As ticket prices continue to rise, along with all the other piled-on fees involved with air travel, you can actually do something about it. Simply, don’t drag any big, fat, rigid suitcase on your journey.

When packing for an air trip, if you can't fit all your extra gear into a 21-inch soft side carry-on, leave the heavy stuff at home. Then you certainly won’t have to pay an extra $100 or more every time you’re forced to check each overloaded suitcase.

We've traveled through Europe and Asia each with a wheeled carry-on and a back pack. We also wore coats with many inside and outside pockets to hold more gear. At night we showered with the day’s shirts, socks and underwear, then hung them so they’d be dry and fresh in the morning.

Instead of making airlines richer, use that money saved from heavy suitcase fees to enjoy the world’s foods, entertainment, sights, sounds and other joys of travel.