Travelling with less luggage

Source A: an original contemporary non-fiction-style account.

I took a small backpack for a weekend away and felt briefly superior to everyone wrestling a suitcase onto the train. I could climb stairs without searching for a lift and keep my bag beneath the seat. The freedom was real. So was the fact that I had forgotten a warm layer and spent the first evening borrowing one from my friend.

Packing lightly works best when it is a decision about actual needs, not a contest in appearing unencumbered. My friend carried medication, spare shoes and a book for her child. Her larger bag did not prove she had failed to understand simplicity. I still prefer travelling with less, but I have stopped treating the size of somebody else's luggage as a summary of their character. Freedom from possessions is pleasant; freedom from making quick judgements about other people's possessions may be useful too.

Source B: an original letter in a nineteenth-century voice. This is a period-voice simulation, not an archival document.

Dear Cousin, I have reduced my travelling trunk by removing the articles intended for occasions that never arrive. There were gloves for weather I did not expect, a second coat and several books whose presence had served chiefly to increase the porter's labour. I had packed possible versions of myself rather than the person making the journey.

I do not recommend setting out without necessities. A traveller who borrows every comfort has merely transferred his luggage to somebody else's responsibility. But beyond a reasonable provision, each additional object asks for attention: it must be carried, watched, found and packed again. I have enjoyed this journey more for having fewer such claims upon me. My smaller trunk is not evidence of superior virtue. It is simply a more accurate account of what I shall use before returning home. The unused possibilities may remain where they are, quite safely, without my escort.

Refer to the whole of both sources. Compare the writers’ perspectives on travelling with fewer possessions and how they convey those perspectives. Support your comparison with evidence from both sources.