Last night, I attended a meeting of current and wannabe travel writers. I, of course, took the opportunity to promote this website and wanted to know how many of them were currently one bag travelers.
Not one.
Not one person, some of whom were busy travel writers visiting such out of the way places as the jungles of Southest Asia and Central America, even said they traveled without wheels let alone with just one bag. Oh, some were proud that they used “carry-on” sized wheelies and had a second bag that was ‘slightly” smaller for the rest of their stuff.
Yet they were all intrigued and thought how wonderful it would be to travel so light. Was it possible? Could it be done? Could I teach them how?
Sure I could, but would they really use it? What does it take to be a one bag traveler and is it for everyone?
I gave it some thought and came up with the following:
Being a onebagger is a mindset. It’s the desire to travel with only one carry-on size bag and be willing to make some changes/compromises/sacrifices to reach this goal.
Is it for everyone? Absolutely not. Some people are just not willing to make enough compromises to reach that goal. Nor should they.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t judge how anyone packs. It’s completely personal and everyone must do so in a way that makes them comfortable and happy.
And for many, onebagging it isn’t going to make them happy. Oh, they may like the idea, but the actual implementation is something else.
Even on our own bulletin board, I’ve read many contributors who I can honestly say are nowhere near ready to be onebaggers—and that’s what’s right for them at this time. They may never make it. And that’s fine too.
On the other hand, there may be people who decide to give onebagging a try and absolutely hate it. And you know what, that’s fine too.
But what does it take to be a true onebagger.? To all who have experienced it, why not post what changes you had to make to go from “heavier” way of packing to the onebagging way. For you non-onebaggers, this may be an opportunity for you to truly ask yourself if this form of travel is really for you.
(Frank II)