The calm and lightness of marriage

Your beautiful day has come and gone. You have memories to last your lifetime and a special warmth when you reflect on the life you will share with your loved one. The days and months leading up to that point were filled with joy, excitement, love – but also a little stress. It was not a “lightweight” day in your life. Amongst all the more meaningful elements, perhaps the expense or the gifts shed light on the significance and importance of your big day. And it’s all good.

But now perhaps it’s time for a lighter, more streamlined, simple life. Open your mind to the idea of traveling light on honeymoon. Read on…

NOT traveling light on honeymoon

Perhaps there’s no such thing as a “traditional” honeymoon anymore. But, for most people, it’s still a major project. The next big thing, except with just the two of you instead of a cast of hundreds! Wherever you are headed, it’s easy to bring baggage – in every sense of the word – when you leave for your honeymoon. So, perhaps when you leave after your wedding, you take along a new spouse, along with enough baggage to feed an army and requiring enough luggage fees to suck up much of that gift cash you received, just in baggage fees!

You check out of your hotel and lug 100 lbs of “stuff” into a cab. Then drag that to the airport, check it in and smile that you are lighter. Temporarily.

Then you arrive at your destination and wait at baggage claim. For a long time. Then you lug that 100 lbs again – this time with your jetlagged self – to a cab line and wait. You eventually get your cab and do the whole routine again. 100 lbs, everywhere. And then since you’ve chosen a honeymoon with a few segments, you realize you have to do that whole thing a number of times in the next couple of weeks, not including your trip home. Don’t even think about the idea of lost luggage.

But it doesn’t need to be this way. Think about one bag travel. That is, a single, lone bag. Daft and impossible, right? Absolutely not! Open your mind to a new travel you.

1. The Quick Getaway

Whether you leave for your honeymoon at the end of your wedding day or the morning after, what a delight to be able to pick up a bag – a single bag (see below) – and just go! With a little planning it can be done. And after you’ve done it once you will want to be this way every time you travel.

The plan is just that easy. When you are ready to go, you pick up one bag with everything you need for your honeymoon and go. No wheely suitcase, no luggage bigger than you. You, your spouse and a bag each.

And you have one more advantage. It’s your wedding, so you have help! That’s precisely where the bridesmaids and best man can provide their last ounce of help. Let them plan your bag and have it ready. You will thank them throughout your honeymoon.

2. An Excuse for Gifts You Will Actually Use

Hopefully you didn’t get the stereotypical toaster(s). And maybe you got some really cool gifts. But what you really want is stuff you will use. And an awesome travel bag is a long-lasting gift that keeps on giving.

There are many options here. But there’s one in particular we love – do yourself a favor and take a serious look at the rather magic Tom Bihn. Browse their site and scan their forums. If you open your mind you will find so many great ideas. But let us whet your appetite. Watch this…

Consider the Aeronaut 45. It has magical qualities, squeezes in more than you can possibly imagine and does so in a way that makes everything seem like it’s half it’s weight!

OK, so that might be a stretch but suspend your disbelief and just know that you can travel the world with this work of art. Want something slightly smaller? Try the Aeronaut 30.

Want to know more about the benefits and logistics of traveling with a single bag? Check out these sites:

3. Laughing At Slowpokes

So, you opened your mind, you had the tough discussion with the fiancé and here you are at the airport. You, your spouse and a single bag each. Payoff time!

You get out your car or cab and, with bag on back, walk easily and happily to check in. No – wait! You checked in last night. Oh, but you need to drop off your luggage. Wait – a – second – time! You don’t HAVE a bag to drop off. It’s on your back and it’s all you have.

So, skip that long check-in or bag drop line. Just go straight to the security line.

Get the right accessory and the TSA won’t even ask you to take out your laptop!

4. Security And Peace of Mind

Concerned about security? Everything about the way you pack is about efficiency and safety. Your packing cubes keep things organized and your travel documents are easily to hand in their own RFID-blocking organizer pouch.

First, everything you need is with you. All the time. Never outside of arms reach (we’re including the overhead bins on the plane here if you have long arms!). Your baggage only gets lost of you get lost.

So, don’t get lost.

And when you do need to pull out your passport it’s all attached, through a d-ring, to your beautiful bag. Take that, bad guy!

4. See A Lot, Do A Lot, Travel A Lot.

At your destination, it’s all very quick and easy too. We’ll assume you traveled by plane. So, off that plane you walk, past customs and border control and then there’s that darn wait at the baggage carousel.

Insert another “No, wait…” here.

You don’t do that. After flashing your passport, you just walk out of the airport to your cab or rental car. So quick!

You arrive at your hotel in no time. Unpacking is as easy as taking out maybe five packing cubes. Done.

But think about this for a second. For most people, a honeymoon is about traveling to one place and enjoying that one place. For many that’s great. But there are those of us who want more variety. But who can be bothered with packing, unpacking, packing, unpacking, etc many times in a single trip? Except, unpacking is just removing those five packing cubes. Packing is similarly quick and simple.

With that thought, maybe you even consider a totally different type of trip, with multiple legs, seeing more places. All because packing and getting around is so easy, with just one bag.

5. Save Your Money And Your Back

We have to throw this one in (well, two in fact). But we’ll keep them quick.

First. you are not checking in baggage so you can tell those pesky airlines with their sneaky fees just what to do with those every-increasing fees. Save that money and have a better bottle of wine or a beautiful meal overlooking the Coliseum instead!

Second – and this one initially seems contrary, but it works – your back will thank you. With the right bag and an intent to travel light, it all goes one your back and is well-balanced on said back. And you can walk a lot further with less physical stress when your back is much lighter than a huge suitcase (probably with bulky wheels). You will honestly be surprised.

Case in point. Last year we traveled to Paris and came off the metro at San Michel Notre Dame. Our hotel was about a mile away. And we’re in one of the most gorgeous cities on the planet. So, we just popped our bags on our back and very happily walked to the hotel, seeing yet more of the amazing sites on everyday Parisian streets. And we didn’t need a cab (see above – an even better bottle of wine!).

6. Your New Philosophy – For Life

Some of you will laugh. Some of you will dismiss this without consideration (in fact, you probably didn’t even get this far). But if you are reading this far, there’s something in you that is interested. Right?

Here’s the thing. It absolutely works! I am on to about my fifth “convert” now – friends and family who laughed, just like you did, and said the idea of a great travel adventure with a single bag was folly. And then they tried it.

The sense of freedom, efficiency and, frankly, “lightness” one feels with one bag travel is powerful. Once tried you won’t want to go back. Wherever I travel now – for business, on a weekend trip or on the major vacation of the year – I do it with one bag.

And finally…

Want to really nail it? This isn’t for everyone and it’s not available for every last trip you make, but consider joining “trusted traveler” programs such as NEXUS or Global Entry. In the right circumstances, these programs save you a ton of time. Is it bad to suggest there’s something delightful about observing a huge line of weary travelers as you “skip the line” with Pre-TSA? We’d never suggest we have that feeling, of course.

So, happy but tired bride or groom, after the wedding is over, treat yourself to traveling light and easy. Once tried there’s no going back.