Indelible Adventures: The Art of Traveling Light

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I definitely learned the art of traveling light on my very first overseas trip. There I was ready to embark on a yearlong quest to discover the world and my mate (yes, you Roscoe) offered to come over and “check” my packing. He'd had his big trip a couple of years prior and learned the hard way about taking too much crap, so he kindly offered to help me keep it light.

Prior to him coming over I'd laid out all the things I thought I'd need, and trust me it was a king sized bed covered in clothes, books and a variety of accouterments that I thought might come in handy at some point.

He literally took one look at the volume of stuff, and shaking his head began “helping me” – read, hauling stuff off the bed onto the surrounding floor. As he went he muttered, “no, nope, holy shit, no-way…. and a number of other comments that can’t be printed here. J

He was ruthless!

Yep, by the time he was done he'd questioned my sanity, my knowledge of the world and my construct of basic logic. The room was a complete mess, and all that remained on the bed was a rather meager pile of clothes. He'd basically jettisoned everything regarded as a “luxury” including books, and anything I had more than two of – except undies, socks and t-shirts. Fortunately he'd allowed me an allocation of four each of these!

It was impossible to contemplate being away a year with literally a handful of items. With every protest he'd smile his sardonic smile and ask “if you needed another could you buy it there?” I had no comeback; after all he was the experienced traveler, and I, the novice. I had little recourse and begrudgingly took his advice although in retrospect I may have added one or two items last minute but generally kept to his strict regime of “less is more.”

His point of view was if you don't need to carry it, why would you?

After our packing tango, I must admit I had lots of room to spare, and now began to appreciate his logic, especially after witnessing many others who were literally being crushed under the weight of their oversized and unwieldy packs. I found it a little disconcerting to watch them struggle, but everyday that I was on the road I'd praised Roscoe’s wisdom.

Ever since that initial trip I've been a rigorous exponent of the “less is more” rule when traveling. After all that’s why they make small pouches of washing detergent – right?

As you know I've even trained Zach and Sami in the art of traveling light. Recently, when Sami went to Florida for the Maccabi Games she only took carry on and a small team backpack. When I dropped her off at the airport many of her teammates had full sized suitcases, plus an extra bag as well as their backpacks – you have to admit that’s a lot of stuff for five days!

Interestingly, the only one that wins in this scenario is the airline with all the extra baggage fees that are now so common, and trust me I've got much better things to spend my money on.

Although deep down I'm sure Sami would have liked to have taken more stuff with her, especially to give her a greater choice of attire at night but, to her credit she didn't complain and I think came to see it as a badge of honor amongst her friends and teammates – the seasoned world traveler .

As you know from ready my prior blog I’m heading Italy this weekend for two weeks of exploring with my girlfriend Aimee. I'm sure you're all dying to ask, and yes I've challenged her to also only take carry-on for our two week adventure… She’s been a good sport about it, and has been constantly devising ways to save space so she can meet the challenge. J Although clearly, her preference would not be carry-on for our adventure and I think her friends think she’s crazy for even trying.

I've even offered to “help” but this generous offer has been politely declined – say no more!

I’m hoping that she'll see the value of traveling light, but I think its going to take a little time and perspective.

It seems like our lives are so overburdened at times with all the “stuff” that we lug around , more out of habit versus a need.

So for your next trip, I'm challenging you all - layout all of the items you think you'd like to take with you. Then only take half and see if you can fit it into a carry-on...don't worry you'll thank me later. If it still doesn't fit into carry-on there are deeper issues - just sayin!

So until next week from Italy, its TW signing off!

Ciao Ciao

p.s. You can follow me on Instagram and check out my daily photos (@indelibleadventures)

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“Hanoi Posting”

A series of micro-stories by Terence Wallis

Episode 8: The Star Cafe

Bill prided himself in being a great investigative reporter, and after his encounter with Mai at the cocktail party the prior evening he was more than a little pre-occupied with finding her and was desperate to talk to Phuong about what had happened last night.

Bill and Phuong had developed an early morning ritual of meeting at the Star Cafe on Nguyen Thien Thuat in the Old Quarter to begin each day, once together Bill would practice his basic Vietnamese and then they'd work out what newsworthy stories they would follow over the coming days. It had taken Bill some time to adjust to the heat and humidity of Hanoi, although most days Phuong still wore a light jacket as he reminded Bill that it was still the cool season. To which Bill would shake his head and laugh as the beads of sweat rolled down his temple and onto the table in front of him. "God its hot" he'd complain

Bill always arrived at the Star early but inevitably found Phuong at his usual spot perched in the back corner chatting amiably to the Star's owner. The conversation ended as Bill strode toward them, Bin Dong, the Star's owner smiled and moved toward the counter to begin making the coffees. Once the coffees had arrived Bill turned to Phuong and told him of his encounter with the beautiful woman and more importantly what she'd said to him before she walked away.

“If you saw her, you'd say she was the most beautiful woman in the world” bill cooed but couldn't give Phuong much more to go on. Phuong's face was impervious to expression and knew who the mystery woman was without being given another clue. Hanoi Rose was the most glamorous and beautiful woman in all of Hanoi and Phuong knew much more than what he was willing to tell Bill.

She was trouble with a capital T...

Next week: Episode 9: Running on empty

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This weeks photos are from a shoot we did last Sunday in Toronto's eclectic Kensington Market - enjoy!