Holidays are meant to be about relaxing and forgetting about your woes. But how many of you get to the end of the holiday and start to stress about the added cost if you happen to exceed the baggage limit on the flight home? I know I certainly have!
There are some travellers, though, who turn everything you may know about travel on its head, and plan their holidays in such a way that they are able to get away without taking any luggage! It seems too good to be true.
But here are how people travel footloose and baggage-free.
Avoid the baggage mindset
Phrases like ‘my bags are packed’ show how inextricably linked the process of taking a holiday is linked with the idea of luggage. If the first thing you do before a holiday is reach for your suitcase or bag, ask yourself whether you actually need the bag. Even if the answer is ‘yes’ think about ways you can make the bag as light as possible, or limit yourself to just the one bag. Hotels offer all the personal hygiene products you could need for your trip and some even offer cosmetics as well, so you can definitely leave your toiletries bag at home.
Let someone else do it
If you are a frequent traveller, there are services that will take care of packing for you, freeing up heaps of time and even doing your laundry as part of the bargain. With these services you only ever pack once and then you never have to think about it again.
While travel service company DUFL is currently only available to people living in Sydney and Melbourne, it is one of the biggest operators worldwide in this space. Here’s how it works. You open an account with the app, send clothes you want to be stored (although you can retrieve them for use at home anytime you want) in bags provided by the company and a virtual closet is created with photos of your items displayed in your account. You then select which items you want and where you want them to be sent and they arrive at the hotel ready for you to collect them. At the end of your trip, pile your dirty clothes into the bag and arrange for a pickup. The company retrieves your bag, cleans all of your clothing, and then puts it back into your travel wardrobe until you need it again.
Buy as you go
The other way to travel without luggage is to buy everything as you need it. While this may seem like an expensive and wasteful option, think about whether you were planning on working shopping into your schedule as an essential part of the holiday experience. If you were, this only gives you license to spoil yourself and build a stylish international wardrobe, while also looking after the necessities. When you get home, your newly stocked wardrobe will serve you as a constant reminder of your holiday and a talking point with your friends.
Have you ever taken a holiday with no luggage? How did you manage it?
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