NB: I’m losing my job, so there’s no travelling for me. Just gathering information.
We’re watching some Rick Steves videos on PBS, and I’ve always wanted to pack lighter. Right now, I use a 22”x16”x9” Flight Gear bag from Sporty’s Pilot Shop. I could carry it aboard the aircraft, but I tend to pack it completely full. It’s heavy. I end up checking it.
There was a Western I watched once, where a character said he had three sets of clothes: ‘On on, one off, and one in the wash.’ Rick Steves uses a 21”x14”x9” backpack. I rarely do laundry on vacation, so I take enough for the trip. Not so great if you want to travel light. Anyway, let’s assume I’m going on a one-week European vacation. I would like to have:
2 pair of trousers; one khaki, and one blue or grey, and belt.
1 pair of jeans.
2 long-sleeve shirts.
A tie.
At least 2 T-shirts.
Underwear and socks.
Windbreaker.
Sport coat.
Toiletries & meds.
How do I get all of that into a carry-on backpack? How to pack to avoid wrinkles?
The coats are an issue, so it’s not clear you can do it. Nonetheless, I go up to a week with a standard backpack, not a fancy travel backpack. First, I wear a little extra (like, I’d wear one of those coats). Second, everything gets rolled REALLY tightly and fit Jenga-style into my backpack. I end up with something of a brick, but I can wear it around and throw it into the overhead.
When I traveled with nice shirts, I’d hang the in the bathroom and run the shower hot for five minutes, that usually took care of them.
Rolling works, but, logically, if you are interested in packing light, take a minimal amount of things (you do not really need multiple coats and three pairs of trousers…). And maybe be prepared to do some laundry.
If you decide to go the route of washing clothes in the hotel room sink, you may want to stick to ones made from artificial fibers that will dry quickly. I think blue jeans would be a bad idea.
My wife and I went to Germany for three weeks. All the travel was to be by train. So we bought special travel pants. You can wear them for a ~ week before needing to wash them. Also, I bought synthetic undies that I could just rinse out. Dry much quicker than cotton.
Make it easy on yourself. Even if you see the same person twice they will not remember what you where wearing.
We stayed clean no problem at all. We just had carry ons for the plane and a lot of train trips.
I only take a carry on when I travel.
Went to Ireland last year with just one extra pair of jeans. I wore my shirts three days in a row.
I buy the smallest toiletries possible.
I also pack or wear some things that I intend to toss anyways so it leaves some room in case I want to purchase something to take home.
Clothes that are still presentable but I was planning on getting rid of. Especially underwear and socks but sometimes shirts as well.
I’ve kinda stopped traveling light. I realized that i like having that other thing. Also, I started to get rashes if i don’t have clean clothes. My skin used to be better.
That being said, i wouldn’t bring more than two pairs of pants for a week. (I would pack a pair of shorts, two if I’ll be square dancing.)
What @enipla and @Dewey_Finn said about quick-drying synthetics being easier to wash and dry in the hotel-room sink, and also note that cities have self-service laundromats plus regular laundry services.
Yes, what’s hard to do is the first night you check in to a hotel, you do laundry (I just use the sink). Right away. Then go have fun. This gives it a chance to dry overnight.
If you are staying somewhere for two nights, it’s a little easier.
It’s pretty obvious: wear stuff repeatedly, minimize variety for variety’s sake, and bring stuff chosen for washability, not fashion. The better the weather and the less adventurous the trip, the less special equipment you’ll need.
The more you stay in one place, the easier it all gets. A week in e.g. Paris is a lot easier than a week ovenighting in 6 French cities.
Leave most toiletries at home; just bring the bare minimum of need-to-have, not nice-to-have tools. Easier for men, but the OP is one. Buy the local equivalent and discard anything you haven’t used up at the end of the trip.
On the spectrum from super casual to dressy, pick just one point and bring things only matching that level.
For super-light travel there should be nothing in your bag “just in case”. And everything in there should have been used repeatedly before you get home.
If all that is too hard, then either your (any “your”) mission is too complicated for super-light travel, or your attitude aptitude isn’t well matched to it.
Note I did not say “too long”. The whole point of super-light travel is that everything is used repeatedly. Once you can go 4 days, you can go 40 days with the exact same stuff in the exact same bag. Just replenishing your consumables as they run out.
I’ve done plenty of trips to Europe for a week plus and gotten everything in to a backpack. I have two backpacks that I will take, one is a camera pack that has a pocket for my camera and lenses. The other is a normal backpack that opens at the top. They both are right about the dimensions of a carryon.
I just came back from The Netherlands, where the temps only got to a high of 40F and packed a couple of extra overshirts to layer.
I normally pack:
socks and underwear for the number of days I will be gone.
number of shirts for days I will be gone, usually t-shirts, if I want a polo shirt I may wear it on the plane.
jeans, that I wear, and a pair of slacks. Those are usually the nicer ones from REI and not “real” slacks. I may also take a pair of convertible pants to shorts.
Jacket/windbreaker I will wear on the plane.
Toiletries, I only take toothbrush and paste. I also carry sunscreen and deodorant. Every hotel I’ve stayed at has had soap and shampoo.
This past trip I took an extra three long sleeved shirts because it was so cold. All of that fit in my backpack, along with room for my tablet and a book. Normally I will have some room to buy an extra shirt or two, and I like to bring back European cookies, but I didn’t have room left this time.
I don’t know why you’d need a tie, I’ve never been to a place in Europe that I thought I needed one, and I saw an opera in Paris last year. I don’t have a problem with wrinkles, a lot of the more modern stuff doesn’t, but I’m sure you could borrow an iron from the hotel.
I don’t normally do wash on vacation, but I have found that they make laundry detergent that looks like paper. You toss one in and it works well I have found. The only problem I have found with them is you have to keep them dry or they stick together.
In short I think you can pack all you need in a carryon backpack and still have room left over for some things to bring back. Also if you have and socks or underwear that still work but you don’t care about, you can take them and toss them after you wear them. I do this with socks that have small holes in them.
Along with my backpack, I have a decent sized soft sholder bag that squishes easily under the seat in front of me, but I’ll use it for a few extra clothing items, and maybe some bulky pieces, or even extra shoes if I need them. On my last trip that shoulder bag held all my electronics, books, toiletries, and other assorted things, as well as a sport coat, shirt, tie, and maybe a few other articles of clothing.
I’ll think about layers. Thin cotton undershirts/tshirts pack very small, and are easy to wash and dry (I know that you’d prefer not to). Larger shirts are harder to manage to clean, and are bulkier to pack. I’ll bring 2-3 shirts I want to wear as outer layers, and then have t-shirts for an under layer. Depending on climate and activity, I can get many days out of an outer-layer shirt.
Pick socks and items that are less bulky, when possible.
No matter how tightly you roll things, they’ll expand if there’s room in the bag. It’s good to have a travel bag that cinches down, has internal straps that cinch down around the contents, and/or packing cubes that will help prevent those rolled up items from expanding.
But I think if you roll things tightly, squish it compactly in the bag, your list should easily fit in a carry-on (and certainly a carry-on plus under-the-seat bag).
Two pair of pants are good for a week, and you wear one of them on the flight.
I never travel with a sports coat, but if I did I’d wear it on the plane.
The rest of that stuff would easily fit in a carry-on backpack or roll-aboard. Hanging things in the bathroom when taking a shower helps steam the clothes. I also pack electronics and charging cords. You don’t mention footwear which is often the hardest thing to pack. I typically wear one pair of running shoes for the majority of the trip (and the flight) and one pair of nicer shoes packed.
