The two questions I’ve been asked most frequently since returning from France have been “What’s a barge cruise like?” and “How did you travel for that long with just a carry on?”
Last week I did a deep dive into the first question of life onboard a barge cruise. Now it’s time to tackle the second most asked question – “How did you travel for that long with just a carry on?”
Packing for a big trip is a big deal and I totally get that some of you would not consider keeping all of your luggage to just carry on bags. Whether you plan to check a bag, or not, each of these tips can come in handy, and with the stories of “mountains of luggage’ still dominating the headlines, it’s more important than ever to consider not checking that bag!
#1 – As the graphic above states, start with the shoes. If you lay out everything you want to take and then pick a different pair of shoes for each outfit, you’ll never fit it all in a carry on. For most trips I try to stick with two pair of shoes, I wear the bulkiest pair and pack a second pair. I make sure that each outfit goes with at least one pair of the shoes. For my two and a half weeks in France, I did pack two pair, but I wore them each multiple times.
#2 – I have a suitcase that I refer to as “magical”, it’s a bit like Mary Poppins handbag in that for it’s size it holds more than some larger bags. I’ve got the standard European sized carry on at 21″ and it is hard sided with no expansion. However one side is completely zippered and the other side has a compression system that makes all the difference. It also has a removable battery that is handy for charging devices on the go, is integrated into the bag so it doesn’t take up space, and it’s one less thing I need to pack.
#3 – I’ve tried it all, folding, packing cubes and rolling my items. I tend to use a mixture of all three methods. On the zipper side I pack shoes at the bottom, in shoe bags, then a packing cube with necessities and a dopp kit with non-liquid toiletries. Clothes go on the other side, I roll most of them and pack from the bottom to the top (wheels to handle). Lastly, any items that would wrinkle more easily are folded on top and all compressed. For this trip the compression side held two dresses, five pair of shorts. a pair of pants and seven tops.
#4 – I also take along a small backpack or shoulder bag. Ladies, leave your everyday purse at home, just pack a small crossbody bag or wristlet, if necessary. In that “personal item” bag I pack the following: my quart sized bag of liquid toiletries for easier access if necessary; a scarf or pashmina to double as a light blanket on the plane; market bags to use for purchases; a corkscrew (without the knife attachment); a set of utensils and reusable straws for each of us; sunglasses; charging cables, electric adapters; passport; wallet; reading material; usually an empty water bottle, this trip we took insulated coffee mugs; headphones for the plane – earbuds take up less space, but I prefer the noise canceling on the plane; eye mask; and extra face masks.
#5 – Don’t pack for the worst case scenario. Sure, we usually pack a small umbrella or rain jacket, we didn’t this time, we also didn’t need them, but could have easily bought an umbrella if we had. We could have also picked up other necessities if we forgot them. Each would put money back into the communities we visited. If you are planning to purchase items like this while you travel, just make sure you have the extra space to bring them home.
Bonus tip – if you try and just can’t get comfortable with packing only a carry on bag, you may consider investing in a service that will bypass the airlines, picking up your bag at your home and delivering it to your destination before you arrive. Another much less expensive option that has proven helpful on social media is to put a tracking device, such as an air tag inside your bag. Certainly it will alert you to the location of your bag, but won’t necessarily make it any easier to retrieve. They can also cause hours of unnecessary worry when they report your bag was “left behind” at the airport of origin when it was actually on the plane the whole time and had just lost connection. This happened to a travel colleague just yesterday on her overseas flight.