Help me please, how do I carry this much!

Jadeskirt

Ok... I'm totally at a loss here and hope someone(s) can help me figure out how to do this..
This is my secound long trip to India (I'm hooked) I plan to stay for 8-10 months,
Here is what I will be doing..

I start my trip, hiking in Ireland (warm cloths hiking boots etc)
I go to Paris. (nice cloths)
I go to Kathmandu for a few weeks where I will be trekking ( backpack, hiking boots) and I'm dropping off a large back of presents and supplies to the Tibetan Refugee camp in Kathmandu.
I go India, and hopefully find a base city to stay in, perhaps Varanasi. Where I will be working on video projects (decent size video camera -it is the smallest one that has the quality that works for me) a laptop for editing (yes, I'm committed to edit on this trip) also, I need to bring some presents for the friends I made on the last trip and then there is the usual stuff like malaria pills and dental floss.

So ...along with the most basic of the basics, I need to bring Video camera
still camera
laptop (for editing)
tapes
small tri-pod
hiking boots,
backpack,
a bag of supplys for Tibetan Refugee camp
Presents for friends I made on the last trip

and basic things like..cloths,pills etc..

I'm willing to ship some things ahead of me, but I don't know anyone to send them too. and unfortunately the supplies to the refugee camp cannot be shipped.
There is just me traveling with all this stuff.. So it may be tricky to get on the trains etc.. and... as you know domestic weight allowance for baggage is pretty low.. Also I won't be in at my home base until mid-October, and I'm leaving in eary September so that is a lot of stuff to lug around! Last trip I had one very heavy bag that I could squeese under my seat on the train but I think to get to my base city I will need to have at least 2 heavy bags..how do you handle train travel when you have 2 bags?

Any suggestions! I'm havign trouble sleeping at night trying to figure this one out.
HELP!!!

webtraveller

Hi JadeSkirt
The Laptop, Camera and Video Camera Can go in the cabin luggage.
I did not understand how big (how many pounds) the supply for the Refugees.
Otherwise you can fit all others in the 2 Check-in luggages with 70 pounds each.
Do not take more than 4 pairs of cloths including the casual/ formal and the trekking/hiking. You can buy as so progress. The india clothing dont take at all. Pills and Presents should not take much of a space. It looks like doable except for the fact that the Refuge Pack, which is not sure about how much size it is.

Enjoy and all the best.

Mangogirl

Hi!
You could always use a porter at train stations, they carry your luggage and find your train and seat. I can't remeber how much they cost but it's cheap.
A padlock is very useful to have, I use one with a code because I always loose my keys
Happy travelling!
Mangogirl

hmm..whatcanthisbe

this has been changed by almost all airlines to 50 lbs per bag

Cameleer

The bag I have is the Lowepro CompuTrekker Plus AW Camera Backpack. I can put my laptop and most of my camera equipment in it. When I went to India last year my bag’s weight was around 30 lbs, the rules say it can’t be over 15 lbs.
In the airport on the way back home they were checking the weight of all carryon bags. I had my camera vest on just for this reason; I pulled some of my batteries and lenses out of the bag and put them in my vest. It was still over weight; I put my large telephoto lens on my belt and hung my camera over my shoulder, that got my bag light enough and they let me pass, although I was really loaded down. They let you have 2 carryon items and counted my laptop as the second without weighing it.
You can put a lot of items in a good camera vest!

haritha

do not forget that long chain or string type lock

aadil

Carrying a lot of weight in India is a big problem when you are travelling alone as it is very unsafe to leave it in the care of others when using a toilet or asking for directions and you don't want to lug all your weight around with you all the time. I don't know how much you will be carrying in India but if you are asking about how you will get all the heavy items for the refugee camps then I suppose you will have to ship it ahead of you or on the same flight as you are travelling on as unaccompanied baggage which is much cheaper than checked in baggage. Please remember that unaccompanied baggage rules allow only certain items in them and some items are banned from being transported this way so please check with your airline when booking it.

In India in the trains there is no problem in carrying your stuff as there are the porters with red shirts and a brass badge on their arms which indicate that they are the licensed porters and there is a fixed price for each piece of baggage that they carry for you so please bargain with them if they tell you some exhorbitant rates for your luggage. Normally it is about Rs10-15 per piece of luggage but they may charge more like Rs20-25 per piece if it is a long distance from the entrance to the train. The same when offloading it from the train to the taxi, there will be no dearth of porters willing to take your luggage out for you, just keep going along with them and see that you don't lose them in the crowd as they walk pretty fast with the bags too. HAHAHA!!! At the train stations there is always a left luggage counter which is called the Cloak Room in Indian Railways parlance and it is pretty safe to keep your luggage here for Rs10 per piece of luggage as long as it is with a lock on it. They will not accept any luggage without a lock on it so be sure you have one on your bags. This facility is usually available to all train passengers as well as sometimes to someone who does not have a ticket too, just tell them that you plan to buy it after you keep the luggage with them.

I would also follow Cameleer's advice about the laptop and camera bag/vest to keep things light but don't forget that it also attracts a lot of attention that you may be keen to avoid on the travels especially for a lady travelling alone. Keep up the good work you are doing for the Tibetian refugees!!! Hope you have a good trip out here and in all the other places you are visiting too. Take care and safe travels wherever you go!!! And hope you will get some sound sleep now!!!

Cheers,
Aadil.

__________________
Climb high; climb far;
Your goal, the sky,
Your aim, the stars!!!

MeCasa

Clothes drops, when you complete parts of your trip you ship those clothes back and you arrange for a friend to ship you appropriate clothes 'general delivery', you show up at the postal office with ID, let them know your shipments are coming and stay close so you don't abuse the storage facilities at the postal office.

Winter gear is heavy and bulky, you'll need to ship it back or throw it away, you CANNOT carry it

Lots of Luck

wonderwomanusa

Jadeskirt,

As MeCasa suggests, after your visits to Ireland and Paris, send the Paris clothing back to the US (to a friend or to family). You can use seamail, since you won't be back to the US until October. If you need warm clothing and boots for Kathmandu, you should either take old things you can give away after your trek, or things you can sell. Or you can seamail them back to the US.

And if you have friends in Paris, see if you can ship the stuff for the Tibetans to them, since you do not have to have it until you leave for India. This will give you somewhat less luggage to deal with.

How nice that you are going back .. but I still haven't heard about the first trip!

Jadeskirt

Wow! Thank you, now I can sleep at night!... Another 3 questions here ... Since I posted my inquiry I was informed that I have a job filming in Indonesia for a month, in the middle of my trip! (lucky me)
1.What is the best way to find a place to park a backpack or suitcase for a month or so while I'm traveling?.. I don't want to carry everything all the time.

2. How many suitcases are allowed to be with you on the train? Is there a limit?

And

3. The baggage weight allowances from India to Nepal are much less than from US to India.. Is there a way to carry the extra weight without the heigh overage cost?

Thank you!

aadil

Like I said before, when you are flying you can use the unaccompanied baggage rule to pay less than the excess baggage charges and still have the bags come on the same flight only if you inform them beforehand and there is space in the cargo hold on the same flight. If you are travelling to Nepal from India and returning to India then if you don't need somethings to be taken to Nepal then you could leave them here in India at either a known and trusted hotel where you are staying and will be staying on your return or also with the train station where they have a left luggage counter called as the cloak room and charge a nominal fee of Rs10 per piece of locked luggage. Remember if you do not have a lock on your bags they will not accept them. You need not show them a train ticket but could always tell them that you will be taking the bag after a long period so that they don't think it is a suspicious object inside if it lies with them for so many days without anyone reclaiming it. There is a left luggage counter at the airport too with similar charges and similar conditions. Do not keep any eatable stuff inside soft cloth or fabric bags that you wish to keep in long storage in the left luggage counters as they are liable to be gnawed into by mice thinking there is some food inside them!!!

There is no limit as such for the number of suitcases you carry on a train but if you are in the chair car then it may be difficult to carry large suitcases onboard the coach you are travelling in but in the sleeper class as well as the other coaches with AC sleepers it is no problem at all. There is a weight limit but no one really bothers about it as long as you can fit it inside the coach under your seat!!! Never seen a Ticket Checker ask anyone the weight of his / her bags or even why anyone has a huge number of them too!!! Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Aadil.

LauraMC

My suggestion is in regards to clothing. I would try to bring thin layers of microfibre wicking clothing that you layer for warmth rather than heavy fleeces.
I'm not the most fashionable person when I travel as I try to bring minimal amounts of clothing so I found wearing a lot of black helped me blend in a bit more (this worked in New York). If you can get a nice tighter fitting black microfibre top, you can wear it in Paris and dress it up with a black pair of pants, a funky scarf and nice earrings. I had a similar problem as I was travelling to Toronto and New York before going to Italy and doing an archaeological dig.
As for presents for your friends you made on your last trip, I don't know your situation very well, but if you're just bringing them general presents, try bringing something small. Someone gave me the suggestion of toothpaste as its always entertaining to see Colgate or Crest in different packaging and a different language.

Jadeskirt

" I found wearing a lot of black helped me blend in a bit more (this worked in New York). If you can get a nice tighter fitting black microfibre top, you can wear it in Paris and dress it up with a black pair of pants, a funky scarf and nice earrings."


GREAT IDEA! THANKS

lallii

well even if you sip some stuff in adavnce you will not be able to clear it from custom untill you arrive!!!!