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Why Can't You Pack a Bag? (2024)

newyorker.com

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Re: Why Can't You Pack a Bag? (2024)

#21

Post by coldtea »

popalchemist wrote: post #14
gensym wrote: post #9

The advantages of packing light aren't always obvious[1] until you experience them, so you can pretty much tell someone's level of travel experience by how small their luggage is. I've yet to meet someone who packs more and more stuff based on past experience. As the article mentions, good fabrics (like merino wool) can go a long way. (1) Reliability and flexibility being foremost. Not having to worry about lost lugg…

For people without children, yes; with children, often, the opposite.

Same exact principles apply. You just add the children's stuff, taking care to pack those light too.

Re: Why Can't You Pack a Bag? (2024)

#22

Post by jjulius »

popalchemist wrote: post #14
gensym wrote: post #9

The advantages of packing light aren't always obvious[1] until you experience them, so you can pretty much tell someone's level of travel experience by how small their luggage is. I've yet to meet someone who packs more and more stuff based on past experience. As the article mentions, good fabrics (like merino wool) can go a long way. (1) Reliability and flexibility being foremost. Not having to worry about lost lugg…

For people without children, yes; with children, often, the opposite.

That's just relative, no? Surely people with children pack more, but the concept is the same - you pack a lot the first time you travel with them, and then narrow it down the more you travel with them.

(Said as a parent)

Re: Why Can't You Pack a Bag? (2024)

#23

Post by getfacl »

Used to travel for work 3 weeks a month and worked with a group of folks who took pride in traveling light. I learned to never pack for more than 6 days. After 5 days either do the laundry or use the hotel laundry service.

Re: Why Can't You Pack a Bag? (2024)

#24

Post by coldtea »

AlotOfReading wrote: post #13

I really don't understand what people are putting in the 2-3 large suitcases I see them struggling to shove in overhead. For one, rolling luggage is usually a mistake for anyone who's not flight crew. I bring a week's worth of thin clothes that layer. If I need more, I'm either washing by hand or using a service. Basic toiletries, an e-reader, phone, keys, charger bricks, a notebook/pens, daypack. It fits into an und…

>For one, rolling luggage is usually a mistake for anyone who's not flight crew.

Rolling luggage is amazing, especially that that goes into the overhead compartment.

"I bring a week's worth of thin clothes that layer. If I need more, I'm either washing by hand or using a service. Basic toiletries, an e-reader, phone, keys, charger bricks, a notebook/pens, daypack. It fits into an underseat backpack with room to spare."

That's if you don't need to take more or heavier clothes, formal clothes, an extra pair of shoes, if you're packing gifts, or extra gear taken space elsewhere (e.g. camera and lenses in your backpack), and not taking stuff like souvenirs and such back.

>This has scaled fine all the way up to multi-month scientific expeditions in remote locations.

If you slob it like a 19 year old backpacker, sure.

Re: Why Can't You Pack a Bag? (2024)

#25

Post by SoftTalker »

> I had my worst-ever packing experience in the late nineties, when I was a teen-ager.

Is hyphenating a word like teenager a New Yorker idiosyncracy? Or is that a "soft" hyphen that crept into the final article copy?

On the topic of packing, my advice is to roll your clothes instead of folding them. Rolling avoids wrinkles and allows more space-filling options. That plus the general advice of packing just a few universally-appropriate items. If you really need something else you can always buy it locally and then discard it (or something else) when you pack for the return trip.

Re: Why Can't You Pack a Bag? (2024)

#27

Post by peezd »

AlotOfReading wrote: post #13

I really don't understand what people are putting in the 2-3 large suitcases I see them struggling to shove in overhead. For one, rolling luggage is usually a mistake for anyone who's not flight crew. I bring a week's worth of thin clothes that layer. If I need more, I'm either washing by hand or using a service. Basic toiletries, an e-reader, phone, keys, charger bricks, a notebook/pens, daypack. It fits into an und…

I've had this conversation a lot with my wife, as we have divergent philosophies.

I'm an old Peace Corps hippie that then road warriored for a few years where I would do a 4 day work trip and limit myself to a bag I could fit under the seat on a plane. You have to be ruthless, rewear stuff that will be fine for multiple days, etc. You also learn what is non-negotiable to bring.

My wife is a planner, so she builds for redundancies and tries to pack for every scenario. She targets to fill a roller bag and the biggest personal item tote she has. But I will also admit there's much more social pressure on women than men in terms of what makes up an outfit.

Re: Why Can't You Pack a Bag? (2024)

#28

Post by koreth1 »

AlotOfReading wrote: post #13

I really don't understand what people are putting in the 2-3 large suitcases I see them struggling to shove in overhead. For one, rolling luggage is usually a mistake for anyone who's not flight crew. I bring a week's worth of thin clothes that layer. If I need more, I'm either washing by hand or using a service. Basic toiletries, an e-reader, phone, keys, charger bricks, a notebook/pens, daypack. It fits into an und…

> For one, rolling luggage is usually a mistake for anyone who's not flight crew.

I used to travel with just a soft carry-on bag that converted into a backpack. It was great to just pick it up and go, and not have to worry about constantly extending and retracting the handle or bracing the bag so it wouldn't roll away on a hill.

But around the age of 50, my back informed me in no uncertain terms that those days were behind me. Now I let the wheels on my luggage carry the weight.

Re: Why Can't You Pack a Bag? (2024)

#29

Post by mplanchard »

SoftTalker wrote: post #25

> I had my worst-ever packing experience in the late nineties, when I was a teen-ager. Is hyphenating a word like teenager a New Yorker idiosyncracy? Or is that a "soft" hyphen that crept into the final article copy? On the topic of packing, my advice is to roll your clothes instead of folding them. Rolling avoids wrinkles and allows more space-filling options. That plus the general advice of packing just a few unive…

Teen-ager and some other unusual hyphenations are New Yorker style, yes

Re: Why Can't You Pack a Bag? (2024)

#30

Post by jaggederest »

SoftTalker wrote: post #25

> I had my worst-ever packing experience in the late nineties, when I was a teen-ager. Is hyphenating a word like teenager a New Yorker idiosyncracy? Or is that a "soft" hyphen that crept into the final article copy? On the topic of packing, my advice is to roll your clothes instead of folding them. Rolling avoids wrinkles and allows more space-filling options. That plus the general advice of packing just a few unive…

It's a New Yorker style manual thing, just like diaresis on reëducate for example [1]. I think it's sensible in this specific instance (and others like it generally) because it allows the user to disambiguate [I had my worst] [ever packing experience] from [I had my worst ever] [packing experience]. I'm not sure what other punctuation or style you'd use there to clarify that, besides letting the user figure it out from obvious context.

The New Yorker has a variety of these kinds of somewhat-archaic patterns, and I actually really like them because a) I think it gives a bit more literary feel, like the MIT Tech Review that also uses them, and b) it makes the text accessible to a broader audience, people who might speak english as a second or fourth language and not natuarally scan that phrase without punctuation.

[1] https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-curse-of-...

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