Luggage for conferencing

Willem is pulling his suitecase uphill towards the ship (upper right) with his laptop in his backpack and his phone in his other hand

Today a few tips on packing and making your life easier when travelling to attend a conference. First, ensure that you have a suitcase with four sturdy wheels. No, not two, four wheels that allow it to stand on its own when you need both hands for other tasks.

I, like many others, tried to resist at first but today I must confess that a super-light, four wheeled sturdy suitecase is a lifesaver. Just last week, we were booked into a hotel where we had to take the stairs up to our room (no lifts) and there was no help available either to get the luggage from the car that was parked in the street a few hundred meters away from the hotel entrance (due to non-availability of hotel parking). Fortunately, the suitecases are lightweight four-wheelers that are easy to navigate on the sidewalk and on the steep 17^th century staircases. We had this same experience a few years ago in Amsterdam – staying in the top apartment of the building which is five floors up in one of the old buildings next to the canal with no lifts. Having to drag our heavy bags up without the help of wheels, was not a nice experience as we had to make several trips up and down to get them and the hand luggage to and from the room.

The second, and equally important piece of equipment you need when travelling for a conference is a comfortable, strong backpack into which your laptop can be strapped in securely, with enough space for adapters, batteries, cords and documentation and that will not kill you when you must carry it on your back while transiting or exploring huge airports. Security wise, this is also a good choice because the backpack stays with you and linked with your body all the time – you never need to put it down to free up your hands. Backpacks are easier to fit into the space under a seat when everyone else is using their suitecases as hand luggage (which happens more frequently) and there is no space in the overhead compartments to put your stuff. And when you are a tourist before or after the conference, the back pack is handy for supplies such as water and snacks and souvenirs.