Pack Lightly:  Even though it seems that taking carry-on only is easier for the guys, I have found that women can do it too, and still look elegant and comfortable.

For my list of 27 essentials for carry-on only, read my previous posts, and enjoy this video. There is such freedom and ease in traveling lightly. The women traveling with me on My Italy Retreat women’s travel tours take carry-on only for 10 days. I do the same for five weeks!

Some people ask why I would ever travel so lightly and require that the women who travel with me, do the same. There is often the possibility of the airline losing your luggage, and then all the shopping and thinking that you put into packing, is all lost. My first trip to Italy 11 years ago, began with lost luggage for three days. Luckily I was in the same hotel in Florence for those three days and could retrieve the suitcases before we moved on to other cities. Checked luggage is nearly three times more likely to arrive late in Europe than in the U.S. due to complex airport transfers and unexpected strikes.

Traveling in a group makes it quite difficult to wait for lost luggage because we usually take a train or van to our ultimate location soon after we land.

We also often take trains to our next destination, so having small suitcases is such a relief! Lifting large suitcases up the steep train steps, and above your seat on the train is pretty difficult. Being comfortable and sensible rank very high on my list of fun traveling.

I’ll show you how to travel lightly and happily in this video!

Learn more about traveling to Italy on Lenora’s Italy Retreats For Women
Find out more about Lenora’s Sweet Life Workshops and Sweet Life Happiness Coaching.

You are welcome to reprint, copy, or distribute Lenora Boyle’s article, provided author credit is included.