My Traveling Style

Ep. 41

“Like all great travellers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen.”-  Benjamin Disraeli.

Destination Unknown?

 Time flies and it is now already up to ten month since I work for CX. Traveling is now a part of my daily activity, suitcases are my best friends, and packing and unpacking have become my routine. By now, I would proudly call myself a decent packer. Haha… Really! Here then I will share my packing style and who knows it would be a quite useful inspiration for anyone anywhere or anyhow.

There are few things that I always do no matter whether I’m traveling on duty or during my vacation. Certain items should be consider as standard loading of the suitcase, while other could be adjust just accordingly.

my traveling companion

1. Please make sure that you bring your own passport (not your family members’) along with the tickets and hotel reservation (if you have). And just in case, have a copy of your passport.
2. I don’t use those hard case suitcases that got cute and colorful picture such as Hello Kitty, Little Ms. and Mr. Men, or anything to be my check in baggage. Not because I don’t like those kind of things, but it would be a waste if the baggage handling treat it just as a plastic bags.
3. Always bring sufficient amount of underwear. They’re considered as standard loading.
4. Toiletries, esp. toothbrush and toothpaste, comb, make up, make up remover, perfume (travel size), and contact lenses plus spare eye glasses. Ah! a laundry bag or two (just in case the hotel don’t provide it). 
5. Just bring enough clothing. As for me, my standard loading would be: 1 coat, 1 cardigan, 1 training suit, 2 tops, 1 jeans, 2 camisoles, and 1 dress. Believe me, either on duty on trips, you’ll bought loads of clothes.
6. A pair of sandals, a pair of socks and a pair of flat shoes. Boots only for severe winter.
7. Only if I would go on a quite adventurous trip, I will also pack my backpack. Otherwise, a handbag would be okay.
8. If you cant fit in all of your belonging in the suitcases, rolled your clothes in order to squeeze them even more. Rolling works well with pants, skirts and sports shirts. Lay the item face down, fold back the sleeves and then roll from the bottom up. Unwrap all boxes and believe me it works like magic.
9. Even though you pack it so nicely, please ensure that 1 big suitcase do not exceed 32 kgs, coz some airlines do apply some restriction regarding one suitcases weight. (of you bring 40 kgs, instead of jammed it into 1 big suitcase, play safe by dividing them into two).
10. Make your own itinerary. I would be nice if you want to join a city tour, but I rather choose to travel by map and googled it beforehand.
11. Learn some local language. A very simple and easy one, such as “thank you”, “hello”, and “bye bye”.
12. Check the temperature and season of your destination, which will help you in doing no.5.
13. On the departure day, make sure that you wear your heaviest shoes, sweater, and jacket. That way, you don't have to pack them.
14. Make sure that you have calculate the reasonable amount of local currency that you might be need, and spare some USD or EUR (or other commonly used currency, just in case you need more cash).
15. Split up your bank cards, cash, travellers' cheques and credit cards as much as possible in different pockets, your bags and wallet when packing. In case you do get robbed, at least you won't be strapped for cash (unless you have all your bags AND your wallet stolen of course!).
16. Must thing to do other than sightseeing for me is culinary hunting. If you don't trust the food you encounter or if you are having a hard time choosing where to eat, go to where the locals are. The food is usually cheaper and if the locals eat there, you have a good chance the food is the best around.
17.  Moreover, if you are making day trips or exploring areas you don't know, always take water with you, especially if you are in countries where the tap water isn't drinkable! (I prefer milk though).
18. Search for a local market where you can also try the street hawkers food. That will most probably cheap!
19. Gain more experience by trying all available things in this world. Public transportation, adrenaline and adventurous activities, get lost and find new things. those are things that I called: priceless.

don't be afraid to experience more.

Well, those are things that I usually do before traveling. And if you got a chance, familiarize yourself with the airport procedures as well as some flying attitude (traveling on duty and as a passenger helps me to be pay more attention on this thing). Be a nice passenger and educated one.

Last but not least, Happy Traveling!

“Regardless how many times have you visited the same place, the experience would never be the same.” – Me.