Lifehacker Australia

Hand Luggage Only: The Big Lessons Learned

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.