Some of you have seen our photos like the above on Facebook, taken before we start a trip. We’ve been travelling quite a bit in recent years, all with our carry-ons and a backpack for the laptops that Alex carries, while I have my purse. Usually we have a foldable backpack in one of the carry-ons together with a foldable shopping bag or two.
Sometimes we take 2 backpacks in which case my purse gets a royal place in one of the carry-ons. And I make sure that one of the backpacks can fit inside a carry-on for when I use my purse. We pack this way regardless the season. In fact, we’ve been through all seasons in one trip, in which case we pack appropriate clothes:
from heavy duty ones for the rain and wintery cold and snow (Segovia I am looking at you) to light clothes for sweltering summers that require changes of sweaty t-shirts in the middle of the day (Athens here you go).
If you get to the end of our packing list, you’ll see that we don’t deprive ourselves of clothes, electronics and all the necessities for a comfortable journey. In fact, we have not yet figured out how to reduce the huge number of items we take.
There are many reasons for our light packing, but the ordeal our friends went through a few days ago with missing luggage in Auckland is just one of them. It took the better part of three days for the bags to catch up. Online check-in and printing our boarding passes at home, together with our carry-ons only, allow us to breeze through Pearson airport and go directly to security. Of course, there are 2 pieces of luggage more to go through security, but if everything is packed properly, this is not a problem. And with my meticulous packing and planning, it is.
We do check the carry-ons on our way back, since it really doesn’t matter at that point. Lost or delayed, it could be a nuisance, but we are home. And we usually bring a bottle or two of drinks home, which requires checking it these days.
We are not paranoid about lost or delayed luggage, but it can be a problem, especially if your arrival city is not your final destination for the day as it was for us last year. We took a train from London to Manchester a few hours after our arrival at Heathrow, so delayed luggage would have been a problem. Mind you, the last time I had lost luggage was about 22 years ago when 2 bags travelled from Brussels to Toronto via Australia. They eventually made it to Toronto two weeks later. Since then I have not had any problem, but one never knows.
Aside from getting quickly through Toronto airport, we love to get off the plane and go, not having to wait for checked luggage.
But none of the 3 reasons mentioned above fully makes the case for carry-ons. So what are the more important reasons?
1. Practicality and ease of carrying:
Have you been to Venice? Or seen a few pictures of it? With over 400 bridges all with steps up and down, how do you picture carrying your heavy luggage from one end of the city to the other, where your hotel is? We’ve done it, and an hour through all the bridges, narrow streets and horrendous crowds to the far end of the city wasn’t a problem at all. Watching those trying to maneuver wardrobe-sized suitcases, sometimes needing two people to lift them up the steps, just drove home the value of our approach.
It is much easier to carry as little as possible. If you are taking any public transportation, you for sure will have to lift these heavy suitcases up, down and around. Even if you don’t have a budget limit, it is not always that you can get to somewhere with a car. Venice is not the only example, but with the many bridges it is a good illustration.
Unless one hires a porter of course, but these people won’t read our blog. And last year we had to run for an hour through gushing waters while escaping a major flood in Thessaloniki. Taxi or any transportation was impossible at the time. Traffic was going nowhere, electricity was off, and only pedestrians were moving. Fancy having to carry a heavy suitcase through the floodwaters?
2. Public transportation
Last year we got off the airplane at Heathrow, took the tube to Kings Cross train station, then walked about 20 min to Euston to take the train to Manchester. I can’t imagine doing this with more luggage than we had. And all for a fraction of the cost of a cab.
3. Trains
We love travelling by trains. And we prefer to have our luggage near us, stored in the overheads above our seats or sometimes between the seats. Anything bigger than the carry-on is hard to fit in the, often small, luggage racks. Many European trains have luggage space at each end of the wagon, however not always. And we don’t really know how it will be in each and every train.
… and for completeness adding the few reasons mentioned at the beginning of this post:
4. Mobility and fast check-in at departure and quick out of the arrival airport
5. And, God forbid lost or delayed luggage.
I am sure one can find more reasons, but these are enough for us to make the effort and pack it tight. As you can see from the packing list from our last trip through Scotland and Bulgaria though, we are far from minimalist packing. I just know how to use the available space.
So how do we pack:
1. We don’t have separate Alex’s and Diana’s suitcases. Even if they are carry-on size, we are always ready to check them in if asked. I mix the clothes, so there are mine and Alex’s in each suitcase at least on our way to our first destination. If one of them gets lost we have the basics in the other.
2. I make sure that all the clothes, including the ones we will wear fit in the luggage. Two reasons:
a. In case of hot weather, I know I can fit my heavy clothes in the luggage, and
b. I know I have room for any additional stuff we buy on the road.
3. We have all our electronics, cameras, liquids and medications in the backpack. And documentation of course, a book for Alex and at least one notebook for me, perhaps a map.
4. In the backpack(s) we also have one full set of clothes for each of us, jacket or a raincoat climate depending and all the things we may need during the flight – noise cancelling headphones, blindfolds, glasses and hand/face wipes, a small towel, etc.
In other words, even if we don’t check our bags, we assume we could be asked to check them and organize the backpacks appropriately, including assumption of delayed or lost luggage.
Oh, and the colourful belts, together with some ribbons that may fall off are for fast recognition of our luggage from far more than anything else.
Below is what we packed during our last trip:
| UK – Bulgaria, Sept – Oct 2018
Total weight 28.9kg (2 carry-ons and 2 backpacks) |
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| Diana
4 pair of pants (2 jeans, 1 white, 1 capri) 2 skirts, 1 dress, 1 caftan 6 short sleeves t-shirts 3 under layers (can be used as t-shirts) 1 sleeveless turtle neck, 1 long sleeve t-shirt 3 long sleeve shirts (2 travel and 1 formal) 3 light sweaters: 1 cotton, 1 wool and 1 zip up fleece), can be layered 1 heavy 3-in-1 raincoat with detachable fleece 1 middle layer jacket with hood 1 raincoat (the light summer one) 2 vests (1 down and 1 light with pockets) 6 underwear, 4 bras 6 pair of socks + 1 nylons Scarf, 1 cap mainly for rain protection 2 pair of running shoes (1 Gore-Tex &1 light) 1 leader shoes (SAS), 1 pair of sandals Flip-flops, 1 pair of sleepers, 1 ballet flats 1 PJ, bathing suit, rain poncho |
Alex
3 pair of pants (2 convertibles, 1 formal) 4 shirts (3 long sleeves, 1 short sleeve) 4 T-shirts: 3 short sleeves + 1 long sleeve 2 light sweaters – wool light and wool heavy 1 middle layer jacket with hood 1 light rain jacket 1 Tilly heavy vest 6 underwear 5 pair of socks 1 PJ 2 pairs heavy running shoes 1 pair of sandals Flip-flops Rain poncho 2 hats – heavy Tilly + a cap Bathing suit
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| Toiletries & Technology and more
2 laptops, 1 cell phone 3 cameras: Alex’s big one, GoPro and my Sony point and click, Gorillapod tripod Chargers, spare camera batteries, filters, SD cards, USB Keys, electricity converters and plugs Big black purse packed in one of the carry-ons 2 notebooks and many pens 2 pair of earbuds 2 pairs of spare glasses 1 Small packable spare backpack + 1 small shopping bag Backpack rain cover and several plastic (garbage) bags of different sizes used as rain protectors Ziploc bags different sizes, sporks Heavy duty tape for fixing broken bags Carabiners~10, paperclips Min 10 pocket-sized packs of Kleenex 1 soap bar, 2 bottles of laundry liquid detergent, 1 small bottle shampoo 2 laundry lines, 2 flashlights Big cube with medications, plaster Razor, small scissors, sawing kit, matchbox, elastics 2 prescription cortisone creams, 2 face creams (one with sun protection), Polysporin Sun protection cream and after sun lotion 100 ml Body lotion, lip balm, 2 bottles of hand sanitizer, eye drops, foot cream 2 toothbrushes, 2 small tubes toothpaste, toothpicks and flosses Cotton (used as earplugs too), cotton swabs Shower caps Glasses wipes + multiple cloth glass cleaners Hair brush and combs 1 bottle of bug spray, 1 afterbite 2 small foldable towels + 1 mid size 2 tea-towels Printed documentation, tickets, passports, bank cards, cash, money belts, wallets, 1 book For the planes (easily accessible): 2 sets of one-time tooth brush and tooth paste Nasal spray – 2, 1 small bottle of body lotion Hand sanitizer wipes and napkins 1 neck pillow, blindfolds, glasses cleaners |
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Added on the way back:
1 pair of running shoes, 1 pair of blue jeans, 2 dresses, 4 bottles of alcohol, small gifts, a small backpack, 2 heavy rain ponchos
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