This summer I took a trip to Ukraine and Russia. As it was for a couple of weeks, between my girlfriend and I we had one large bag and one small carry-on. The two large bags weighed approximately 20 kgs each- while the smaller bags were much less.

The first time I faced how important it is to keep things light was when we stayed for a day at a hotel in Kiev, Ukraine. Our room was on the fourth floor but there were NO ELEVATORS. My girlfriend could not carry her bag, so, I hauled one suitcase in each hand up to our room. When I finally got to the top I swore that I would not be doing this again… Or so I thought…

A week later we arrived in St-Petersburg to a mini-hotel. This hotel was on the fifth floor of the building- our room was on the SIXTH… and once again, no elevator.

A few days later we were packing up to leave St-Petersburg and I found that half of the clothes I had brought I had not even used once. This got me to thinking that it is really important to carefully consider what you will pack and be sure that you will use it.