How much “stuff” do you really need to travel? Surprisingly, not much is needed to have a great trip. Traveling light has a lot of stress reducing qualities too. When flying, there is no luggage check, no waiting at the baggage carousel, and no dragging bags everywhere.
Read to the end and I will share one more secret of my kit when I travel
I cannot cover the whole “one-bag travel” in one blog post. So I hope you will continue following along for my tips.
I like to just travel with my backpack. The flow is just so much faster at the airport. There is a catch though, this will take a learning curve. The more you do it the better you get. You will learn what YOU truly need and what is just chaff. Everyone has different ideas of what they need. Some people might have an e-reader while other people like paperbacks. Some people may want a DSLR while others will just use their phone for photos. The way you pack is up to you.
There are two ways to plan your packing; buy a bag and make things fit or figure out what you need and find a bag it will fit in. I recommend the first. Get the bag that meets the maximum airline carry on requirements and you are constrained to that size. A 40 liter bag is going to be at that limit normally. That size easily fits in overhead bins, and if pushed to, normally fits under a seat. Does a 32 liter better fit your needs? Then by all means, go for it. This is your packing style after all.
Step 1 is to think about all the stuff you “want” to take and then decide what you “need” to take. I made lists when I was starting. Then I would keep track of what I used and what I didn’t. I soon had my things whittled down to the essentials and a few “for fun” items.
Two books I highly recommend to get your brain juices flowing on the subject I have linked below.
Now I said I had a tip here at the end. That tip is wear a travel vest. This is a handy thing to put all your stuff in so you don’t have to dig through the bag in tight enclosures to get a charger or earbuds. SCOTTeVEST is my favorite one because it has a lot of pockets and doesn’t stand out.
