Lessons learned. And forgotten. And relearned.

The real lesson is to bring way, way, way less stuff than you think. Even when you think you're packing light, you're not. I got a good rule of thumb from the Durch travelers that I think I will try and stick to from now on: stick to the carry on limits for discount airlines. I believe it's 7kg all in.

Now that I have unburdened myself of half of my luggage, I feel an unbearable lightness - both literally and figuratively. In which case, why bring the extra luggage in the first place? (Let it be said that I don't have all that much stuff. Just more than I'd like.)

The other lesson is: don't trust the internet. In this case, it kept telling me there were no available tickets to KL all week, but when I spoke with a real live ticket agent, explaining that I understood how busy things are this week and that I just wanted to know when the next available day train to KL was, I was caught completely off guard when he said, "How about tomorrow?"

I nodded furiously and bought the ticket, only realizing afterwards that I hadn't intended to leave on New Years.