What does leaving room mean to you? It’s a popular phrase in America today. We seemed to want to do it a lot, this leaving room. But what does it mean for a trip?
For me, leaving room during travels concerns two areas: packing and time.
Tackling the first item first, when packing, leaving room is vital. How many trips have you gone on where your bag was packed full? I’d venture 80% or more. On my current trip to Peru, I’d say that’s definitely true. We all do it from time to time. But I want to point out the benefit to leaving some room in your bags.
Leaving room has many benefits. First, there is the sheer weight of stuff. Stuff weighs a lot, no two ways around it. The more stuff, the more weight. And that stuff usually has to be moved by you, either to the airport, to the cruise ship or in and out of the car on a roadtrip. The less weight to move, the better your life will be.
Second, leaving room allows for less baggage. If you can reduce the amount of stuff in general, perhaps you can get by with one suitcase instead of two. In today’s domestic travel, that could mean a savings of $20 or more per trip as most airlines are starting to charge for each checked bag.
Third, leaving room in baggage means it’s easier to bring home a bit of your trip with you. Whether for yourself or for family and friends, it’s always fun to share your trip or a particular memory with a souvenir. if there space in your bag when you leave home, it’ll be that much easier to fit in extra items to take home without incurring additional costs from the airlines.
Fourth, leaving space in regards to time means a more relaxed trip. I used to (and sometimes still do) get a bit upset when the timing of getting to the airport or next stop wasn’t working right. But with a bit of communication with your other travel partners, it’s easy to find common ground in helping everyone arrive on time, which goes a long way in reducing the stress of a trip. More importantly, leaving time for the unknown on a trip allows for spontaneous fun to happen. If you’re not worried about the next stop because you’ve given yourself an hour buffer, it’s easy to stop and have a sip of tea at a bakery while the kids taste some local pastries. Planning things down to the last minute often results in missed opportunities. It’s the age old, “Stop and smell the flowers” philosophy. Leave room to have the unknown happen.
So give yourself the gift of room on your next trip, be it across town or across the world.