Love from Fodor's

Fodor’s editor Doug Stallings has done a nice piece for newbie carry-on travelers and gives OBOW a little credit in the process:

There are two “bibles” of carry-on travel which I consult regularly.

• Onebag is all about “the art and science of traveling light.”
• One Bag, One World currently features an interesting account of how Brad Isbell just went to Europe for 13 days with only a 13-pound carry-on bag, which included his netbook.

Thanks Doug! Any credit to OBOW is really credit to the readers and guest contributors who make it what it is.

Update on June 25, 2009 by Frank@OBOW

From Fodor’s: “Your first trip to Europe”

Comments

[Till]

A good article indeed and nice to see some props for this site. I agree that it is one of the best on the net on traveling light.

I do wonder about his ten day trip without washing. I'd like to see that packing list. I mean men's underwear alone can be pretty bulky. Maybe he takes really lightweight tech underwear. Ten briefs, ten t-shirts and polos. Or a mix of t's, polos and real shirts. Then the socks. For trousers I can get along with two pairs easily for ten days if it is nowhere dirty.

I wear a pair of jeans about seven times before I wash it, unless it gets obviously dirty. So one pair of jeans (worn for traveling) and one pair of functional khakis and you should be set.

Still, I'd cut that underwear weight by at least 40% and only take 6 sets for a ten day trip and do sink laundry once.

It would be interesting to come up with a calculation or formula where the benefits and costs of onebagging can calculated as opposed to the costs and benefits of checking luggage.

What he said that it is cheaper to do laundry once or even have the hotel launder some items, then checking a bag both ways, was a very smart argument.

I'd venture to say that the initial outlay for some specialized gear and clothing would be in the $500 range. For bags, the one he cited and the ebags weekender would be on the low end. Bihn would be on the high end. One would need about 3-4 shirts, non-ironing and quick drying; about $200. One would need two functional pants, about $150. This leaves you with around $50 to get some accessories like packing cubes, laundry line, shirt folders. Obviously, if you count in a nice pair of shoes and a more or less specialized travel sports coat the cost goes up but you can wear those items anytime, so I don't count them. Of course, you can wear the shirts and pants anytime, too, which makes the expense more reasonable.

With an estimated check-in cost of $40 per round trip, the initial expense can be amortized within 13 trips and starts to save you money thereafter. If you were to do hotel laundry at a cost of $20 each trip, this amount would double. So amortization only comes after 25 trips.

So, purely from a money standpoint, if you are not taking a lot of trips, the expense for perfected onebagging isn't worth it. By "perfected" I mean buying all the extra stuff and getting into it like the hardcore freaks we are. :)

However, the positive externalities might well swing the balance in the other direction, especially the time savings and the safety point, which strangely he doesn't mention in his article.

[Lisa FD]

Till-- interesting way to quantify the cost of one bagging. Factor in waiting time to pick up checked luggage, replacement costs for supplies when luggage is delayed or lost and the payback increases substantially.

For me, I can't put a price on the peace of mind of having all my stuff with me. Some things are just priceless.

[Till]

Yes, Lisa, those factors are positive externalities. Some of them are easily quantifiable, like time (if you simply use an hourly salary). The fact that you don't really need to worry about lost luggage anymore is, as you say, priceless.

Just the annoyance when your luggage is lost and the waiting around at the lost luggage counter. Yikes!

On the other hand, for some people, especially male business travelers, a roller plus briefcase might actually be the best choice. This wouldn't be onebagging in the strictest sense but it would still be carry-on only.

Another factor is how fit you are and how strong. If you have serious shoulder or back trouble, even a lightweight bag might kill you. If you are short and not particularly fit, a shoulder bag might be too heavy and cumbersome. So these very individual factors would have to be somewhat accounted for at least.

I have decided and will try to do only onebagging in the future, unless I need to haul stuff from one residence to another (I split my life between three places).