it. I think both of these traits comes from a deep seated desire to not look like a doofus. If there's one thing I hate, it's being the unintentional source of other people's amusement. One other thing I hate is trying to get through an airport with too many bags. We've all seen that person. Very "touristy" looking, He's got one bag slung over his shoulder, a roller suitcase big enough to house a third world family, a smaller bag perched atop it like some kind of oddly rectangular baby monkey hanging onto its mother's back, a coat slung over his arm, talking on his cell phone and ambling through the airport looking like Charles Loughton in "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (look it up). In short, an amusing doofus.

So, back to the learning thing. I started doing research on the internet about traveling light (see above). I found a website called