There is one true giveaway of an amateur traveler — they carry way too much than what is needed. I have certainly been that guy. A gullible 15-year-old back then— throwing in dozens of books, magazines, dry snacks, scissors, even can openers into the suitcase — in case none of those things existed in the first world country I was vacationing to.
It is not just fear that drives this incessant hoarding behavior of the amateur traveler, it is also ignorance. The more one travels, the more one will realize just how little one really needs to survive. With experience comes knowledge. With knowledge comes wisdom. With wisdom comes efficiency and simplicity. For the most experienced of travelers, their minds (and therefore their suitcases) will be packed with only the bare necessities — free from all burdensome and unnecessary paraphernalia. This path towards elegant simplicity is reflective not only of the geographical traveler, but of all of us as travelers through our own lives.
It was psychologist Cark Jung who first popularized the idea of the two halves of life. In the first half, we strive to crystalize our identify. To find and to know ourselves. To discover and to mold our ego. To shape it in such a way that it reflects at least a bearable image to us and to the world at large. We seek societal approval, follow cultural norms, and try to fulfil familial expectations. The general direction of this first half is that of upward and outward — not unlike the blossoming of a floret.
The second half of life involves a general direction inwards. During this latter half, it is no longer one’s ego and identity — but the realization of one’s mortality — that crystalizes. The seemingly bottomless well of time felt during youth slowly reveals its bottom. The seemingly infinite supply of energy gradually reveals its inevitable finitude. Our joyous ethereal dreams are gently met with the blandness and banality of reality. It is at this moment when most people begin to let go of the superficial in a quest to discover the super — the more meaningful and substantial assets of life.
It is at this moment — like the more experienced traveler — that one consciously decides to let go of the unnecessary heavy baggage once deemed so necessary.
One realizes that packing 12 pairs of shoes is silly and cumbersome — it is only those two pairs that are rather old (but hug your feet just right) — that are the only ones worth packing. It is not the nine varieties of coats and jackets — just that one sweater from your mother — that keeps you most warm against the chills of winter. It is not the ten luxury ties — just that one passed down from your father — that will guide you through the terrains of the cold and indifferent boardroom. It is only that one nod of approval from your own conscience — not the dozens of approvals from strangers — that acts as the only moral compass worth packing. These bare necessities will naturally reveal their true value with the passaging of time.
The further we travel — whether across the vast continents of space or through the corridors of time— the lighter our baggage would be — should be. By the time we board our final flight to wherever we head to beyond this life; a suitcase will no longer be necessary. Nor will it even be allowed. Indeed, our final departure will be the lightest of them all. As we will depart in the same manner as our very first arrival on this planet — with nothing on hand.