Five years of travel - luggage concepts

Since this website is programmed to have a home screen button option, this becomes a “progressive web app” that one can download to his/her smartphone. It now functions as a regular android app. Now I want to capture most of my thoughts or process of thinking thru tech-stoic so I can review and refine them as time passes and accessing it off-line.

To kick-off, I’ll start with handling luggages which may post as an easy problem but that was not the case for me for the past five years. Working in Equatorial Guinea and Dubai then backpacking Asia and up to staying in Calibangbangan island (mostly staying in a remote part of the island) this is one of my biggest concerns. As I’m preparing for Cayman Islands.. Let me breakdown why fixing your luggage the first time is a highly beneficial endeavor:

• Weight Limit - This is self evident given that one cannot carry all the things they want to where they’re going.
• Cost - In Equatorial Guinea (and now Cayman), supply of basic stuff like clothing is limited so failing to prepare your stuff properly will affect or hurt your purse tremendously.
• Adaptation - Since there is a weight limit, what you bring should help you cope up with the environment.
• Peace of mind- Being unable to perform your office work because you failed to bring proper clothing is not good. Neither is forgetting to bring a chess board, a guitar, a nintendo switch or any personal hobby. Keeping your morale high is vital to being effective in a foreign location.

Other Things to consider:

• Don’t be stupid. Airport control. Put your batteries in your hand carry baggage. Don’t bring hazardous objects. Read the TSA checklist, a benchmark for airport all over the world. But read airport specific rules as well as guidelines can still be different.
• Lay of the foreign land. Knowledge will save you a lot of money and headache. Places like remote islands lack technology support. Desert places can’t grow resources to manufacture basic things like food and clothing. Learn all the laws that apply to luggages (or even you). Use Google and ask questions to people that have been there. Forums (if such exists) is worth looking up to as well.
• Minimalism. Less things, more room for thinking. Reflect on this while arranging your stuff.
• Quality. Don’t bring stuff that will become unuseable in a short period of time. Replacing stuff in a foreign land can become very costly.
• Supply and demand. Space is gold in your luggage. If you can survive with the daily supplies available in the place you will be relocating, I highly recommend maximizing them.
• Hobbies. I find morale crucial for survival. In places that lack infrastructure, it maybe difficult to support your hobbies. Pre-planning what you would do with your free time in a foreign land may give prove to be cost effective. Well, you can always buy or download a book if all things fail.

This guide is not a cure all but makes a case for a good starting list. I will refine this from time to time.