Sad news today (May 8th) as my yellow plastic hard-shell suitcase displayed a large crack in the bottom. A large, could see my belongings through it kind of crack. Uh oh. Upon discovery of this problem, I had about ten minutes to replace it, but of course, being in Singapore, all shopping needs are met nearly instantly. Today was no exception. I bought a new, larger red softsided suitcase. I thought to mysel f that the yellow case would make a good shipping container home, but sadly that was not to be. On arrival at the Singapore airport, I was told that baggage was restricted to two checked bags unless I wanted to pay another $55 USD. Old yeller wasn’t worth the $55, I am afraid. Since my flight had been delayed anyway, I went ahead and transferred all my belongings out of the yellow case and into Big Red. Yeah, I had to move all my underwear out there in the middle of the airport floor. I have given up on dignity at this point. The softsided bag has the advantage of being very light and also expandable. We’ll see how it does at the airports.
On the scale when full, though, it was 29kg. What am I packing? Bricks? Sheesh. I’ve got to downsize or I will never make it around the world. If I cannot lift the bag onto a train luggage rack, I am asking for trouble.
If I can, I will get myself down to three pieces of luggage, or better yet, two. That will be my goal in Indonesia. The deal-breaker is the film and the camera equipment. It almost automatically forces an extra bag upon a person. Even without the film, it would be challenging to take the gear without adding another bag. I may try anyway. This backpack may end up gutted for its padding and shipped home. Hard to tell. Do you go to photo hell if you check your lenses? I assume so…
J Spencer Photography 