Don’t know about you but I just love travelling, it’s in my blood, it’s in the air I breathe and within the very life of me. I’m the dreaded backpacker with flags sewn everywhere. I don’t stay in the regular tourist hot spots, I burrow deep into the true heart of the place I find myself in, I feel its rhythm, it’s beat, I dance.
Backpacks are good, their weight spreads across your back, but there is only so much one can carry on ones back. I am a backpacker that likes to shop, wear nice shoes and yes I like to buy my clothes in countries other than my origin, there is something about foreign flavour.
So I often set out on my journey with just the one backpack all flagged up with just a shoe box size spare if I’m lucky. When I need to leave my first stop-over in a country, on my way to the next, I always seem to need more space so I either borrow a bag or buy another to fit all my new purchases in. Next stop it’s the same, and so it goes, more and more bags.
If you’re not careful, after a few trips you could quite possible start your very own second hand luggage store with all the bags you’ve collected.
As we travel through life we also pick up bags, either we borrow them from others, get given them or we “buy” them. We are always travelling, always moving forwards in life, what are we doing with that excess baggage? Are we paying the costs like on an airline when you exceed the limit? 
Yes, we pay it in emotional turmoil and scarring, there is no way around it. The baggage we carry adds weight and then more weight on our soul, it gets heavier and heavier the longer we carry it. Leave it long enough and we start to feel like Atlas carrying the world on our shoulders. Our knees start to buckle, our shoulders tense up and our muscles start to burn. Soon we find it hard to walk, to breathe, to move, each step forward is agony.
After a few trips overseas my friends and I decided to start the tradition of “floating” bags, when a friend visits and buys too much they take a floater. The person taking the floater then passes it on to the next visitor that visits them…
By sharing our load we in turn lighten it just a little bit, the emotional costs become less.
By unpacking each bag as we get them we lighten our loads, we lighten the load on our soul and on our minds, our lives and on our spirits.
Travel light, it enables you to enjoy your trip more with less hassle, more freedom to move about and explore, more opportunity to be you…
Travel Light
Who would you rather be? The guy on the left or the one on the right?
What will I be packing for my round the world trip? I’ll be taking an empty backpack to fill with warm happy memories, the clothes on my back are fine…
First published May 2008
persistentillusion
•15 years ago
Depends. Does the one on the right smell?! Haha, just kidding. I am very much into living minimally.
SanityFound
•15 years ago
Eau de Natural dahlink nothing better (yuuuurgh!) … my question is… is that a toothbrush or a hairbrush in his little thingie on the back… because it sure as hell doesn’t look like he has either!
cordieb
•15 years ago
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”–Matthew v:3. My dear SanityFound, although you are a talented artist among other things; I do believe your power of the written word is truly a spiritual gift. You speak so many truths in such simple and understanding ways that we all can truly relate to.
Reminds me of this song by Eryka Badu. . .
Bag Lady you gon hurt ya back dragging all them bags like
That. I guess nobody ever told you, oh you must hold on to,
Is you, is you, is you?
One day all them bags gon get in your way. One day all
Them bags gon get in your way, I said, One day all them bags
Go get in your way. One day all them bags gon get in your
Way so…
Pack light. Who? who?
Bag Lady you gon miss ya bus, cause you can’t hurry up,
Cause you got too much stuff. When they see you coming,
They just take off running. Its true, Its true oh yes they
Do.
Peace, Light and Love, CordieB.
SanityFound
•15 years ago
Cordie I was thinking of Eryka’s song today, thought of posting it how odd 🙂 Thank you for your kind words my friend they really do mean a lot, am honoured that you think so. Mwah!
Travelling light… music « SanityFound’s Rambling’s
•15 years ago
[…] reminded again by CordieB – it’s lyrics are both beautiful and ties in with my previous post Travelling Light, may we all travel […]
Vanessa
•15 years ago
What a perfect piece; so many good themes in there; travelling light, to leave room for all of the parts of our adventures, all of our lessons, that we want to pick up along the way; using “floating” luggage, so that we are helping our friends out when they need it, and they are helping us and others as well. It is about learning about every stop, every destination, and taking a part of it with us to forever have in our minds and hearts. There is SO MUCH here, in these few lines. Really enjoy this one…….. Hugs to you, V.
SanityFound
•15 years ago
V Thanks so much, I really enjoy your interpretation of it, sums it up perfectly 😀
symbolicgodzilla
•15 years ago
I love to travel but I always find myself overpacking because I worry too much about what I’ll need. How do you let go of that?
Everything Will Be Alright – A Journey Through
CouplesTherapySanityFound
•15 years ago
There’s a trick to travelling light, the essentials go along and then if you need anything you get it along the way as you travel.
I too get caught out sometimes, but normally with jackets because I hate getting cold – both symbolic and real ones (have a jacket fetish – just between the two of us of course)