Why Travel Light?

I often travel either as solo traveler or in group, either with the bicycle, motorcycle, bus, train and even a flight. As a traveler, I love to carry the essentials gear and equipment together. There is no 'biawak' in my backpack or haversack or my army sack.

Of all the travel skills you might acquire, travelling light is the one most likely to result in enjoyable, productive, stress-free travel experiences. For two thousand years, seasoned travelers have written of its many important benefits, including 

Security

With a much reduced need to hand your belongings over to the care of others, you are less likely to lose them to theft, damage, or misrouting. Similarly, you foil those who would enlist your unsuspecting aid as a conveyor of contraband goods. Attaining peace of mind is rarely this easy!

Economy

You can laugh at checked baggage fees. You don't have to pay porters and others to carry and store stuff for you. You are more able to take public transportation (even from airports, like flight crews and airport personnel do), rather than limos, shuttles, and (often scam-prone) taxis. You can even walk. All of which also bring you into more intimate (hence rewarding) contact with the people and places that you have come to visit.

Navigability

Less stuff means greater mobility, thus more navigational choices. With no checked or awkward-to-manage luggage to limit your travel options, you can better cope with delayed transportation, missed connections, and unexpected opportunities. You can switch to earlier flights when space is available. You needn't arrive at airports as early, and will be among the first to leave (despite the head start given those in first class), while the mobs wait at baggage carousels and long inspection queues. You can board trains, trams, and coaches with alacrity. You won't feel compelled to take the first hotel room offered: you can comfortably walk down the street should the ambience be unsuitable or the price unreasonable. You can sell your airplane seat (by volunteering to be "bumped") on full flights. You can travel as an air courier. You can be more spontaneous. Ultimately, you can enjoy an unfettered freedom that is forever denied to those who remain chained to their luggage. 

Serenity

If there is a bottom line, it's that travelling light is simply a more stress-and-hassle-free way to go. You have more time, because packing takes little. You waste less energy hauling stuff. You know what you have, where everything is, and that it's sufficient. We've all seen those hapless folks at the airport, with too much baggage and anxious expressions, concerned that they have lost track of something, or left it behind. Foreign travel in particular can be challenging because it is unfamiliar and unpredictable, but the one-bag traveller copes by operating from a solid, familiar, well-considered foundation, with fewer unnecessary things to worry about.

Ecology

All of the above are concerned with short-term benefits to you. But travelling light also yields long-term benefits to the planet. Less stuff to manufacture. Less use of vehicles and other equipment to move you and your things about. Less fuel for the vehicles that do move you. Less greenhouse gas production. Less damage to our celestial home. Greater likelihood of upcoming generations being around and able to do some travelling of their own. (It's not often that the most convenient option is also the most environmentally responsible.) 

As a bottom line, learning to travel light simply makes a good SENSE (Security, Economy, Navigability, Serenity, Ecology).

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Why Lightweight Backpacks?

As a backpacker, you can travel further and faster by packing lighter with lightweight backpacks. Many who have jumped on the lightweight bandwagon find they can wear light running shoes when carrying a 7 to 15 kilos backpack instead of the heavy-duty hiking boots they must wear when carrying the 20 kilos plus heavy-duty pack. This means that the backpacker can travel more kilometres in a shorter period of time and may even equate to a higher safety level. The comfort level is often greater because less weight means you will be less sore at the end of the day.

Traditional backpacking has a few disadvantages that are overcome by using lightweight backpacks. First,  when you backpack with heavy equipment, there is less freedom of movement. You can’t simply run off the  trail to see what is there because speeding up that much with a heavy pack would be terribly exhausting. If you put down the pack so you can run and see what is over the hill, you leave your equipment behind and have to backtrack to get it.

Carrying heavier gear means that you are more apt to be tired or even exhausted at the end of the day. More sore muscles will be evident and a greater likelihood for such things as blistered feet, knee injuries, sprained ankles or even back problems is possible. With too much weight on the back or the legs, the soreness can cause the camping and backpacking trip to be less fun than it would otherwise be.

Another disadvantage to the traditional heavy backpack is that packing time is often increased. Time must be spent to pack the backpack carefully for proper weight distribution. There is the additional time spent in taking the pack off and putting it on. If you want to quickly reach your adventuring destination, you may really appreciate the benefits of lightweight backpacks when it comes to ease of packing.

Another disadvantage to the traditional heavy pack is when you are caught in a storm. The heavy pack will  weight you down and keep your pace to a minimum as you seek shelter. Another problem may be if an injury  occurs, you will be weighed down by your pack as you head toward civilization to get help.

Basically, lightweight backpacks counteract all of the disadvantages of the heavier packs. You have much more freedom of movement because you don’t have a heavy pack weighing you down. You can zip off the trail any time you have a fancy to see something different and head across country without a trail until you meet up with your original trail. If you lose your balance, you are less likely to twist or sprain an ankle because the load on your back weighs less and won’t pull you down as quickly. This means that you won’t have as many aches and pains at the end of the day. The lightweight backpacks are easier on your legs and back and you won’t be as stiff. Getting to your destination faster may mean that you have more time to relax and work out any sore spots before you go to sleep so that you will have a more enjoyable experience.

If you needed to quickly get to civilization because your hiking companion was hurt, your light pack would not slow you down. Basically, using lightweight backpacks can be more comfortable because you will have quite a bit less equipment to haul around. You can find lightweight versions of all the camping gear you like and use, so you won’t have to sacrifice the gear you used for the weight limits of your pack.

You will have to be very organized and efficient if you plan to go lightweight backpacking, but it is very enjoyable.

The right to make a copy for personal use is part of most existing publishing agreements. This right is recognised as an important right for the author. Because the right is attached to the author and in most cases well defined, personal use won’t harm the publisher.

What is Micro Adventure?

Micro adventure as a post Trans 1Malaysia ride

The idea of a ‘micro-adventure’ strikes a very relevant chord in this post-ride phase after completed my Trans 1Malaysia journey from Johor Bahru to Kangar, Perlis. City life isn’t really my thing. Noise, pollution and a feeling of enclosure nag at me constantly. The countryside isn’t on my doorstep and my own home town growing bigger each year. Over the last couple of months, I’ve come to the conclusion that these so-called ‘micro-adventures’ might be the tonic to keep me on track while I prepare for next year’s ride - cycling around Peninsular of Malaysia again.

So what’s a micro-adventure? It’s a new name for something that people have always done — just take off, unannounced, and let go of the safety buffer for a while. It’s long been said you can have an adventure in your own backyard — it doesn’t have to take place on the other side of the world.

A cold drinks at white sandy beach during hot sunny day while sea breeze chilling my sweat & tanned body 

What is the value of a spontaneous, unpredictable trip into the unknown? For me, it’s the mind-sharpening effect. No matter what, where or for how long, dealing with a new set of circumstances requires new thought processes and energies, initiative, quick wits, and a positive attitude towards success. Leaving your comfort zone also helps to get the things inside it into perspective.

One of the simplest idea by Alastair Humphreys who are an adventurer, blogger, author, motivational speaker, film maker and photographer was to get on a train to somewhere he’d never been and then walk home. He armed with a bivvy-bag, a pan and a pair of sunglasses. It sounded compact, fun, and probably a little uncomfortable — which is the part that wakes us up. The valuable part.

So what are you doing this weekend? Why not walk, cycle, run, hitch-hike, row, swim or climb a bit further than usual? Or just get on a train or bus and see where you end up? Think of your own micro-adventure, then go and do it.

The right to make a copy for personal use is part of most existing publishing agreements. This right is recognized as an important right for the author. Because the right is attached to the author and in most cases well defined, personal use won’t harm the publisher.