The way you pack your luggage reveals important information about you

The last time I travelled, I ended up carrying two heavy pieces of hand luggage. After travelling to 50 countries, I normally travel very light, only with a small backpack, but this time things were different. I don′t know if it was because I had guests at home, or due to the busy week at work (you name the excuse), but the fact is that, this time, I decided to put all the “just in case” things inside my luggage, thinking that I was saving time.

 The “just in case” things are all those things we are not sure if we are going to need, but we still bring them in the luggage, and we avoid making a decision. It was exactly what happened to me. I brought “some extra t-shirts”, for example, because I didn′t have the time to plan how many I really needed, nor how to match them with the trousers or skirts I was already bringing. I was trying to make the packing process faster and easier, so I just kept adding new stuff “in case I needed them”.

 At the airport, when I was climbing the stairs to board the airplane, I noticed that there was something wrong with my trolley. One side of the holder broke, so I could not pull the trolley from the holder anymore. On the top of that, I suddenly realized the situation in the worst moment, when other passengers behind me were anxious to find their seats and the flight attendants were asking everybody “please go to your seat as fast as possible”. I had to carry my hand luggage without using the fixed holder, but I finally got to my seat.

 Once I left the plane, I was able to manage the incident by holding a scarf on the fixed handle. This entire situation about caring my own hand luggage would have been much easier if it was not that heavy. The extra weight made the process more painful – and I know that, during the trip, I will probably use only a third of the clothes I brought…

If the hand luggage was lighter, I still would have needed to carry it and find a solution to deal with the broken handle, but I am sure it would have been an easier process. A lighter suitcase is always easier to carry then a heavy one.

I realized that in life, things work in a similar way. If I am carrying thoughts, feelings and expectations that are very heavy, moving around will be much more difficult. If I keep adding unnecessary extra conditions or rules to my own journey, my walk in life will go slower and the weight I will have to carry will be hard to manage.

If I don′t dare to start a new project “because I am not ready yet”, I am adding more fears and anxieties about my capabilities into my “internal backpack” (you can also call it my mindset). If I never have time to organise my agenda to be free to read or to do my hobbies, I am adding stress and taking out the pleasure in life.

If before every single decision I make in life I think it′s better to wait “until I finish my course, until I save some extra money, until I lose some weight, or until the beginning of next year”, I am slowing down my walk in life towards my goals. In addition, I am adding the feeling that “I am not capable” into my luggage.

Making a decision about which clothes to bring on my trip might be something that requires more time at the beginning, but it saves time later. It allows me the freedom to carry with me only the things I really like and want to keep. I see many advantages in that process.

 When my backpack is not completely full, I have space to add some nice things I might find on the way, in case I decide to bring them with me. If the luggage is completely full already of “just in case” things – which, by the way, most of the time, don′t add any value - I will spend a lot of energy carrying what I don′t need, and I won′t have time to connect with other nice things around.

If we keep carrying old ideas in our minds, fears and things we were told years ago (that we never really checked again to see if they are still true or not), going ahead in life will be harder. If we choose to bring on our journey only an open attitude, the world most likely will react the same way. When we leave some space in our mind and heart to learn new things, to meet new people and to get deeply in touch with the situations we live in, that′s when the magic happens.

Magic doesn′t happen when you are too worried, trying to figure out how to carry our heavy luggage. You will only notice the good things happening around you and connect with that when you change the way you “travel in life”. You don′t need to wait for a special occasion to test it – your “travel” can be choosing a restaurant to have dinner tonight, attending a meeting with your boss tomorrow or taking your next international flight next week...