This also goes for making sure that you aren’t unprepared when a flight might get cancelled. There are various options in case of flight cancellation. You could look for an online refund calculator: websites like Flightright, a Berlin based company, provide this service by calculating your compensation and fighting your case for you, in exchange for some commission should your case win.
It’s also important to prepare in other ways for delays too. Making sure you always have water, a snack and some cash in local currency is vital. In order to strengthen any case for future compensation claims, you should carry a pen and notepad (or use an electronic device) to log both the times of the flights/delays, and any information that you’ve been told by staff verbatim.
You can also try and mitigate flight cancellations by booking nonstop flights that are early on in the day.
How to pack smartly
As stated above, food, water, currency and something to take notes on are important. There are also a plethora of other things too, such as hygiene products, clothes and chargers. So, how do you go about packing this all economically and efficiently?
Firstly, you want to minimize wasted space by learning the Marie Kondo method. If this technique is something you don’t have time to learn, simply rolling your clothes will be better than traditional folding, and it should also create fewer creases too.
Next, you want to minimize one-use items. This means you want to choose your items based on the multi-purpose uses so you can hit two birds with one stone, so to speak. For example, taking a shower gel that’s also a shampoo, dental floss that can also be a clothes line and hand sanitizer that can also clean physical items.
You also want to pack so it’s easy to find things. This means not chucking everything into your backpack, but instead dividing the space up. Firstly, you should make use of the sections in your bag. The front pocket could be for leads, the larger inside pocket could be for dirty laundry and so on. Next, you can use packing cubes to help divide the space in the main section of the bag.
You will also want to where what you can. We all would prefer to take more rather than less, if space and weight wasn’t an issue. Well, putting on your jacket and wearing your camera around your neck may free up space in your bag for other items, as well as increase your chances of complying with airport requirements.
Lastly, you want to plan ahead with your packing. Ideally, you will have researched the climate and typical of your destination in the time you’re going. There are also some formulas to help decide on how much you need of each item. This will help reduce surplus rainproof clothes when they’re not necessary. It may also make you realise need your wellies too, to help your feet survive the muddy walks.
