Secrets Within (The Story of My Suitcase)
Pssst … I maintain a security clearance for my job so pull in close to your screen and listen (okay, read) carefully. My suitcase has a secret and I’m going to share it with you. What I’m about to tell you should go no further than here, okay? I’m about to teach you how to smuggle out of Japan. Ssshhhh!!! Click the “more” link at the end of this sentence and … tell no one!
This is my suitcase. A Pierre Cardin, 25″ Provicincial with standard dimensions of 25″ x 17″ x 10″, weighing 11 pounds. This is one size up from the dimensions that constitute a carry-on piece of luggage and I purchased this baby on sale at a great price in basic black. She doesn’t look like anything really special does she? You’re right. She doesn’t and she’s not. Well… until you open her up, that is.
Before we begin, are you the type of person who packs your bag pretty tight for a trip? Like my friend “A” who packs an outfit for every day, including changes of jewelry and shoes to go with everything! Do you find yourself sitting atop your suitcase to hold in the contents while someone else breaks a sweat just to zip it closed? Lastly, are you a shopaholic who always ends up coming home with more than what you began with? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then my suitcase’s secret is for you!!!
While it will be important to pack lightly and efficiently for your trip to Japan, we all understand the majority of us will be bringing home gifts and souvenirs from our trip. As a result, we’ll end up bringing home a lot more stuff than what we left with. Instead of sitting in your hotel room / hostel / ryokan at the end of your trip trying to figure out what you can possibly live without or what you can leave in Japan, consider the following:
Pack a suitcase within a suitcase!!!
You heard me. Check it out…
Pack all your essentials, all the necessities, inside the smallest suitcase you can possibly pack them in. Don’t go overboard, bulking up your inner suitcase, but pack things nice and neat, tidily and efficiently. Once your inner suitcase is packed, simply place it into another suitcase with slightly larger dimensions. In the picture above, the inner suitcase’s dimensions are 21″ x 14″ x 8″ (pretty standard size for a carryon).
Now, we actually have 2 suitcases instead of one. Granted, you will definitely have to check your luggage and will also have to remember to open both the inner and outer case once you reach immigration, but the pay off will be worth it. At the end of the trip, if you find that you have purchased so much as to need another suitcase, you already have one on hand, sparing the expense of purchasing another while you are in Japan. Besides that, if you find you actually end up not needing it, then re-pack it the very same way you intitally started and you still only (technically) have one bag to worry about taking home with you.
What a great tip, huh?
I know, I know … you’re probably disappointed that this post didn’t contain any intrigue or espionage, but seriously!!! Did you really think I was going to tell you how to smuggle things out of Japan? I’m a law-abiding citizen no matter what country I’m in and I don’t care WHAT that most-wanted poster in Tokyo says.
