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For those of you taking a trip of a week or more, do you still take only a a carry-on bag? If so do you find the savings of time at the airport to be worth the miserly way that you need to pack? Or would you rather pack and check a larger suitcase with the stuff you want instead?

If you do pack light do you do so because of the time saved, or because you worry about having your luggae tampered with and things stolen?

Of course, for the 2-4 day trip only a carry-on is needed, so no contest there.

I'm always amazed by some of the gringos that stay in CR for several weeks....or even a month or longer, and pack everything into one carry-on. For my month long trips, I always pack one large American Tourister suitcase. My carry-on is always full of of goodies for the chicas and their little ones.

Surprisingly.....I have never had a problem or question with TSA as my carry-on gets scanned. This last trip however, as I went through customs at SJO, the guard scanned both my bags and questioned me as to what was in my smaller carry-on. He told me to open it. I opened the bag and told him I had "jugettas para ninos." He took a quick glance and said "thank you" and allowed me to proceed.

Zebra

Why are you even asking that question since the way you phrased it already betrays you personal bias with terms like "miserly"?

There are obviously 2 often polarizedly opposed camps on this issue. Does one side have to be right and the other wrong? Or is this a case of what seems right for one person is not necessarily right for someone else? Or, as you yourself suggested, is it a matter of different approaches being appropriate depending on the particular circumstances of each trip?

I share your view that most people would agree that a carry-on should be sufficient for a weekend trip, however I've still seen some pack horses with pretty heavy loads even for long weekend trips. Usually those are women with lots of grooming products and extra outfits, but you also sometimes see men who can't seem to trim it down at all even for just a few days.

For longer trips, it is much more of a mixed bag. There are clearly pros and cons to both sides and so what we're talking about is always going to be a trade-off of one set of advantages and disadvantages for another and each person will weigh the importance of each of those differently.

You mentioned some of the disadvantages of packing with just a carry-on:

1) Not having to get to the airport quite as early.

2) Getting out of the airport more quickly at the other end. You seemed to minimize the importance of the time saved and maybe it doesn't add up to much, but for some guys the perceived advantages of packing all the "stuff you want" is not as great as it might seem to others.

3) Also, as you already mentioned, not having to worry about someone stealing your checked luggage or otherwise tampering with it.

4) Even when your luggage isn't checked just standing around in an airport of bus station with extra pieces of gear to watch over increases your risk of having ripped off.

5) But what about the other worries of having your luggage lost or winding up in the wrong city. Again, these may not be huge risks, but they are there.

6) Something that might inrease the risk of loss or misplacement is if you yourself miss your connection and have to rebook on another flight. This is more easily done without any other additional worry if you have all your luggage with you.

7) Have you ever found yourself on an over booked flight and found yourself somewhat more reluctant to volunteer to be bumped in exchange for some subsequent advantage because of concern of where your already checked luggage would end up? Would you volunteer for an extra night in SJ, if all your clothes and personal effects were already on the way home?

If all you have is carry-on luggage that you can handle yourself to don't have to tip any skycaps or porters and increasingly, with discount carriers like Spirit Air, won't have to pay checked luggage fees.

9) Have greater flexibility to take inexpensive local transportation rather than expensive cabs because of all the stuff you're carrying.

What about the advantages of packing heavy:

1) Bring enough and you won't have to worry about running out of clean clothes or having to resort to having things washed.

2) Packing extra gear to be prepared for all contingencies whether they occur or not - e.g. do you pack a foldable poncho or pocket umbrella or even just pickup a cheap umbrella on the street if it turns out to rain while you're there or do you pack a full raincoat and wet weather gear, Do you pack a heavy sweater or jacket for your morning visit to Irazu or Poas or do you just layer up with your other clothes for the couple of hours you'll be up there, etc. etc.

3) Maintaining the flexibility to choose whatever you might want to wear at a particular moment by bringing extra clothes you might not wind up wearing at all.

What I have found is that this doesn't have to be an either-or propostion. The key is learning how to pack and what to pack to maximize the usefulness of what you bring so you don't really have to bring the extra stuff. If I can easily get away with just a carry-on bag, I'll do it every time. But if I think I need to bring the extra stuff that puts me over the top to the point that I have to check luggage, I will. What you'll rarely if ever see me do is pack REALLY heavy with multiple large bags. I packed for a month long trip this past summer, but I didn't wind up having to pack much more than I would have for a trip of just 1 week. Sure I could have packed clean clothes for every single day, but that would have seemed ridiculous to me when it is so cheap to have my clothes washed for me in places like CR. Here are my tips on how to pack so you don't even really need to pack all that much.

1) Start off with the smallest luggage that you can. If you start off with a non-carry-on bag you'll always manage to fill it up with stuff that you don't really need. Start with a smaller bag and you'll have to think about whether you really need all that stuff. If you absolutely do you can always switch to a larger bag.

2) Airlines do not usually count daypacks or briefcases towards your carry-on baggage. Carry large ones and use them to pack extra items.

3) Wear you heaviest clothes and bulkiest shoes on the plane, not in your bags.

4) Layer on clothing. A T-shirt under a shirt under a sweatshirt under a jacket or windbreaker gives you a lot of clothing options without having to pack them all. Packing many lighter pieces of clothing that can be layered is much more space efficient than packing items like a big bulky sweatshirt or jacket. This may not seem as relevant for warm CR, but I actually had to pack gloves, wool cap and long underwear a few trips back when I climbed Mt. Chirripó.

5) Plan clothing so you can wear anything you bring with anything else (2 carefully chosen shirts and pants = 4 days where you're not wearing the same thing). The way to do this is to wear neutral colors or pick one color family.

6) Consider how long it takes things to dry. Jeans may be great at home but if you get caught out in an SJ rainstorm, they may be shot for the few days it takes them to dry. They also tag you more as a gringo. Light slacks will dry out more quickly and make you pass as a local more easily. I don't know about you but a dark pair of pants will last me several days, but I go through shirts in SJ heat and humidity like there is no tomorrow. Consider getting a few quick-dry shirts or pants. They're very light and comfortable so you don't sweat as much and dry out quickly if you get caught in the rain. If you run out of clean things to wear, they can be rinsed out with a little soap and water in your hotel sink and hung up before you go to bed and will be completely dry the next morning.

7) If you're going for a week or more, figure on just having a few things washed. Hotel laundry services can be pricey per article of clothing, but you can sometimes just tip the maid a little bit to take care of it for you under the table or drop you stuff off at a place like the Sixaola and have it washed, dried and folded for you for under $4.

Bring dual purpose gear. Do you need a seperate gear for rainy weather and cool nights or will a water resistant windbreaker with a shirt and t-shirt on under it serve just as well?

9) Shoes take up a lot of space in luggage so try to limit them. Again wear the bulkiest ones on your flight. Athletic shoes are ubiquitous and are good for walking but if you want something that will be dressier consider getting something that are equally comfortable that will look as good with your dress slacks as they will with your jeans.

10) Rolling clothes rather than folding will not only help prevent wrinkles, but allow you to pack more into a smaller space.

11) Get small sample sized products, like shampoo, conditioner, medications like aspirin, shaving cream etc. rather than carry the full sized bottles or cans.

12) If you want to do some shopping at your destination, pack a collapsible bag in your carry-on that you can check as luggage on the return leg of your journey. That way you have the option of shopping and buying extra souvenirs at your destination, without carrying around extra luggage. Alternatively, consider packing old clothes that you can leave behind for CR's poor, thereby freeing up space in your bag for purchases made while on your trip and doing a good deed at the same time.

13) Electronics and various gizmos is the other area where it is easy for us guys to bulk up.
a) Do you really need to bring that laptop? Perhaps, for work or play. But how much time if any do you really spend playing those video games or watching those DVD's. Couldn't you just as easily entertain yourself during your flight with a book or i-pod? Do you need to bring that laptop for work or can you just bring the files you need on a CD and either burn the results on to a CD-RW or email them home? With cheap internet cafes on every corner, do you really need to bring an expensive laptop which can damged or stolen with you just so you can do your e-mail?
b) What do you really need for camera equipment? If we're really honest with ourselves, most of us just take snapshots. For that all you really need is fairly modest digital camera which are getting smaller and smaller and cheaper and cheaper everyday. Again, even ignoring the heft and bulk of packing the bigger fancier cameras, going around with big expensive items like cameras and laptops open you up to having them ripped off. BTW, I just got a new $100 slimline cellphone that can be used in CR, has a 2mp digital camera and music player that with a $25 memory card can play upwards of 700 songs and I don't even know how many pictures. That one item might be all the electronics I'll ever need to bring.
c) Other electronics. Do you really need to bring a ghetto blaster to set some sort of casanova seduction mood for your GFE or can you make do with the MTV channel on your TV? Do you really need that GPS to find your way around SJ or is it really more something that can get ripped off? Doesn't simply carrying the new easily packable ArchieLeach map make more sense than bringing fancy expensive and really unneccesary toys?

To answer your original question, for trips of a week or more it is naturally more challenging but still entirely possible to get away with just a large carry-on bag (or rather 2 - one for the overhead bin and an additional daypack) AND you can do so with out really giving up that much of any real importance. It is NOT just a matter of trying to save time at the airport or even about having things stolen while they're checked. There are a lot of other advantages to not being burdened with all that "stuff" while you're traveling around - less to lug around all over the place, less to worry about being ripped off from your person or hotel room, and greater flexibility in terms of moving around and being adaptable to changes in plans.

Isn't that sort of another argument in favor of NOT having to check luggage?

Myself, standing at check-in at airports and seeing the gringas with their multiple suitcases jammed full of crap for a one week stay, I laugh to myself that these ladies are visiting a country and probably bringing more with them for a one-week stay than most people in that country even own.

I try to confine my packing to a carry-on - or sometimes two...but not to check bags...I figure that if I am visiting a country where most residents have nearly nothing, I can get by with same.

My sister-in-law once said that she was proud that she could pack everthing she realley needed into her backpack and that everything else was non-essential and extra. I tend to agree with this philosophy.

Finding laundry service in CR and shopping for some of the items that many of the travelers from the USA would rather just pack is somewhat of an adventure for me that I welcome.

If I can can wear one pair of pants, pack one, have one pair of shorts and maybe back 4-5 shirts plus personal items and my laptop, camera, and cell phone, to me that is more than enough for a week or even a month of travel.

Another sister-in-law who was about as vain as they come was pround that she took a 10-day trip to Europe and lived out of just a little backpack and did just fine.

Once, after a 10-day trip to CR I was going through customs in DFW, and the agent was a little snotty, asking "where is the rest of your luggage?" I patted my trusty backpack and said "Everything I need is in here."

To me it is an accomplishment to be a minimalist. YMMV.

Prolijo, you made a mistake right out of the box. I prefer to pack light and take a carry on whenever possible. That being said, there's always times when it would be nice to have extra shoes or articles of clothing.

Getting out of the airport quick is an advantage when you're going for a quick trip, but honestly, the delay of usually max 30 minutes to wait for a checked bag doesn't cut into your trip of a week or longer, which was the focus for my question.

I do, however, worry about theft from my luggage. I have had my luggage gone through twice. I never keep anything valuable in checked luggage when I have it, but even silly things can get stolen (in my case toiletries once, and in the other a jean jacket and a pocket knife)

Even with 1 checked bag (my max) no porter touches my bags anyway, so that's not a consideration.

I pack well, and use space well, so don't need to learn much there. I take travel sized everything for the bathroom, and often will check ahead to see what the hotel provides for amenities. If they provide stuff then I don't take it at all.

As for electronics, I take a portable dvd player in my carry on. I can't go anywhere down south without at least one connection, and the flights are long. I watch movies and I also read. For music, an mp3 player clipped into travel speakers gives you a stereo and no bulk at all. I take a small set of cables that let me clip into a tv and play dvd movies through the local tv. In all, my entire electronics collection takes up 10"x5"x3", and for that I have movies, music and camera. Not bad, and it all goes in my personal piece, not even the carry on.

oops. as for clothes I wear my heavy clothes on the plane, as you suggested. I also wear my only jacket/fleece with me on the plane, and I don't pack raingear at all. For most of us I think trying to blend in with the locals clothes-wise is silly. No matter what I wear I will still look like the gringo that I am. I wear a pair of jeans with me on the plane. They're tough and adaptable for city or rural wear, whereas light slacks aren't always. My jeans dry out overnight. I wear Levis. Dunno what you wear, but as long as you pull the pockets out they certainly don't take 2-3 days to dry. Actually, I never pack rain gear at all. If something gets wet I take it off and put on something dry. No problem. By the time I need whatever it is again it's dry too.

The only exception to this is shoes, and that's always what I wrestle with. A wet pair of running shoes can take days to dry, and shoes take up more space than anything else. I always struggle with what to bring for shoes, or whether to bring extra shoes at all. I usually end up wearing a pair of boots on the plane and pack a pair of runners, but I begrudge the space if I'm packing light.

Shadow, I may have been wrong about which camp you belong to but my initial question still applies. What is the point of the question? You already seem to know how to pack light and seem to prefer it. And you seem to know why you do it. Are you asking if others do it for other reasons besides the ones that concern you and if so what difference does that make? Or did you really mean to ask why others pack so heavy rather than why others pack light like you? Perhaps, you're planning a longer trip than you normally take?

Time savings? As you and I already pointed out, the time savings really are not that significant in the grand scheme of things. However, my additional point was that the added of advantages of bringing more "stuff" wasn't that significant either. You realize that there is sort of a flip side to this argument. Probably many of the same guys who don't have any problem taking up those extra 30 minutes that result from checking luggage, OTOH also have no problem paying upwards of $20 more for a cab to town in order to save 20 minutes over the bus. Aren't those 20-30 minutes just as valuable either way? Of course if you also happen to be carrying lots of luggage taking the bus is not so convenient either. Ultimately, for me anyway, the possible time savings are probably the least of my motivations.

Theft from luggage? This is understandably a valid concern but I think you've overlooked the added possibility of theft while you're luggage ISN'T checked. You've got to lug all that stuff through the airport, keep an eye on it while you're grabbing your snacks, going to the restroom or scanning the crowds and traffic trying to hail that cab. Even when you're not lugging around with you on the street. The more unneccesary valuables you have with you anywhere (be it the street or hotel room) is the more stuff you have that you have to worry about somehow getting ripped off, lost or damaged.

The other big factor for me is one you didn't even mention - flexibility. I've turned down free trips or free nights for volunteering to get bumped from overbooked flights because I didn't want to deal with the fact that I wouldn't have the stuff I needed because it was already packed and checked in. If I'm travelling some place for more than a week, I'm probably not going to spend it all in one place, which means whatever I bring I'll need to lug from one place I'm staying to the next. And having loads of luggage virtually precludes travelling like a native on public buses, which is how I prefer to travel.

A few additional comments regarding your latest post.

1) Trying to blend in completely like a local may be next to impossible, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't do whatever we can not to stick out like a gringo as much as we can. The idea is not to be noticed one way or the other.

2) Raingear is sort of problematic. A pocket poncho takes up virtually no space and might be worth it on longer trips, especially seeing as though it has other potential uses. However it is sort of a pain to deal with while it is wet. A pocket umbrella seems to work better but it is also bulkier. And the problem with any of these things is that they only do you any good when you carry them around with you, which means you either look a little dorky carrying around an umbrella you don't need or you wind up not having it with you when you do.

3) I don't know what type of Levi's you wear. If they only get a little damp they'll dry out reasonably well by the next day. If they get really soaked as it is easy to do in a typical CR downpour, it is a slightly different story. Sure they may be mostly dry the next day, particularly the pockets if you pull them out, but the seam and crotch area definitely takes longer than that to get completely dry. Don't get me wrong. I also wear a pair of thick and sturdy jeans on the plane. But that is the only pair of jeans I bring. I don't rely just on those so that I do have something else to wear if they get wet. I usually pack another pair of long pants of the light quick-dry variety which also take up less space as well as drying much quicker than jeans.

I highly recommend you and everyone else look into those quick-dry shirts or even pants. They're usually more compact than regular garments. Not only will they dry out quicker after they get soaked or rinsed out, they also stay much drier while you wear them. Being lighter weight than denim or most cotton shirt material you don't sweat as much, and any sweat you do have gets wicked away from your body and evaporates quicker while you're wearing them.

4) Shoes had been a big problem area for me too and I can appreciate the problem of wet running shoes. Here is the solution I've come up with. First, of course, there are still my trusty athletic shoes which I wear on the plane. The only other pair of shoes that I need or bring is a pair of quick-drying suede and perforated upper Sperry slip-on boat shoes. They're nice enough looking for somewhat dressier occasions but can still be worn with jeans. As slip-ons they make adequate beach shoes, though my preference is still to go barefoot unless the sand gets really hot. As quickdrying shoes whether they get wet at the beach, river rafting, in an SJ rainstorm or just walking to the bathroom, makes absolutely no difference since they'll always be dry enough to wear the next morning. And being little more than 3/4" rubber soles with a compressible leather top, they take up very little space in my bag.

Prolijo, with all due respect you're over-analyzing my question. The only point was one of curiousity. I wanted to know how people decide what to pack and how much. I make no judgments either way, and as we have already pointed out there are benefits to going both ways, so there's really no wrong answer, just personal preference.

In fact, on my next trip, as I will be dealing with variable climates and conditions I will likely have to take a checked bag. That's a concession to the additional needs I will have that a carry-on won't accomodate. I don't feel bad about it. That's just the way it is.

I can't say I've ever had ever had a soaking crotch in my jeans before, excepting only when I've gotten wet riding my motorcycle. Never so much when just walking ( or running more likely in a downpour) As I said, I've never had an issue with my jeans drying overnight.

Again, theft of luggage while I go through the airport is also never an issue. It simply never leaves my hand. or my back. I have a small daypack that I carry and I can either wheel my bag around or, if I'm concerned I have straps on my bag that allow me to carry it like a backpack. When I get off the plane I get off and I go. This is such a non-concern for me that I don't even consider it to be an issue, although I, like every smart traveller, will tell you never to let your bags go or be unattended in an airport.

The flexibility could very well be an issue for some, as far as travel arrangements go, but I always check in 24 hours in advance, arrive early, ever get bumped, and am unwilling to give up my seat for someone else. A free night is not sufficient to make up for lost vacation time for me, which I hold more valuable than the monetary value that can be assigned to it. Still, to each their own in this regard.

I'll look into the quick dry pants and shirts though. While not being a huge issue for me any edge that such things can give you is worth exploring. As long as comfort, fit and style are suitable to me then I don't see any reason why you wouldn't get something that dries faster and packs lighter. Good tip. Thanks.

WOW!....that must be some sort of a record for so much print in such a short period of time.

Philistine.

The erudite among us need time in order to properly express the depth of our scintillating ideas and thoughts. You two syllable Okies can do what you want. We gentlemen are having a discussion.

Oh no, Shadowman, you're beginning to sound a little bit like Greengo in that last post. As for over-analyzing things, isn't that my job around here?

Zebra, you obviously haven't read many of my posts.

As for variable climatic conditions, I don't think it gets any more variable than climbing to the chilly and wet top of Mt. Chirripo one night and then being on the hot steamy beaches of Dominical a day later. Like you, Shadow, I try to keep it to carry-on whenever I can, but don't sweat it at all if I can't. As I said in my first post and you agreed, it does really come down to personal preference and the circumstances of each trip.

As for the security of having luggage with you. I was thinking more about hanging around tico bus stations with a lot of luggage. It can be a very interesting and culturally rewarding way to travel, just not when you have a lot of stuff to deal with. I'd agree that at nice airports that is not as much of a factor, however, if you don't have someone with you to watch your bags, it is sort of pain to have to lug a big carry-on bag and possibly a day pack with you whenever you want to go to the can or to browse for a magazine in a crowded airport newstand while you wait for your plane. Looked at that way, one could argue that is actually a good argument FOR doing check-in rather than just carry-on, since that issue disappears if most of your stuff is safely checked in and all you're left with is a small daypack.

As for the freebie nights, I wasn't so much thinking about getting bumped on the way TO my vacation as I was once or twice when it happened on the way BACK. The first time, I declined because I had an important meeting to get to at work the next day. However, the other time I had no pressing commitment to get home and an extra free night in San Jose (for one night hotel and a free ticket for my next trip but NOT for any chicas ) was certainly very enticing. Ultimately it was a combination of factors that made me hesitant to raise my hand. But the fact that I had no assurance I'd get my checked bag back and that I was down to my last stinky shirt was certainly a big part of it.

Geez. The cheap bastards. They could have at least sprung for a Dungeon session for your inconvenience. Well, that's the airlines for you. Always screwing the little guy. Or preventing him from getting screwed, as it were.

Great thread. I am a carry on guy. Always have a roller bag and another "personal item" carry on with everything I need. Rolling clothes is the way to go. Also if you get shirts starched and cleaned that you bring on hangars pack them last and in the plastic bag. The plastic really cuts down on the wrinkling.

I can always carry for a week or less. I usually put all my shoes in my second personal item to allow maximum clothes in the roller bag.

One last thought. As I always have connections not only do you cut down on lost luggage but if you have a long layover and you arrive and find an earlier flight to your destination you can standby and get on . This works a lot for me.

It is really very easy to pack light and use a carry on bag if you are willing to spend a couple of bucks at your hotel to have your shirts, socks and undies laundered a couple of times during a week long stay. All hotels that launder clothes will have it back in our room the same day.

My typical list for a week includes:
4 pair socks and undies.
4 shirts (two short sleeve and two long sleeve)
1 pair of nice looking wrinkle free khacki slacks
1 reversable belt
toillet articles
1 pair flip flops
1 bathing suit
1 light jacket
1 cheap disposable umbrella
2 decent t shirts

Going down, I wear a decent pair of jeans, a very comfortable pair of walking shoes and a long sleeve shirt.

That does it quite nicely.

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