traveling with hand luggage?

Before jetting off to Peru I decided to take part in a small social experiment. Well, wait, technically it isn’t a social experiment but a personal one but still. An experiment nonetheless. Meanwhile, I’ve already touched down back in my hometown and I’m here to share my experiences of: traveling with just hand luggage. One small bag. For an 8 day trip.

First things first, I have a confession to make. I had made a pact with myself to never share the following information but I realized shortly after that I couldn’t keep it just myself. When I arrived at the airport to catch my outgoing flight, everything ran smoothly. My mini suitcase and I headed towards my gate to board my flight until I heard a flight attendant call out: “Excuse me miss! Oh miss!” I wanted to continue walking but I turned around anyway and she asked if I could please come see her.

“We hardly have any room for hand luggage so would you be so kind as to check your suitcase in for the storage area.” Hold on a minute! This was not what I had planned! I tried to avoid get myself out of the situation but before I knew it, she grabbed hold of my suitcase and said rather unnerved, “Oh wow, this bag is way too heavy. This one definitely needs to be stored below.” So okay, I’ll admit, I may have packed a teeny tiny bit more than I had planned but I managed to stuff it all into one small suitcase so no one would notice.

“Oh wow, this bag is way too heavy. This one definitely needs to be stored below.”

There were three main reasons I wanted to try traveling with just hand luggage. First of all, I wouldn’t have to wait for my bag at baggage claim. Secondly, I wouldn’t have to be worried that my bag wasn’t left behind at the airport. And last but not least, so I wouldn’t have to drag around a heavy suitcase. But all three these reasons could pretty much be flushed down the drain. Goddammit.

Upon arrival in Lima, my travel buddy and I headed to baggage claim to retrieve our suitcases. His appeared pretty much immediately, while I waited and waited. It felt like an eternity. And then some. Pretty much everyone had his or her suitcases and there I was, empty handed starting to fear that my bag had indeed been left behind. Luckily it did appear and the rest of my trip was divine and I didn’t break my back tugging around a thousand kilos worth of stuff.

For my returning flight back to Amsterdam I was upgraded to business class and therefore landed in airplane heaven. And upon arrival I walked straight through to arrivals where my darling dad was waiting for me to drop me off at home.

So all in all, traveling with just hand luggage is the best thing ever. I’m even considering purchasing a tiny backpack for future trips so that I’ll always be traveling with just hand luggage. Seriously, I would recommend it to everyone. It’s not like you need a lot of clothes anyway and in return you feel so much more at ease. Team hand luggage forevah!