It´s been a while since I last dedicated a blog article to a phrase or expression from those that I call untranslatables, not exactly because they´re impossible to translate, but because they lose a lot of their charm (let´s say, their elegance) when translated from English into Spanish or vice versa.
Today´s expression is to pack light, and the problem here is not the word light, which directly translates as "ligero/a", but with the verb to pack, which in this context has a translation that´s long and clumsy, at least in the version of Spanish we use in Spain: "hacer las maletas" (in other versions of Spanish there´s the word empacar, which is shorter, yes, but sounds super weird to me).
In my opinion, the translation that best conveys the idea behind to pack light is "ligero de equipaje", and in both languages, the meaning goes beyond the mere act of packing: it refers to a way of travelling, and ultimately, to a philosophy of life.
(Picture I once hurriedly took of a person I saw in the street, or rather, of their bag. I loved that little drawing of the line going all over the place, anywhere but straight ahead, as a metaphor of the journey of life; it reminded me of the image I used a few years ago in this article.)
Yo reconozco que nunca he sido una persona de las que viajan ligeras de equipaje, y admiro muchísimo a los que son capaces de hacerlo. Aunque me gustaría pensar que he mejorado al menos un poquito con los años, en el fondo sigo siendo la reina de los «por-si-acasos»… Y a la hora de hacer las maletas, inevitablemente me asaltan las dudas y me paso de precavida, por lo que casi siempre me acabo llevando mucho más de lo que necesito, con la carga añadida (física y mental) que eso conlleva.
All of this is coming to my head now because this weekend I´m travelling with the girls, one last little escapade before going back to school, and unsurprisingly, I filled up my suitcase almost to the top, while they had tons of free space in theirs! They could even have shared suitcases. I have A LOT to learn from them.
Pero también hay otra manera en la que podemos pensar en el concepto de «ir ligeros de equipaje», y es en relación a nuestro equipaje emocional: todo ese peso con el que cargamos, consciente o inconscientemente (juicios, culpa, resentimiento…), y del que nos vendría muy bien liberarnos. Ese peso no va a desaparecer por arte de magia, por mucho que miremos para otro lado o intentemos taparlo. Pero sí que se puede aligerar, y mucho, a través de un trabajo profundo de toma de conciencia y desarrollo personal.
What are your thoughts on this? Are you already travelling light? Or are you carrying a lot more than what you need?