Never actually having seriously considered the term “packing light”–my last return flight from the States, I checked 3 bags, 2 of which were perilously close to the 70 pound limit–I have had a very difficult day.

I leave for West Papua tonight on a “Remote Destinations” trip.  Remote Destinations is the name of the travel company, owned by Leks and Linda Santosa, which is organizing and leading the trip. Remote also stands for “far away and hard to get to.” We will fly overnight from Jakarta to Timika, West Papua, arrive early tomorrow morning and transfer to a twin-engine propeller airplane. From there, our luggage will either be toted by broad-backed porters, or ferried in shallow-draft boats through swampy, steamy, buggy, formerly cannibal-infested mangrove forest–sounds exciting doesn’t it?

 Purportedly, the weight restriction was set by the charter airline company. (However, I suspect the weight restrictions may also have been imposed because the porters on our last trip to Papua complained.)

Each passenger had to submit his/her weight. (Accurate weight, I was cautioned, as each passenger will be weighed before boarding the plane.) Our luggage will also be weighed—carry ons, purses, computers, all of it—and will be loaded onto the plane according. Now, normally….often, as you can guess by the baggage I mentioned above, I don’t worry too much if my baggage is a little heavy. However…

Following is a note I received from Linda two weeks ago regarding our travel arrangements:

Hello, All.
As you know, Leks went to West Papua last Sunday to finalize all arrangements for your trip….Unfortunately he has run into a series of bad problems. First of all, the Charter which he had booked for you–the Twin Otter through Trigana–has two big problems….Trkigana actually has 2 Twin-Otters. One recently slid off the runway at Bioga in the mountains and the other they have just discovered 3 days ago needs a new engine…Which has been ordered and the plane is supposed to be ready to fly in 2 weeks…But no guarantees.

SO….Leks and Cindy have tried to contact the following companies in the last two days:
Mimika Air
Airfast
Susi Air
AMA Papua–who say they will not take tourists
Merpati
Avia Star

At the moment we have had no luck with any of these….BUT Leks is running around talking to airline pilots all day today and tomorrow.

Never fear: Leks found an airplane to take us to Papua. Smaller than the Twin Otter—and with weight restrictions—restrictions for which I have suddenly developed a healthy respect.

The per-person weight limit for the trip is undisclosed; the baggage weight limit is: 1 duffel bag, 15 kilos max (33 pounds) and, after we women whined loudly, an extra 5 kilos for carry-on—which sounds like a lot, doesn’t it?

Over the past few days, I have been gathering supplies for the trip. (Keeping in mind that we will only be gone 4 days.) I piled everything on the dining room table, cross-checked it with the supply list, and then began jettisoning whatever I could. Afterwards, I stuffed everything into my duffle and weighed it. Now I’m in the process of culling again. How the heck is anyone supposed to pack light when everything is so dang heavy?

• 1 lightweight hiking boot: 1.5 lbs (Yes, I will pack two–soon as I find the other one)
• Flashlight (ready to go): 3/4 pound
• Extra batteries: 1/3 pound
• Small toiletry bag (hotel sizes of everything): 2.5 pounds
• Undies, socks & 2 bras: 2.8 pounds (ditch the underwires?)
• Treat & drink bag: 7.5 pounds (that will get lighter quickly…maybe preflight)
• Walking stick: 3/4 pound
• Camera (no extra anything): 1/2 pound
• 298 page Paperback novel: 1/2 pound (It’s a YA; maybe they are heaver by nature?)
• Cosmetics bag: 1 lb, 10 oz (No I can not cull…I need every item)
• First aid kit/medication/vitamins: 2 1b, 5 oz.
• wallet: 1/3 pound
• Clothes: …

Clothes? What clothes? There isn’t weight left for clothes…