Pack for a Week in One Carry On
Nothing sours a trip more than too much luggage. This often involves: paying extra to check the bags, long waits at baggage claims and paying porters and others to carry your luggage or struggling with it yourself. There's really no advantage to over packing and several for packing light. If you learn how to pack for a week in one carry-on, you'll save time and money, have greater mobility and open up public transportation options at your destination. Travel light when you pack for a trip.
Steps
- Check on the allowable size of carry-on bags with the airlines that you'll be flying with.
- In most cases, a 9 x 22 x 14-inch (22.86 x 55.88 x 35.56 cm) bag should work.
- Choose between a carry-on convertible bag, a carry-on rolling bag or an internal-frame backpack. Each has its advantages and disadvantages, so it depends on what you're most comfortable with.
- Decide what to pack for a trip by laying out everything you think you might need on the floor.
- Consider each item carefully and, unless you know for a fact that you'll use it, leave it at home.
- Remember you can always buy something while traveling if you need it.
- Pack for a trip with mix-and-match clothing. The blouse you wore with yesterday's slacks gets a new look with today's skirt and scarf.
- Remember you can always wash clothes in hotel room sinks and hang them to dry.
- Pack lightly with clothes you can layer for warmth if you're traveling in winter or to a cold climate.
- Roll or bundle clothing instead of folding when you pack one bag.
- Backpackers often use packing cubes to compact clothing.
- Another alternative is to zip up clothing in plastic bags.
- Rolling, bundling or packing cubes result in fewer wrinkles than traditional folding and cramming into a suitcase.
- Limit yourself to two pairs of shoes. One of them should be on your feet when you travel.
- A comfortable walking shoe and a dressy shoe will take care of all situations.
- Remember, there's room inside the shoes. Pack socks, underwear and other small items in shoes for packing light.
- Include travel-size bottles of toiletries.
- Pack for a trip with zip-lock plastic bags that keep toiletries from leaking on the way to your destination. These can be used for dirty clothes on the return trip.
- Remember, you can shop for items like toothpaste on the road.
- Allow some room in your carry-on bag for souvenirs.
- Select only one or two electronic items you can't live without. For example, many cell phones have music players, alarm clock functions and Internet access.
- Small digital cameras can help you record memories from a pleasure trip.
- Bring chargers and any voltage converter and/or plug adapters you might need.
- Bring your travel information in as few pieces of paper as possible.
- Instead, store information in cell phones, iPods or other electronic devices.
- You can also store information on a flash drive or a secure web-based email account.
Warnings
- No sharp items or large quantities of liquids are allowed in carry-on bags for flying. That also means no Swiss Army knives.
- The locals in Europe rarely wear shorts unless they're near the coast or it is warm. Additionally, some historical churches in southern Europe have dress codes that don't allow shorts or bare shoulders.
