Our trip has two parts – scuba diving in Indonesia and touring in Japan. How should we pack so we do not take the superfluous warmer clothing needed in Japan all the way to Raja Ampat and do not lug dive gear around Japan with us?
After much thinking, many conversations and, thankfully, no spreadsheet, we come up with a plan that we think is pretty good. We do, however, have to diverge from the only carry on luggage scenario. Here is what we are going to do Edmonton to Singapore.
Edmonton to Singapore
- 1 checked soft sided bag (Murray’s green bag)
- Debbie – purple day pack and Aqua Lung Dive Carryon Rollie bag, both as carry on
- Murray – black day pack and Aqua Ling Dive Carryon Rollie bag, both as carry on
Singapore – We will then leave Murray’s green bag in the luggage storage at the Mercure Bugis Hotel. We have confirmed already that we will be able to do this. The bag will have extra clothing, umbrellas, electrical adapters, a few other items and our two courier (shoulder) bags inside.
Singapore to Sorong, Indonesia Return
- Debbie – purple day pack (carry on) and Aqua Lung Dive Carryon Rollie bag (will have to be checked, on board baggage limit is minimal)
- Murray – black day pack (carry on) and Aqua Lung Dive Carryon Rollie bag (will be checked)
The airlines we are flying restrict the number of pieces and weight of carry on luggage, so we are forced to check our dive bags. We will make sure we have the important gear and toiletries in our carry on packs. Fortunately, there are no transfers so there are less opportunities for checked luggage to go missing.
Singapore to Tokyo
- 1 checked soft sided bag (Murray’s green bag)
- Debbie – purple day pack and Aqua Lung Dive Carryon Rollie bag, both as carry on
- Murray – black day pack and Aqua Ling Dive Carryon Rollie bag, both as carry on
Touring Tokyo
- Debbie – purple day pack and courier bag
- Murray – green soft sided shoulder bag and courier bag
The two Dive Rollie bags and Murray’s black day pack are being stored at the Edo Sakura Hotel in Tokyo. We have also confirmed with the hotel that they will store the bags for us while we tour. The Rollie bags will get packed with as many items we do not need from our day packs as possible. We opted for one mostly full soft sided bag instead of two partially full soft sided bags. The amount of clothing we are taking with us is not great so we always carry liquid laundry soap.
Tokyo to Edmonton
- 1 checked soft sided bag (Murray’s green bag)
- Debbie – purple day pack and Aqua Lung Dive Carryon Rollie bag
- Murray – black day pack and Aqua Ling Dive Carryon Rollie bag
Depending on the checked bag limit for our flight home, we may check as many of the three larger bags as we can, after all we are going home and if a bag takes a circuitous route home, oh well, we are going home.