How to travel light

Don't ask me, because I have no idea. I can't remember the last time I traveled light; maybe because I've never successfully done it. Every time I travel, I think I have lesser stuff than I actually do, but after piling half my stuff into the suitcase, I realize it's already bordering on overweight.

Packing is easy, but packing within the weight limit is tough. Don't airlines realize we need much more than 50 pounds of stuff to bring with us when we travel? How are we supposed to squish all our belongings into a tiny suitcase?

Usually I end up shuffling things around and throwing stuff out reluctantly until I finally get my suitcase to weigh slightly over the limit, which is acceptable. I don't think I've ever had my suitcase weigh lesser than the limit. If it ever did, I would rejoice at the occurrence of a miracle. Or, more likely, I would force more stuff into the already-bulging suitcase to make it worth every pound.

But anyway, surprisingly, my suitcase weighed only 20.1kg! Thank the heavens. After loading all my clothes, shoes, and toiletries in, I think this is the lightest I've ever traveled. My packing skills have improved!

The trip home was good, too. After getting over the initial surprise and disappointment that my flight was a day earlier than planned, I said my goodbyes to the family. It's funny how many times I've said goodbye in the last four years. Okay, not exactly funny, more of strange I guess. You would think that I'd be a seasoned pro at leaving and saying goodbyes by now... no, it's still hard. But it has given me a much greater appreciation for the time I have with loved ones. I've learned to treasure them more and not take them for granted as much.

So I sat next to this older dude on the plane, who initially came across as strange, because he talked to himself every now and then. But afterward I found out his wife had missed the flight, explaining the empty seat between him and me, and he offered me her meal, which I politely declined, since it was about 2am and not time for eating. But he kept offering me stuff, and so finally I took the orange juice and chocolate bar from him. And that sparked off our conversation about migrating from Singapore to other countries.

He told me he had dual citizenship - Singapore and Australia - and I jumped in excitement and asked him how he did it, because I was struggling to hold onto my dual citizenships. But then he replied that he applied for Aussie citizenship many years ago, and somehow Singapore didn't go after him because he had family connections in the government. Something like that. So I guess we have different situations. Oh well.

And then he proudly showed me a picture of his wife, son, and twin girls. His wife is caucasian, so their children are a pretty good-looking mix of asian and caucasian. Lucky.

Also, mental note - Jetstar is way better than Tiger Air. Not as superb as Singapore Airlines, of course, but there's really no competition there.