The Lighter You Pack, the More Fun You’ll Have

I always shake my head when I see travelers with multiple large suitcases per person. Not only do they pay the airlines a small fortune in fees, but they are severely hampered as to where they can go. When I land at Keflavík Airport on Thursday morning around 6:30 am, the terminal will not be full of native bearers waiting to assume my heavy loads. If I am lucky, I will be able to grab a cart to go through customs. Then I will haul my bags to the Flybus to drive me across the desolate lunar landscape of the Reykjanes Peninsula to Reykjavík BSI Bus Terminal.

There, with my luggage still in tow, I’ll sit down at the travel agency there and obtain maps and bus tickets. Then I’ll take a cab to the Guesthouse Odinn at Óðinsgata 9, where my big bag will be held until check-in time at 1 pm.

I will carry two blue bags, a big one with my clothes, medications, and toiletries, and a small shoulder bag with my electronics, guidebook, and various reservation confirmations. The blue bag is always with me, containing what I need through the day. The big bag generally stays in my room.

For a good guide to packing light, I recommend you check out OneBag.Com, especially their annotated packing lists. They quote a timely lyric from Johnny Cash: “I ain’t takin’ nothin’ that’ll slow down my travelin’ …”

Since I’m on insulin, I’ll have to take particular care packing my medications, especially my insulin, glucose testing supplies, etc. I’ll cut back severely on the nutritional supplements I’ll be taking. I’ll be eating plenty of fish, so no Omega-3. In fact I’ll just take a once a day multi-vitamin plus an antioxidant I’ve been taking for years. Oh, and I’ll be taking a letter from my doctor pointing out to all and sundry that I am a needle medications user.