My luggage ended up being much larger than I expected. I cut down on items significantly, yet it still grew to be a monster. Perhaps having an extra set of shoes and bagging an extra camera bag did it. These two seemed to have taken up one third of available space. I had to save camera bag space for what it’s meant to store – my camera, lenses and a laptop computer. That itself was heavy enough so any thoughts of trying to squeeze more in there were easily defeated. I had several baseball caps, mostly unused that I wanted to take with me to Cambodia to give to kids, but there was no chance I could shove those in. I was able to force several small packs of chewing gums in so I should be good as far as stuff to give away is involved.
Traveling light is the secret to successful long term travel. I swear I trimmed down my items to only absolutely crucial pieces, then threw half of it in garbage yet in the end I still had a case full of stuff I could not fit in. Complete packing fail on my behalf. I’m sure I’ll be getting rid of some of those as I go along. Hauling it from place to place will teach me.
I’m however secretly hoping I would be able to get myself a better suitcase once I have reached my destination. The one I have is not very good. It’s one of those cool one with wheels, but it’s very easy to tip and exceptionally difficult to get back on the wheels. It’s also not very sturdy and lacks convenient side pockets. The sturdiness is the most significant downside which became apparent halfway through packing – the zipper seam got ripped as I have attempted to close it. Cheap piece of junk! I’m just gonna pray and hope it will make it all the way to Siem Reap without completely breaking apart. I will get myself a proper bag once I got there.