Travelling light with carry-on comes with a lot of benefits – apart from saving money on luggage allowance, you could also skip the long wait at baggage claim and move from one destination to another more easily.
Most airlines will allow you to bring up to 7kg on board – and with the right tricks, 7kg is all you need. Here are some of the things you can do to cut down your carry-on weight.
1. Invest in a lightweight luggage
With the right luggage, you can cut 2-3kg right off the bat. A wheeled suitcase can be a convenient option, but weekender bags also work. Keep in mind that most airlines will have size limits for carry-on luggage. While the dimensions may vary, in general they need to fit under the seat or in the overhead lockers.
2. Go digital
In today’s world, there’s little need to bring bundles of paperwork to the airport. Digitise your travel documents by using apps or saving them to your phone, a cloud drive or a USB stick. This not only helps save space and weight, but also eliminates any worries about losing important docs on the go.
You can also swap heavy paperbacks for an e-Book reader device – or better yet, have the e-Books ready on your tablet or smartphone.
3. Wear your heaviest items
For light travelling, it is best to opt for a small number of versatile clothing items to pack. However, if you need to bring a heavy coat or a pair of boots, you can wear them to the airport to minimise the carry-on weight.
4. Minimise toiletries
Depending on your destination, you might not need to bring basics such as shampoo and body wash. Still, you can bring your personal toiletries without going over the airline’s liquid limits by going for the mini travel-sized version of the products. If your favourite brand does not offer this, you can decant them into smaller containers, which you can purchase in pharmacies.
5. Get a travel scale
Avoid the surprise of being charged excess baggage fees at the airport by weighing your bags with a luggage scale before check-ins. With portable, compact size and affordable price – some of the scales on the market cost as low as $9 – there’s no reason not to get one.
Republished with permission of Over60.