leer12•2d ago

The gate agent in Denver who taught me more about packing than any blog

I was flying out of Denver back in January and my bag was slightly over the weight limit at the counter. The gate agent, an older guy named Marcus, watched me start pulling stuff out to cram into my backpack and just shook his head. He said, "You packed for the trip you planned, not the trip you're on," and then pointed at my three pairs of jeans. It hit me because he was right. I had packed clothes for a version of the trip that never happened, including a dinner outfit I never wore once. He let me move a couple of things to my personal item and slid the bag onto the belt without charging me. Since then I pack for what I will actually wear, which for a 5 day trip is 2 pairs of pants and 4 shirts, and my bag has not been over 18 pounds since. How do you all decide what counts as the "what if" item you leave behind?