I’d rather shlep my bag around than hope my bag shows up. My only concession is the trip back when if it doesn’t show up for a few days it won’t affect me. We pack really light these days!
Recently returned from a month and half trip to Japan and South Korea with just a backpack. This is the only way I travel – lightly.
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Impressive!
You may want to share some tips here - Travel / Vacation clothing
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Please do!
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Would you mind sharing exactly what you packed? How did you do laundry on your trip? And how many different hotels/lodging accommodations did you stay at?
In my backpack:
- Rolled up, wrinkle-free, fast drying polyester clothing to last 4-5 days
- Toiletries
- Power Bank and international power adapter
When reserving hotels in both Japan and South Korea, I made sure that 1) there were at least washing machines if not together with dryers in the hotel, and 2) they were in close walking distance to subway stations. In Japan, I stayed in one hotel in Kyoto for 6n/7d and one hotel in Osaka for 2n/3d. In South Korea, I stayed in two different hotels in Seoul 13n/14d), one hotel In Paju (4n/5d), one hotel in Sokcho (6n/7d), one hotel in Busan (3n/4d), one hotel in Jeju Island (3n/4d).
I wore Sketchers shoes and walked the longest ever in my life.
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DH and I are planning a 6 week trip to Japan. We were planning on one rolling carryon bag and a backpack for each of us. You’ve given me food for thought. Thanks so much!!
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That’s how my husband and I usually travel. (Admittedly I have the bigger carry-on roller bag, even though he has camera equipment). But just a backpack would be tough.
We will be taking a long road trip to visit family this summer. It is nice that we have lots of space since I’ll have running gear plus swim stuff. And probably some stuff for the kid who just bought his first house.
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Sadly, the medical equipment & medications I HAVE to travel with would not all fit in that lovely backpack. Consequently, I can no longer travel as lightly as I used to or prefer. 
I am happy to still be able to travel and wrangle my equipment and luggage pretty well.
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Yes, it is actually easy to travel with a “personal item” backpack if the weather and activity at the destination do not require bulky stuff, and you are willing to do laundry for longer trips. (The other thing to note is that wheeled bags add bulk but decrease capacity.)
Doing that means that you can be the passenger with the cheap ticket on Spirit / Frontier / Flair / economy-minus who does not pay for any extras like carry on bags larger than “personal items”.
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Unless you plan on staying in luxury hotels for all 6 weeks in Japan, expect your average hotel room to be cramped. Even with just one rolling carry-on bag and a backpack for each of you, you’d feel wanting for more space. Space, particularly in Japan, comes with a price. Hotels in Japan on average are lot more expensive than South Korea, yet smaller. Even in restaurants, most of them can accommodate only about a dozen people, so waiting in line outside is often the case. Dining was never relaxing for me at any of the restaurants in Kyoto and Osaka, knowing that people are waiting outside for their turn to come in. Japan is now experiencing the pain of overtourism, so expect a very crowded condition in such popular tourist destination, like Kyoto, Osaka and Tokyo. Also expect to pay higher “tourist” fees. The latest news, for example, is the proposed plan to charge $30 for admission to Himeji Castle for tourists and $5 for locals.
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During my trip, I flew on a cheap regional airline, Jeju Air, from Seoul to Jeju Island for $20 one-way. I also flew on Jeju Air to Osaka. With just a backpack, no additional fees, simple security clearance, no need to hang around the baggage claim upon arrival, quicker immigration and customs at KIX with QR code.
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Higher prices for tourists / visitors compared to local residents is not that unusual (e.g. see Hawaii). It largely comes down to the economics of price discrimination (tourists / visitors tend to have more money on average, because they could afford to travel) and maintaining good relations with the local resident population. A related phenomenon would be taxes on hotels and rental cars (particularly when starting the rental at the airport), or surcharges for getting on the public transit train at the airport station.
Interesting. It makes me glad I tagged along with my husband on a Kyoto business trip in 2014. No overbearing crowds at retaurants or tourist sites (I did two half day tours on my own). Then again, it was February… probably not a popular time for tourists (?).
Total number of visitors to Japan in 2014 looks to be less than half that of the projected total number of visitors this year. This year, just from Jan to Mar, there were 8.5 million visitors already. Historical visitor stats by month show that February sees the lowest number of visitors each year by far. So, yes, cold weather definitely affects tourism in Japan.
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FYI:
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I think that’s called biting the hand that feeds you lol 
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I can certainly understand how frustrating this is for people in Barcelona that can’t afford the rents there since many Airbnb’s are taking away housing for locals. We have the same problem here in San Diego. Many places that used to be monthly rentals have converted to Airbnbs and it is hard for locals to find affordable places to live.
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My daughter attended St. Andrews in Scotland and the Airbnbs created a huge problem for students and locals as far as housing. It just seems misguided and juvenile to protest tourists who are not responsible for the laws that govern short term vacation rentals and contribute significantly to an economy that has struggled with higher unemployment rates. They should be protesting against their government to change the laws.
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I have conflicting feelings on the matter. I don’t think the use of water guns on tourists is a good response to the tourist problem…a situation in which I have empathy for the locals, as well as the tourists. It will be interesting to see how it plays out in Barcelona and other “hot” tourist destinations. Fortunately I haven’t seen any news where violent altercations have led to hospitalizations or deaths.
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