I want to talk for a minute about packing, and I'm glad I've got the help of some lessons and so on here, so that I can hopefully inspire you to be mobile.

It's so, so fundamental. I mean, you don't have a pack horse, okay? If you do, you're abusing your spouse.

Now, the fact is we need to be mobile to adequately enjoy our trip. If you can't carry your bag, you can still do it, but it's going to be more complicated and more expensive.

If you're able to get around with your luggage, it behooves you. I mean, I find there's two kinds of travelers: those who pack light and those who wished they packed light. Think about it. You'll never meet anybody who, after five trips, brags, “Every year I pack heavier.”

With experience, you get serious about this because you know you're going to have to do a lot of walking with your bags, okay?

I mean, not necessarily up to a hill town like this, but just to get through the airports. And so on.

If you're a good walker, that's great. If you need to get into shape, get in better shape and let yourself be more mobile by packing light.

This photograph here really illustrates a new reality.

In the center of town, you cannot get your car or your bus.

Okay, this is one of our tour groups, and the bus couldn't get downtown in Florence because the mayor there wants pedestrians, bikes, and the sound of birds, not traffic congestion and pollution in the town center.

So, nobody can drive past the ring road. Our tour bus parked here, and we have to walk three blocks to our hotel, where a few years ago the bus could park at the hotel. That's great because we're mobile.

Carry on the airplane size bag, 9x22x14 inches. For a lot of people, that's a radical concept. What, 9x22x14in? That was my cosmetics kit.

Nope. That's everything all right. It's kind of tough love. I check in with them after bullying them into traveling light.

And, you know, they're always happy they did. They're always happy they did. It's not a hardship to pack light.

It's a sort of enlightenment. If I had Sherpas, I'd set them free. All right.

You need to be 9x22x14 inches.

This is my bag. I've got it right here. I'm going around the country right now.

Eight cities in eight days, airport every day. And this is my bag. I don't check a bag. This is my bag. I carry it on. There's no excuse. A lot of people have excuses. Man. Woman. Rich. Poor. North. South. Two weeks, two months. Summer, winter.

It's all the same. You got to be mobile. I like this bag, but you can also get a wheeled bag. Same thing.

But this is as big as you can carry onto the airplane. And you'll be glad if you can do it.

You have your big bag, which you leave on the cruise ship. You leave in your car. You leave at the hotel, you lock up at the train station, and you get your little bag for being out and about.

Now, I know I don't have a lot of credibility when it comes to packing light among women. Okay, I've got a one hour talk about how to pack light, but also most of my staff is women.

All of them pack as light as I do. And Joan, who's one of our tour guides, has a wonderful one-hour talk for women packing light. On my website at ricksteves.com, there must be 50 hours of lectures.

Joan’s talk on packing light, my talk on packing light, one-hour talk on tech for travelers, a two-hour talk on cruising. Two-hour talk on Portugal. I mean, there are language lessons. There's all sorts of stuff.

It's all totally free and we just love to share it. So if you need any of that sort of more information on any of these topics, it's all at ricksteves.com.