And speaking of “light”, thanks to a most nifty app I just discovered for my iPod Touch (which I rely on for audio books – ever so much smaller/lighter than even the new Kindle – along w/ movies, audio translator app, etc.) called “The Backpacker Checklist”, I can now know in advance preeecisely the weight I’ll be carrying. Designed for hikers, but equally handy for backpacking vagabonds, I can categorize all my paraphernalia by where it’s carried (i.e. “Wear”, “Backpack”, “Frontpack”) and weight each blessed thing to get a total weight for each pack. Even better, I can assign a status of “Maybe” to items that might or might not make the cut for my desired total max. weight.

In short, for my upcoming 5 week Nov/Dec India, Nepal and Bangladesh trip, my present packing stats are looking pretty good at: Total Weight: 24 lbs 13 oz. (incl. 1 lb. 7 oz. of “Maybes” that I could dump to bring the total down even further, and more than 3 lbs. for my Tevas, etc. that I’ll be WEARING). Leaving… little more than 21 lbs of actual “carrying weight” (14 lbs. for the Backpack and 7 lbs. 5 oz. for the Frontpack). And the coup de grâce? The frontpack will fit inside the backpack on the outbound – leaving plenty of room for a few souvenirs along the way!

I now demand that all my clothes for warm travel fit in one Eagle Creek cube. The rest of my weight is usually camera gear which can be added to a “personal item”. I’ve had great luck with having a heavy ‘personal item’ when I tell them it contains photo equipment. This allows me to add in some extras to that bag and more room for items coming home.