GoddessCarlie.com » Travel

How Much You Can Fit In A Packing Cube

GoddessCarlie — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 12:17:04 +0000

I’m so grumpy. I spent a little while doing a series of films about what I’m packing for Japan, and in what etc. And somehow my camera isn’t letting me copy them to my computer. Why??? Why??? The world is so cruel!!

What I do have is the last in the series. For my clothes (except underwear and socks) I am packing it in a Eagle Creek Pack-It® Cube.

In this video I am showing you how much I have managed to fit in it. To get it closed I did have to sit on it to get out all the air, but I managed to get quite a lot in. Compare that with the six shirts someone says it fits “nicely” in the comments of it’s Amazon page! Best of all it fits perfectly in my bag – which I did have another video about but don’t now. Grrrr. I am planning on makeing another one, but can’t guarantee that I’ll get the time before I leave. At the very least I’ll take some photos.

I’ll also let you know if these cubes make it through my trip.

In other news, tomorrow is my final exam for uni. Eek! I am really not prepared at all. Not in the slightest. But I only have to pass…. *fingers crossed*. Oh boy, I hope I pass or I will cry.

Almost Finished Uni…

GoddessCarlie — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 07:42:28 +0000

OK, right now I’m so close to finishing uni, I am so excited yet so stressed!! I look forward to writing on this site more often, I am often blogging in my head, I just rarely get the chance to actually write it down.

It’s not long now until I go to Japan! I’m so excited yet I have a lot to do before I go so I am probably thinking about it more than I should.

This is going to be my first time in Japan. I plan on going everywhere. I’m starting in Osaka, going up to Tokyo and then back down to Kyoto before leaving.

One thing I am hating right now is the exchange rate. Why did it have to happen NOW??? My money has effectively been halved thanks to it. I’m only going to be able to buy half the manga and visit half the love hotels I planned on going to.

Another thing I’ve been *naughty* in doing is studying Japanese my way. I really have a lot of things I need to be doing, yet I’ve been plugging away at my Intermediate Japanese textbook, and again have been using Anki – that program has changed a lot since I last used it, which I think was around July.

As for Dramas, I have been watching:

Innocent Love
I am really enjoying this, I think this one is my favourite so far this season. Of course, the season is still young though.
Oh! My Girl!!
*Yawn.* I found nothing special with this one. While cute, I’m not sure I’ll watch the rest of this one.
Ryusei no Kizuna
I’m enjoying this one. I think the cast have great chemistry, and it was more “mature” (i.e. lots of sex talk!) than I thought it would be for a Johnny’s show. I like the non-linear-ish story line. This one is a bit of fun, so far, but with dark undertones.
Bloody Monday
I haven’t finished watching the first episode yet, as I got interrupted, but this is one show I am planning to watch. From what I’ve seen it’s really intriguing.
Room of King
*zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz*

Only two months!

GoddessCarlie — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 06:18:07 +0000

I’m so excited. It is now only two months until I’m on a plane. It is going to be my first trip to japan. I have booked into all my accomadation now. I will be staying in Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, and Toyko. On Wednesday I’m going to the shops to buy the last of the stuff I’ll need for my trip – mostly things for emergencies such as bandaids etc.

Yeah, I’m ready to go now, when I still have two months to go! That’s how excited I am, I don’t think I’ve been this organized in my life.

Only two months until I graduate from university. Another reason to be organized for my trip now while I can be – I have so much assessment coming up!

My Travel Bag Philosophy – An Evolutionary Journey

GoddessCarlie — Sat, 24 May 2008 11:26:05 +0000

First off, I’m impressed I spelt “philosophy” correct the first time writing it, but I am sure that for the remainder of this post I’ll probably type it wrong…

Now there is less than 6 months until I go to Japan for the first time! I’m very excited as you can well imagine. Over the next six months I am planning to make a few posts on my preparation for my trip – how I go about booking my hotels, planning my journey, etc etc etc. I am also obsessed with luggage and what I am taking, so I may talk about that a lot. For now, I would like to talk about my Travel Bag Philosophy – which is a very new thing let me tell you!

Me And Travelling Light – HUH!

Me and travelling light usually don’t go in the same sentence. But this time I am determined!!

Usually I have three bags to take with me to someone’s house for an overnight visit. Not so much clothes in these bags, but various activities that perhaps quite possibly I may want to do. My lap top, some books (a variety, cause you never know what I may want to read), some magazines, some writing materials… etc etc.

But I’m determined that I don’t want to be a slave to my luggage while in Japan. Read on further to discover my journey in baggage handling, and what I am looking for in a travel bag.

In The Beginning – Sore Shoulders

I remember my second trip to America. I had a duffle bag filled to the brim with enough clothes for a month and enough books for two.

I wanted to carry on my bag.

There was no philosophy behind this at the time, unlike I have now. It was for a simple reason: I had a very short time between connecting flights, and I didn’t want to miss it.

The first time I went to America I got through customs fairly quickly, as there were no other flights lined up when I got there. However, it took forever for my bags to come – at least it felt like that after a very long sleepless flight when all I wanted to do was sit/collapse.

I was very luck in my second trip to the US in that they actually let me carry on my bag. I actually think it was more to do with me being young, beautiful (of course) and my sob story about the connecting flights – all I had to do was remove some books and they let me carry on my enormous bag. Yay me!

Getting through customs took a bit longer second time around, but once I was through I could skip the baggage carousel and be on my merry way.

(Insert here rant about how I got out of customs in L.A.X without anyone looking through my bag – this is post Sept 11, mind you, and I found the security really lacking. I should have smuggled in some drugs, dammit. Anyway, just more proof that those Americans are crazy )

OMG was my bag heavy!

If you have ever been to L.A.X., you know it’s a pretty big airport. I’m sure it’s not as big as some. But when you are really tired after a long flight, and have to quickly get to your connecting flight, and you have a huge bag that is really heavy and supported on only one shoulder, it’s big. And I couldn’t find the correct terminal – I wasn’t sure because it could have been one of two. I ended up walking the length of L.A.X., hoping on the bus to get back to the place I thought it was after seeing the whole thing, ended up choosing the wrong one, and having to walk a while more to get to the right one.

My duffle bag strap broke in the process – it was connected to the bag via plastic clips, one bit broke off so I couldn’t “close” the clasp properly. Yay.

Suffice to say, from the hour or so I was carrying this heavy bag around (and around) the airport, I received a very very sore shoulder for days.

I didn’t need to carry my bag much.

I was lucky, in that I would be travelling with my duffle only at the start and end of my journey, all other times I would be using my handbag. So I didn’t have to carry my duffle much. Sure, it still gave me one hell of a shoulder ache, but comfort to carry things wasn’t my main priority when I bought it.

My Newfangled Philosophy – Comfort, Carry On, and LIGHT

OK, OK, you are reading that heading there and thinking DUH. But I guess it’s something that I have never had to think about before. My travel forays have always had the comfort of having someone’s house to keep goods, someone’s car to drive me around in.

In every day life, however, I am a public transport user and carry lots of things on my back, so I know that if I am going to be in a situation where I will have to carry a lot of things for long distances, I want a back pack, and ideally one bag.

In Japan, of course, I’ll be doing lots of walking. Walking to and from train stations, hotel rooms, travelling on public transport. I even plan on doing some bike riding and I’m not sure if I will have my main bags with me then or not. So, something comfortable, light, etc, is necessary.

I also want to get into Japan and out of customs as quick as possible. Hence, I want something carry on size.

While searching for travel bag ideas, I came across OneBag.com. This site is now my bible.

I have more of a predicament, however – my travel partner is bringing a bag of camera gear. In order for us to skip the bag carousel, all his clothes have to go in my bag. Yes, so it’s not one bag for one person, it’s one bag for two.

Basically when looking at travel luggage I wanted:

A backpack, maybe one where I can tuck away the straps for when on public transport.

Cheapish yet quality – I want to save my money for the trip yet I want a bag that could potentially last me for many many over seas adventures.

A big main compartment rather than many smaller compartments. Maybe one that opens right up like a suitcase.

A spot for my water bottle – I guzzle water like a fish.

Something not to flash looking. Just something nice, simple, black.

A smaller bag that I could easily fit into the other bag to use as my day bag when out and about.

I also wanted a larger bag that I could use to put in lots and lots of omiyage – I didn’t mind so much about having to check in a bag for the way home, there’s no rush there. And I want to buy lots of things. Problem will be, of course, carrying around an extra bag near the end of my trip. But you never know, I may never need it, it’d just be good for emergencies.

So while this is not strictly one-bag, at the start of my journey, at least, it will be.

Keep an eye out for future posts where I talk about the things I have bought in preparation for my trip.

Public Service Announcement

GoddessCarlie — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 14:03:25 +0000

THIS YEAR I’M GOING TO JAPAN!!!!!

This year I will live frugally. I will spend my time exercising (so I look great in all my Japan photos), watching Japanese Dramas (for language practise, and to review on here of course!) and that’s about all my hobbies will be. I will study hard at university (it’s my last year) and when I graduate, Nihon e Ikimasu!

Please feel free to hit me if I talk about purchases. I must not spend!!