Comments on: Hand Luggage Only: The Big Lessons Learned

By: DannH

DannH — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 02:54:41 +0000

Great article Angus. I just discovered this site have learned a lot from your articles.

There are two web sites that are full of information and tips about traveling with 1 bag: http://www.onebag.com/ which is run by a gentlemen named Doug Dyment who is the guru of one bag travel. The second is a site at: http://www.1bag1world.com/ which as a lot of good ideas also. I have used what I learned on these sites to take multi-week, multi-country trips with 1 carry-on bag. The main thing is pretty much everything carried must have special characteristics that make it workable, for example dress shirts all must be wrinkle resistant and fast drying.

By: Philip

Philip — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 03:06:44 +0000

I agree with you 100%! My girlfriend and I spent 9 weeks travelling around Europe with only carry on bags and we never regretted it. We used bags from Rick Steves that can expand/contract to reduce the size.

Further to your points, I would add that you can always mail stuff home if you are going to be changing climates mid journey.

We limited ourselves to 5 shirts, 2 pairs of paints, 5 pairs of underwear and 1 pair of shoes. We would go to the laundromat maybe once a week or wash at the hotel. We are converts and it is the only way we travel now.

By: AussieRodney

AussieRodney — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:51:27 +0000

And as for the overseas power requirements, the power board becomes even more critical. A single international adaptor to connect the Aussie power board to the power supply means you don’t have to stuff around with any other adaptors than the ones you take from home.

By: Robin Lee

Robin Lee — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 04:50:19 +0000

A good article Angus. I appreciate the effort. Last year our group of 8 (6 kids) went to Africa, Europe & Asia for 7 weeks. We had 22 flights and never had to wait for more than a couple of minutes (truly) for our bags… which was just enough time to go to the bathroom. I really don’t get this obsession with “carry-on only”. Perhaps my life’s time schedule isn’t as gruelling as others’ (though I doubt it)? I enjoy the time to breathe. Keep the stories coming though…

By: Jimmy

Jimmy — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 23:16:58 +0000

Or even better, take electronic versions of the guidebooks. Lonely Planet at least (haven’t yet checked the others) now sells their guides as plain PDFs and you can even pick and choose which chapters you want to buy. Still not quite as convenient to use as paper copies, but a lot easier to carry.

By: Mike Williams

Mike Williams — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 04:33:38 +0000

If you have multi-country guide-books, rip out the sections you don’t need before the trip, and rip out the places you visited during the trip.

Take old underwear and socks with you and throw them out before you return.

By: Richard Kelly

Richard Kelly — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 07:09:12 +0000

I’ve been following your challenge and I think its interesting the differences compared to my experience. Each year I travel a few months overseas using just hand luggage, and these are some of my tips:

- Learn to throw stuff out. Sometimes its better just to throw stuff out and replace it later than to carry it around. Especially books and maps.

- Don’t pack jeans – they weigh a ton when wet, take ages to dry and aren’t particularly warm in cold climates. same goes for any clothes that take a long time to dry.

- Layering and quality thermals are a much better idea than packing heavy winter gear.

- Use a smaller carry-on bag. Just because its allowed onboard doesn’t mean its a good idea. You’ll find your collection of gear will grow to fit however big your bag is, especially if your collecting souvenirs/etc.

Last time i departed with 4.5kg of stuff and three months later i arrived back with 7.5kg somehow even though i only collected keyrings.

By: Powered by Tofu

Actually, my backpack is a carry-on or “hand luggage”. I’ve only checked it a few times when I had purchased gifts to send home. It’s all about the Ziploc bags for compression! :)

By: Angus Kidman

Angus Kidman — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 00:08:54 +0000

You’d never get all that into a standard piece of hand luggage (let alone with the PC) though — which the point of this particular challenge.

By: Powered by Tofu

I traveled around the world for 1 year with a 32L backpack, from snow to beaches, and Muslim countries to European destinations. I had enough clothes to usually last me about a week and a half. I did laundry in machines at hostels, sinks and in cheaper countries (Cambodia) at a laundry service. Here’s my How to Pack for a 1 Year, Round the World Trip list: http://www.poweredbytofu.com/2009/05/05/how-to-pack-for-a-1-year-round-the-world-trip/

If you pack right, you don’t need to do laundry as often!