We’ll be leaving for vacation this weekend. Our least favorite part is returning home. There are no direct flights and it is an International flight, so we have to retrieve checked bags, go through customs/immigration, then recheck our checked bags. It’s always a horrid rush since there are always delays and lines.
This year we are going to go with only carry-ons. We each get a carry-on bag and a personal item. We both think we can do this and it would streamline our travel. Plus, it’s cheaper!
Anyone here ever done this for a one week trip? Any tips?
Yes I have. Will you be taking any short plane hops?
If so and if it’s important to you, on those short legs, any larger carry-ons will likely be required to be gate checked. Especially roll-aboards. If you don’t want your gear gate checked, carry your gear in a soft-sided shoulder bag that can fit at your feet or in the small overhead spaces on the puddle hoppers. Those bags are flexible and can be squeezed into smaller and oddly-shaped spaces.
No, but my gf looked over our luggage and suggested i use a back pack as my personal under-feet item and a smallish duffel that is airline legal size and stows easily.
Pretty sure we are flying Pittsburgh-Charlotte-Sint Maarten.
One word of warning - Don’t buy anything over 100ml from the overseas duty-free on your return-trip. Even though TSA states in their own rules that liquids over 100ml from duty free get a pass provided that they are in a sealed duty-free bag with receipt, chances are they will get confiscated anyways. I learned this the hard way last week.
Don’t go for the “travel size” toothpaste. Both Colgate and Crest sell <3 oz toothpaste in the regular toothpaste aisle, which lasts at least a few weeks.
I travel routinely (and internationally) with carry-on only. For >1 week, consider planning for laundering at least a couple of shirts (I find that shirts get stinky after a day, especially if you’re doing a lot of walking).
I routinely carry-on exclusively outbound, but inbound I pull the trick of packing a small, light, cheap duffel (think Walmart’s cheapest) and carrying on whatever I can’t do without when I get home in my regular under seat bag and the small duffel. My dirty clothes will eventually find me if something happens to upset the smooth bags/connections inbound.
For a one week trip, it’s a bit marginal. You probably can’t stuff enough clothes into a carryon to last for a week. You have to accept that you will need to do laundry while you are away. This can actually be fun and interesting: figuring out the local launderettes & interacting with the people there.
But you have to be somewhat flexible. If you or your SO is of the opinion that you ‘must’ have some particular type of clothes / shoes etc for every situation, it isn’t going to work.
As for things like soap and toothpaste etc… unless you are visiting somewhere quite remote, those will be available in the shops, and why not discover the local versions?
This. For a guy it’s easy. One long pants and 1 long sleeve shirt plus sox & undies for the two days of traveling at start & finish. Since you’ll be wearing those whenever you’re in motion, they don’t take up room in your suitcase; they’ll never go in it. If you have a heavy coat, leave it in your car when you get to the airport; don’t drag it on the trip.
For the non-travel days you’re there, it’s one undershorts, one outerwear shorts, and one set of sox for each 3 days on the road not counting travel days. One lightweight nylon polo or t-shirt per day. So an 8 day trip is 6 days there = 2 underwear, 2 shorts, 2 pairs sox, and 6 polo shirts. Add a compact windbreaker, your travel toiletries, and you’re done. Maybe a spare pair of shoes in case yours get wet.
If that many shirts won’t fit in your bag, bring as many older shirts as will fit and plan to by a couple of souvenir shirts there to replace the oldest crappiest ones you leave behind.
There is zero issue travelling like this for a week, or even longer.
In March I spent 11 days in Italy with my family of 4, including 2 teenage girls. Each of had a hardsided carry on of the maximum size allowed plus a small backpack as a personal item. We had an Airbnb for the last part of our trip with laundry, but we made it through the first 7 days with what we brought.
Over the holidays we were in the Dominican Republic with the same suitcases for the week. I actually overpacked and could have easily left a couple pairs of shorts and a couple of shirts at home with no issues.
I’m planing on 11 days in Iceland in July with the same suitcases.
The first time I went to St Martin with my gf (18 years ago, I think) I packed a pair of socks for each day. On my return trip I packed every pair minus the ones I wore home.
Well trained is more like it! My wife always packs one more pair of shoes than she really needs, but it’s her bag so no skin off my nose. She was a more traditional packer but she has gotten used to the joy of not waiting for bags. Our trip to the DR last week had us off the plane and in the car to the hotel in under 15 minutes.
I know it’s not your primary question, but just an observation that this varies enormously between locations. I’ve had horrible experiences arriving into Chicago internationally with checked bags, but since moving to the SW I usually fly internationally through DFW on American (it’s their hub), and they have things set up very efficiently. Although you do always have to pick up your bags and go through customs, your bags are pre-tagged to your final destination and from carousel pickup through customs (no line) to re-check dropoff point (no line) has never been more than a few minutes, as I recall the last time no more than 50 meters.
I have travelled for up to two weeks with purely carry-on a few times. It’s not hard. I now expect to never use checked baggage again.
Now, obviously I’m not attending series of gala dinners or doing anything requiring special clothing. I do wear my hiking shoes for the plane trip - they are the heaviest thing I take, but comfortable enough to wear for a long time.
Get one of these - a travel clothes line. It can be put up in just about any bathroom shower cubicle to dry clothes.
Then get the right clothes - eg - no cotton. Plenty of websites can give you the details. Socks, underwear, shirts are the main things. Wash every day - it takes about 10-15 minutes. Use the hotel hand soap (yes, it’s not perfect, but it works OK for a short holiday). Just wash in the hand basin (again, there are dozens of web-sites that weill detail techniques for hand-washing) - rinse and dry (scrunch up and wring out in the spare bathroom towels) and hang up overnight. If you don’t like using the hotel soap, splurge a couple of dollars and buy the smallest packet of washing powder/liquid you can find.
Every few days you will stay in a spot for a few nights and then you can either a) use the laundry at the hotel or b) find a local laundrette to do any serious washing
If you do run out of a particular clothing item (socks, undies, shirts), if you are in a city or town just buy a cheap item from the local Wal-Mart equivalent (Kaufland in Germany, ASDA/Primark in the UK etc) or the local street market.
Yes, it may cost a (minimal) few extra dollars along the way, and you have to spend 15-20 minutes every evening washing, but it’s much simpler than lugging suitcases around town, having to get taxis because you are just too far from the railway station to walk etc.
My wife takes a suitcase with her, and makes the same joke at the end of every trip - ‘I just put some clothes in the bottom half of the suitcase and took them on a nice holiday - they never came out of the bag!’.
If a wedding is part of the trip - just hire the outfit.
I travel for work a lot, including trips where I fly out Monday and return Friday. So if I can pack four days worth of clothes and toiletries, I can use only a carry-on bag (plus the personal item). One problem I have is that I am used to carrying a second pair of shoes, as I was taught not to wear the same pair two days in a row. So I’ve found it tough to squeeze that many clothes, a pair of shoes and toiletries in my 22" spinner bag.
What if you’re going somewhere cold and snowy? I could probably do carry-on only for most of my trips, except when visiting my family in Chicago for Christmas.
This reminds me that when I get back home, brushing my teeth with foreign-bought toothpaste is indeed a nice reminder of my trip. Also, on occasion my brother and I give each other toothpaste from different countries. It’s kind of fun!
The OP was leaving a cold snowy place to fly to the Caribbean. That bit was aimed at his specific scenario. As was my advice to bring only polos & short pants. I didn’t make that real clear. Sorry.
Now that I’m retired and traveling lots, my rule of thumb is there is never a reason to travel to a place where you think a sweater might be needed. Just wait 6 months until it’s warm there, then go.
I’m sitting beside a lake in Colombia (Guatapé) as I type sipping a local cervesa wearing my shorts and ankle sox for the 3rd day and a nylon polo on its first day. Practice what you preach.
Back when I had to travel to snow country I’d wear my heavy coat or use it as a seat cushion on the plane. Never pack it.
As far as I know, jackets do not count as carry on, so wear it on board. You can also stuff the pockets with socks, gloves, hats, or whatever. Of course, you then have the issue of where do you put it once you’re on the plane, particularly if under the seat is full of your personal item.
I don’t see any issue at all traveling for a week with a carry on sized rolling bag and backpack. To do it though, you have to skip bulky items like new trousers every day, a bathrobe, towels, extra shoes, and a special pillow.
I generally prefer to check my bag, because that is one less thing to worry about while wrangling a family, but a tight layover on an international arrival is exactly the case where I would want to avoid checking one.
