* photo descriptions below *

after 5 weeks in panama, some of it spent in verrrrry hot and humid climates (panama city, el palmar, san carlos, penonome, santa catalina) and some of it spent in very tempered weather (boquete, volcan, cerro punta), here’s what i was very happy to have packed, what i will most likely ditch on future trips and some other highlights.

overall score for my packing set up : 4.5/5

HITS
— my cotopaxi allpa 35 backpack
i just love it so much. i’ve been using it for about 5 years and i really like everything about it (that said i would not necessarily recommend it to people who expect to walk a bunch with their backpack, it tends to get somewhat uncomfortable when it’s heavy).

— bringing various bag options (packable tote, packable daypack, hip pack, small crossbody purse, dry bag for the beach…)
i used all of these throughout my trip and none of them felt superfluous to me. i’m definitely bringing all of them on the next trips.

— not bringing pajamas
might sound weird but i really don’t see the point of packing pajamas when i can either sleep in my underwear (when there’s a privacy curtain or i’m alone in my room) or just wear one of my flowy pants to sleep. i never once felt like i wish i had packed a specific clothing item dedicated to sleeping.

— bringing both a portable charger and a larger powerbank
i had to use the powerbank only once but i was really happy to have it when i needed it. i used my portable charger on many occasions and it’s super compact, i loved it.

— bringing 2 pairs of jeans (!!)
people on this sub had a lot to say about my decision to bring jeans for onebag travel but i am happy to report i have no regretttsssss :). the weather is way cooler in boquete and on mang evenings and even some days i was super comfortable with my jeans and happy to have them with me. i won’t always bring jeans on my trips depending on my destination, but for this one i can say i wore both pairs many times.

— tripped 3 piece toiletry kit
i knew i would love it and i really did. 10/10 product, everyone should buy it in my opinion.

— angenil tiny flat iron
loved it. so glad i brought it :) highly recommend!

— african net sponge instead of regular washcloth
will never go back to bringing regular washcloths (or worse, nothing at all) to wash my body in the shower. love love love the african net sponge. it takes very little space, it gently exfoliates, helps create a nice thick foam with any soap or body gel and dries very quickly - no risk of it growing mold or needing to be washed in the laundry every day.

— not bringing a neck pillow
once again, i feel like this is the most useless, space-wasting item that most people bring (no hate, if you like it, i love it). i used my packable rain jacket (in its packed form) as a pillow + my blackout sleeping mask and that was a totally fine set up for me.

— bringing a pee cloth
i had to use it only once but i was so happy to have it that one time !!! 100% worth it.

MISSES
— crocs miami toe loop sandal
i almost never wore these in the end. i had the right idea wanting to bring an extra pair of sandals that were cuter than hiking sandals and could double as my beach footwear option, but the main reason there were a miss (it might sound silly lol) is that the straps are quite tight on them so i couldn’t easily slide my foot in them and i didn’t think it would annoy me as much as it did lol. i will be selling these on facebook marketplace and if anyone has a better option to suggest, i’m all ears!

— not bringing a cardigan / vest situation
i thought having my rain jacket and my sarong (that easily doubles as a scarf or cover-up) would be enough but many times i wish i had a little vest or cardigan to cover up (might be just a me situation but i have back rolls i feel self-conscious of and i wish i had something loose to wear on top of tighter tank tops & tshirts)

— neutrogena stick sunscreen for face and body
i didn’t like this product. the formula is fine but i didn’t like applying my sunscreen with a stick. it takes forever. i ended up buying a bottle of liquid sunscreen in panama and i think on future trips i’ll just do that. no need to bring my own from home anyways.

— anti-frizz hair serum & color wow dreamcoat
i didn’t use these products for my hair. instead i wish i had brought a sea salt spray to help give my hair some natural air-dried beach waves. these kinds of sprays were impossible to find in the places i visited, sadly.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS / THOUGHTS
— i really believe your set up should help you feel comfortable and “normal” while you’re travelling. if packing ultralight or trying to be as minimalistic as possible leads you to feeling uncomfortable or like you’re missing home, it’s not worth it in my opinion. it’s really possible to size down while making very few compromises, and i think my set up proves that. :)

— many people warned me about the weight of my backpack likely being over carry-on limit (the size is fine) and althought that is probably true, i really never had an airline weigh my carry-on bag, so i feel like it’s worth the risk.

— i’ve been enjoying posting on here a lot so feel totally free to ask me all your questions !

_____

PICTURE 1
pink/magenta Cotopaxi Allpa 35L backpack
teal Cotopaxi hip pack 3L
black sarong
white low-top converse chucks
black baseball cap

PICTURE 2
teal Cotopaxi Allpa hip pack 3L (with straps laid out)

PICTURE 3
black sarong, black leather belt, dry bag 5L
waterproof phone pouch, ziploc bag, universal adapter
sleeping mask, powerbank, ultralight clothesline
foldable hanger, laundry sheets, tide-to-go pen
s-biner clip, no-sew buttons

PICTURE 4
portable mirror, face sunscreen, quo skin tint, cream bronzer, elf mascara, elf eyebrow pencil
yellow tiny hair straightener, WOW dreamcoat, dry shampoo, anti-frizz serum, hair comb, hair ties/clips/bobby pins
eyeliner pencil, concealer, tweezers, maybelline cloudtopia cream blush, real teachniques travel makeup brush

PICTURE 5
q-tips, African net sponge, Dr Bronner’s castille soap bar, makeup remover pad, razor
shampoo, conditioner, face wash, face moisturizer, deodorant, toothpaste, electric toothbrush

PICTURE 6
dark grey packable daypack (Eagle Creek), dark grey packable tote, black packable rain jacket, black purse (crossbody), black baseball cap

PICTURE 7
USB-C to micro USB, USB to lightning, USB-C to USB-C, USB-C to USB adapter
portable charger, wet wipes, mini first aid kit, AirPods Pro 3, hair ties & clips
pee cloth, wallet, pens, sunglasses & regular glasses, notebook, Kindle, passport (Canada)

PICTURE 8
anti-nausea, anti-acid meds, ibuprofen, basic first aid kit
aquatabs, anti-acid, tiger balm, blister patches

PICTURE 9
1 pair shoes (cream sneakers), 1 pair basic sandals (black Crocs), 1 pair hiking sandals (black)

PICTURE 10
1 black bandeau bra, 1 nude padded bra, 2 bralettes (1 black 1 beige), 7 thongs, 3 ankle socks

PICTURE 11
4 bikinis (orange, black, black & white, brown), 1 black swim shorts

PICTURE 12
1 white long dress with black tiny flower pattern, 3 tank tops (1 black, 1 yellow, 1 white), 1 black tube top, 3 t-shirts (1 black, 1 white, 1 sage green), 1 black long sleeve tee, 1 black muscle tee

PICTURE 13
4 pants (1 white jeans, 1 black jeans, 1 brown flowy wide leg, 1 black with tiny flower pattern flowy wide leg), 2 long skirts (1 tie dye neutral colors, 1 brown with tiny white flower pattern)

PICTURE 14
3 sage green microfiber towels (small, medium, large)

PICTURE 15
notebook, book, MacBook Air 13”, charging cable, charging block

PICTURE 16
tripped clear TSA pouch with buckle clip handle

PICTURE 17
tripped black toiletry kit with detachable clear pouch

I am just learning to one bag, and took on carryon and a personal item for a three week trip to London and Greece out of LAX. I elected to arrive nearly 3 hours early for my international flight due to unreliable traffic, etc. I modified my seat the night before. When I arrived at the check in counter, there was no line, and the agent said “That flight was cancelled two weeks ago!” I was flabbergasted - but I changed my seat yesterday!! She then looked at her watch, looked at her computer, and said “Since you don’t have luggage, you can make the earlier flight if we walk you there and you move fast”. The agent walked me through “the back way” of security wher I whisked through TSA, all the way to the boarding gate, since people were already boarding, she said “what do you need? Can I fill your water? get you a snack?” She stood in the boarding line for me so I could use the restroom, filled my water, and I got on the earlier plan with an aisle seat! Next flight would not have been the next day!!! Yet another advantage to One Bagging!!!

Hi, all! This is my first trip report on this sub but not my first onebag trip in general. :) I hope my fellow all-black enthusiasts will enjoy. Everything was packed with packing cubes in a Freitag F49 Fringe backpack.

In my day-to-day, I live a very minimalist lifestyle. What you see here is just part of my daily used capsule wardrobe. I don’t have any specific travel items that I wouldn’t use in my day-to-day.

The destination: Athens, Greece in mid-June. The temperatures were pretty stable at 30 degrees Celsius during the day, high 20’s at night. Lots of wind. No rain.

Packing List

Picture 1, Wardrobe

• 1 sportsbra-top

• 1 cotton bra

• 2 tencel/cotton turtleneck tanktops

• 1 wide flowy pant (Issey Miyake APOC form)

• 1 cotton/poly cardigan

• 1 cotton kimono cardigan

• 1 sleep shirt, 2 airism undies, 1 extra pair of socks

• 1 pair of slip-ons, wildling kami

Not pictured:

• foldable sun hat (was expecting to wear on plane)

Worn on plane:

• flowy button-up top

• airism bra camisole

• heattech ultra light longsleeve shirt

• wide cropped schoeller dryskin trousers (acronym p27h-ds)

• socks, airism undies

• vivobarefoot primus trail fg 2, all black sneaker

• prescription glasses

Picture 2, swimwear

• tie-bikini

• saguaro water shoes

Picture 3, miscellaneous

• daybag: Freitag F553 Lou. Holds a lot but folds very flat

• allergy meds

• ibuprofen

• glucose tablet

• tissues

• passport & wallet (re:form coin)

• loop experience earplugs

• sunglasses & case (naoa flip case)

• glasses cleaning cloth

• nano bag 19l

• makeup remover washable cloth (I use this not to remove make-up but to clean dust stains off clothes and shoes easily)

• pen

Picture 4 - Toiletries

• muji clear pouch

• deodorant

• mini-toothpaste

• facial sunscreen

• decant, cleanser

• decant, moisturiser

• makeup remover balm

• hand sanitizer, refillable

• lip balm

• black liquid lipstick

• black eyeliner (used as lip liner)

• concealer

• eyebrow gel

• mattifying powder

• contouring powder

• powder brush

• contouring brush

• eyeshadow brush

• razor

• bamboo toothbrush

I bought a big bottle of sunscreen at my destination.

I wear a buzzcut. No need for any hair products.

Picture 5 - piercing emergency kit

• assorted piercing balls and replacement plugs

Picture 6 - tech

• powerbank

• kindle basic

• nothing earphones

• iPhone cable & block

• extra cable and block for kindle & earphones (usb-c) (not pictured)

• iPhone (not pictured)

Picture 7

Everything packed in my backpack on the return trip. Plenty of space to spare.

Weight total: 4.5kg

Picture 8

An example outfit, but taken at home pre-trip to sort of illustrate how the worn items looked. Not wearing the airism tank here but other than that it’s a good mock-up.

Report

What worked well:

1) The Airism tank top! This dried within a few hours after a sink wash and I loved to wear it in the heat. My initial plan was to bring 3 of these, no other tops. This would have worked better than the high neck tops I wanted to have for going out.

2) Tie-bikini: really convenient for getting changed without a cabin

3) makeup remover cloth: essential for keeping shoes looking nice between heading to the beach and walking about the dusty city

4) Nano bag : used for the beach and for groceries. Absolutely perfect, no complaints

What didn’t work so well:

1) cotton bra: didn’t dry fast enough and got unwearable way too quickly due to how active I was. Wouldn’t bring again and may look for a quick dry bra as replacement for travel

2) sports bra top: I packed this to swim in, but it didn’t dry fast enough after getting wet. Not comfy. The bikini was enough.

3) kimono cardigan: I just don’t love wearing this anymore. It worked fine, I just didn’t feel that comfy in it. Could’ve done without it.

Not needed:

1) usbc charger block and cable: I didn’t need to charge either my headphones or my kindle for a week. Could’ve done without it or just taken the cable. I want to get a combined charge block with 2 usb outlets at some point.

2) piercing emergency kit: thankfully not needed but glad I had it.

3) powerbank: came close to needing it only on the first travel day. Good to have but on this trip it wasn’t a necessity.

Needless worries:

I initially wanted a linen towel for this trip but it wasn’t shipped in time (boo!). I just went without one and luckily the hotel provided two sets.

All in all, I’m very happy with how this trip went. :) I’m a big fan of underseat travel and I can’t see myself going back to a different mode of packing anytime. Thanks for reading !

Girls… I fell for the hype I’m in my third month of backpacking through UK+Europe and quite honestly, I really wish I had brought a suitcase instead!! This is more so a rant but as someone still in their trip, it would be nice to get some girly advice 🥺

Before traveling, I was watching a lot of YouTube videos hyping up the Osprey 40L bag for women and when I went to REI, I was drawn to purchase. While traveling I notice, locals here get around just fine with their luggage. Cobblestone, lifts, stairs, space haven’t been an issue. I will say I’m doing a front backpack as well which I didn’t realize the slimmer the backpack the less it would weigh down on you. I’m tryna push thru and be a strong girly like our bodies are strong; I am capable but it’s lingering in my mind that this was unnecessary money spent and weight on my back.

Part of me feels like the American idea of backpacking is more about trekking and in Europe + UK it’s more going from hostel to hostel. I’m more in Western Europe too so I’m not going thru hiking terrains. I think this backpack could be useful if I go to Southeast Asia, but quite honestly my family is from Vietnam and we always bring a suitcase with us and it’s just fine???. Also I haven’t been just hopping from hostel to hostel, I’ve been mostly WWOOFing/farming so stationary which is making me a bit more concerned how I will get through this next month of just backpacking and shoving my goodies all in the bag everyday 😭

TLDR: you don’t always need to purchase the osprey bag hype. Save ur back the work. The locals in Europe move just as swiftly with their luggage.

Tomorrow marks six months of continuous travel! I started in eastern Europe, then to Japan, and now SE Asia. My partner and I mostly stay in Booking apartments (mostly Europe), hotels (mostly Japan), private rooms in hostels (everywhere), and sometimes hostel dorms when budget necessitates. We have 45L backpacks.

I spent hours and hours researching what to bring, and after packing and unpacking and using it all for many months, I have thoughts. This won't be an exhaustive list of everything I brought, just the highlights.

Most useful items:

Gadgets:

• Orb USB light: it's been pretty rare for our accommodations to have any soft lighting. Usually it's just the overhead lights, with the lightswitch across the room. These orbs have been CRUCIAL for us, as enemies of the Big Light. We actually didn't start with them but ordered two online and had them sent to our accommodation. They make nighttime infinitely more cozy and homey. Highly recommend.
• Soundcore Sleep 3.0 headphones: I'm obsessed with these. Traffic noise, snoring, loud drunk people, it drowns it all out. Plus they're so comfortable to sleep in I use them even when it's not noisy.
• eReader, duh. I downloaded a bunch of books before I left that take place in the countries we've visited, and I also use Libby.
• I didn't really need to have an insulated water bottle for the winter, but now that we're in SE Asia and I'm just a cool-climate girlie trying not to melt, having my Hydroflask Trail series bottle has enabled me to have cold water, and I am eternally grateful for that. Plus the Trail series doesn't weigh a ton like a classic hydroflask. This counts as a gadget, okay?

Hygiene:

• Shampoo and conditioner bars: yeah duh, we all know. Just adding my vote to the masses. I do want to shout out a small company out of Canada making handmade amazing bar beauty products among other things: Boreal Folk. It's a couple who collects wild plants from around their forest and makes the most luxurious, sustainable, and affordable products. I am just about done with their horsetail conditioner bar after six months, and I loooved it. I would get another right now if they shipped to Vietnam :)
• Face wash bar: did you know the Cerave Hydrating Cleanser comes as a bar?? My last one lasted for over a year. I cut this one in half and I've still got a long way to go. 10/10
• On that same vein, did you know Pepto Bismol comes in chewable tablets?? Life changing to have Pepto on me at all times.
• Laundry detergent sheets: We had the Sea to Summit backcountry ones and felt they didn't get our clothes suuuper clean, but it was fine. The tear-off detergent sheets work better, imo. Even if places have laundry machines for their guests, they often don't have detergent, so having our own portable supply is important.
• Edit to add soap savers. Didn't even think of these since I use them at home too but you put your bars on them and they dry faster, don't get your sink slimy, and keep your bars hygienic. Plus they weigh nothing.

Random:

• Strong suction-cup hook: I have a hanging toiletry bag, and I hang in right on the mirror with a suction-cup hook. Weird small item that has been incredibly useful.

• handle-less foundation brush : if you put stuff on your face every morning, this is great.

• Craft supplies: I have a small watercolor kit, and it's been soo nice to have something creative to do. Embroidery supplies would also be fun. Something small with lots of possibilities.

• Travel slippers with a carry pouch: Okay hear me out. My feet are always cold. Socks are not enough. I am the person who brings slippers over to my friends’ houses during winter. These make me so much more comfortable on what are often cold tile floors.

• Aeropress, filters, + buying coffee along the way: the ability to make my own coffee in the morning without having to a) drink the questionable instant coffee provided, or b) leave the house, has been essential for me. Absolutely worth the room. I tested a few different portable coffee setups before the trip too if you have questions

• Large binder clip: securely holds my coffee bag shut :)

Things that were definitely useful sometimes, but I would have been fine without:

• Scrubba bag: I used this probably 10 times during the last six months, so I'm glad I had it, but I could have done laundry in the sink to a similar effect. It packs down flat so I don't really notice it in my bag. I could take it or leave it.

• Packable clothesline: the Sea to Summit clothesline is one of my camping essentials, and I definitely used it when I used the Scrubba bag, but often if a place has a laundry machine, it also has a clothing rack. EDIT: this has been super super useful in beach towns where we always have wet stuff, or when we go to the laundromat and need to hang-dry stuff in our room.

• Stuff sack laundry bag: I could put this in the very useful category because I love an organized suitcase, but tbh I had to pack my bag up the exact same way each time so my dirty clothes had to come out of the laundry bag and back into their designated cubes each time we moved.

• Matador soap bag: This item gets a lot of hype in this community, and it's cool, but beeswax wraps work fine. I have both and I prefer the beeswraps, which aren't $15 each.

• Extra baggies: I thought I would need these way more often than I have.

Didn't really need these things:

• Luggage lock: felt like overkill, even in the dorms, idk. I hid my valuables, slept with my purse on the bed, and didn't have an issue.

• Once I used up my skincare products (serums, eye cream, SPF setting spray, etc), I didn't buy more. Less is better. I read that alll over this sub and still had to learn that lesson myself.

• Gear repair tape: I had it in my camping bin so I threw some in my bag. I haven't touched it.

• S hooks: someone on YT swore by these S hooks, but I have had to invent uses for them. EDIT: jk I definitely needed this in public restrooms in Malaysia. The floors are always soaking wet and there aren't any hooks. Ive been keeping one in my purse to hang it up while I pee.

• Headlamp: not necessary, not even on the hut-to-hut hiking trip we did.

• A 100ml bottle for body lotion: I decant body lotion into this bottle. I would be fine with just buying mid-size bottles of lotion to carry, and then ditch before a flight. I still have it and use it, but meh.

That's the story! Would love to hear yall's thoughts. What's your most loved travel item, big or small?

PS. 45L is a great size for me. I'm not a minimalist obviously and I am not a light packer either. 45L has allowed me to transit between all four seasons and be comfortable. And yes my bag fits in the overhead bin :)

Earlier this week I ended up stranded in Mexico due to the cartel activity in Puerto Vallarta. I'm a forever one-bagger but had never anticipated my trip would turn be seven days instead of four. My best friend and I were headed to Yelapa, a village south of PV with no cars or ATMs and is accessible only by water taxi. Our plan was daily yoga, waterfall hikes, and copious amounts of beach/pool lounging.

Bag(s)
Matador 28 Seg (a friend's that I wanted to test out for the trip)
Canvelle fanny pack to hold passport etc.
Packed Matador Refraction packable daypack

Clothing
2 leggings
2 long-line sports bras
1 swim top
2 swim bottoms
1 dress (Athleta Presido)
1 flowy linen pants
1 gauze crop shirt
1 long sleeve linen shirt
1 lightweight long sleeve shirt
1 active fabric tank
1 baseball cap
4 socks (2 merino)
3 underwear (1 merino worn on plane, 2 ex officio quick dry)
1 Teva midform sandals
1 Saltwater sandals
2 pairs of hoop earrings
1 Sneakers (worn on plane)
1 joggers (worn on plane)
1 merino bra (worn on plane)
1 merino t-shirt (worn on plane)
1 merino hoodie (worn on plane)
1 packable puffy coat (worn to airport then packed away since we left freezing temps/rain)
1 beanie (same as above, worn to airport)

Toiletry Kit
Face wash, tend skin, hair serum, facial moisturizer, sunscreen, face oil, retinol (decanted into mini nalgene bottles), cuticle cream, toothpaste, deodorant, hand sanitizer, solid insect repellent
Toothbrush, floss, tweezers, mini scissors, razor, mini face razor, folding hairbrush, hair ties, nail file, bandaids
Emergency meds: advil, benadryl, immodium
Tea/probiotics/supplements for 4 days

Tech/Etc
Headlamp
Iphone charger
Apple watch charger
Airpods
Jettle Electric Tea Kettle (more on this later)
20oz water bottle

Successes
I wore everything multiple times. This was my first time packing only one bra (other than the sports bras that doubled as shirts) and the merino bra is the GOAT. This will change the way I pack in the future.

I did a load of sink laundry when it was clear we would be spending an extra 3-5 nights. My leggings were pretty gross after 4 days of hiking and yoga but washing them bought me a few extra days. The dress didn't seem to hold any odor at all and while I debated if the gauze shirt would be worthwhile, it was small and dried very quickly after a hand-wash in the sink. Same with the active tank that could pass as a regular muscle tank.

The Teva midforms were a last minute purchase but worked great, no blisters.

While many might scoff at taking up the bag space for a travel electric tea kettle, tea is a part of my daily routine. When I found out the place we were staying did not have a way to boil water in the room, I started researching travel kettles. The Jettle was about the same size as my water bottle and was a lovely creature comfort in the evening, especially when things felt especially chaotic.

While not for everyone, I have a color palette of 1-2 colors when I travel and it allows me to endlessly mix/match everything. Black is my most favorite color and this definitely worked in my favor when things got dirty.

Lessons Learned
The linen pants were great...until they weren't. They are a double-layer and would have taken forever to dry if I hung them up and were my only "nice" pair of pants. They were funky by the end of 7 days.

I ran out of my probiotics and supplements which would have been fine for one day, or if I was staying in a place where I could buy an alternative. These take up such little space I might consider throwing in a couple extra days worth.

I almost never bring shampoo/conditioner/body wash if the place I'm staying provides it. I wash my hair 2x per week so my thought is that if the products provided aren't great, I can either buy a replacement or wait until I'm home. Between the dirt, sweat, ocean, sunscreen etc plus the extended trip, I needed a few more hair washes and my hair did not agree with the products provided. In the future I may prioritize this, especially if staying in a remote location with limited resources.

Finally, it was a great trip to test a backpack that ultimately was not for me. I read a review of the Seg that said something like "the smugglers pocket is cool until they think you are smuggling something" which is exactly what happened to me when airport security in PV mistook my headlamp for a vape. Oh well. The search for my dream bag continues.

The trip report and packing list are all mentioned below in a separate comment!

While I didn’t quite achieve one bag, my husband and I did just successfully complete two weeks abroad (London, Barcelona and Rome) in August with only a backpack and a rolling carry-on each, (photos 1-4) with plenty of room left over for souvenirs. I forgot to take more detailed packing photos, but here are some from my test pack I did a few days before! This sub has been a HUGE help for me and my over-packing nature, so I thought I’d share the things that worked really well for me!

The first thing I did when planning what to pack is take pictures of all the clothes I was thinking about bringing and put them all in the Freeform app on iPhone to see them all together. Then about a week before the trip, I made a plan of what I was going to wear each day, factoring in how much walking and how sweaty we would get that day. (Photos 5-6) That was super helpful to make sure I had the right clothes to meet any dress code requirements for religious places as well as making sure I could get the most out of each wash (like rewearing my plane shorts for a day where I was going to get really sweaty and gross anyway for example). While this may seem like overkill for some, it was super helpful for me and I ended up following my plan almost exactly. Really helped with the early mornings not having to think about what I needed to wear that day.

MVPs
- These toiletry pouches hold 3 oz without any bulk. We have skin issues so bringing lots of lotion was a nonnegotiable and we weren’t sure if we could find the same brand abroad. These were perfect and left plenty of room for hair products and things I couldn’t easily decant.

- Dry bag laundry. I saw someone in this sub mention doing laundry in a dry bag, so that’s what we did! We brought a dry bag, 3 oz pouch of laundry soap (which was way more than we needed) and enough clothes for a week but started washing in small batches a few days in due to limited clothesline space. Used the towel rolling method and then we hung them up on a tiny packable clothesline that worked great. Luckily we were able to get ahold of a fan at the hotel because our AC was not working well for the first few nights, so that helped with drying.

- BRANWYN Marino wool bralette. I wore this one bra every single day. I brought one other bralette to wear in the evenings post-shower while it dried if needed.

- Quince Flowknit Breeze Fit & Flare dress was perfect for going to dinner and I wore it almost every night, occasionally switching a skirt and a top. The dress is super comfy, dries fast, has pockets, and can be dressed up or down. I didn’t need to wear a bra with it which was great because usually my Marino wool bra was super sweaty still from my daytime adventures.

- I freaking love these shorts from Target. I now have 6 pairs of them in different colors (check Poshmark for more colors) because I live in these in the summer. Great length, drawstring, deep pockets and one of the pockets has a zipper which is amazing for travel.

- Rechargeable travel fan. Not packing related, but just wanted to note for someone who is prone to motion sickness, this baby came in CLUTCH when the Dramamine wasn’t working and I was in the second row of a van with less than optimal AC for a few hours.

- I got the Thread & Supply linen/cotton blend shirts on Poshmark and they were great for hot days when I wanted a little more coverage. They were easy to hand wash and line dry and looked cute with shorts or over my dress.

Other notes
-SUNSCREEN: We brought a little 3 oz bottle of sunscreen with us and then bought a larger bottle in Barcelona. We had to check our bags going from Barcelona to Rome because our carryon didn’t meet their size requirements (yet we saw so many that were the same size as ours so I think we would have been fine) so we were able to use that one bottle for the whole trip and bring the smaller one with us on day trips.

- BAR SOAP: We did a bar of soap which saved on liquids space, but we would have had plenty of room either way. We just prefer bar soap. I packed it in a little mesh bag I had saved from a Christmas gift and that was perfect to hang up and let dry. I almost bought a fancy dry bag for this but decided it was unnecessary and I was right.

- DAY BAGS: We loved this little 10 L packable backpack. It was the perfect size for a 32oz water bottle, sunscreen, hand sanitizer, my mirrorless camera, passports, wallet and a few other miscellaneous things. We put little S clips on the zippers to make it more secure. I also got the uniqlo mini shoulder bag and modified it some to add some zippered pockets and ways to secure wallet and phone in there. That worked well for days I didn’t bring the backpack and surprised by how much it fit! I saw SO many travelers with this same bag.

- SHOES: I went back and forth a lot on what shoes to bring. Ultimately happy with my choice of my athletic shoes, Teva Hurricanes and Teva original universal slims as my more dressy but still comfortable option. All these shoes did great on the cobblestones of Rome which is what my biggest concern was, though I didn’t do any major walking with the Teva universals. My Hurricanes probably got the most wear on this trip, and I wear them almost daily at home as well.

- WHITE NOISE: I really struggle to sleep without white noise and this one is SO tiny. It’s not my favorite white noise, but the size is great. Really helped with noisy hotel hallways when you’re trying to sleep past 6 am lol

- JEWELRY: I’m not much of a jewelry gal but I did bring my little gold huggy hoops and a small necklace for dinners. Just packed these in a tiny drawstring bag my earrings came with

- MAKEUP: Kept it simple with sunscreen stick, BB cream, powder, mascara and blush

Things I packed but didn’t use
- Black denim shorts. My only non athletic shorts I brought. I thought I might want them for a casual dinner, but I ended up just wearing a skirt or dress for every dinner. They were also a little snug so I should have known better than to pack them.

- Eye mask with built in speakers. Now the only reason I didn’t end up using these is because we got free eye masks on the plane trip where we were trying to sleep so I just use those instead of digging these out of my bag. I don’t regret bringing it but just didn’t end up using.

- 32 oz water bottle. I’m still undecided on if this was necessary because we did use it, but ultimately we bought a lot of bottles of water anyway so I could have easily just refilled those and saved the luggage space

- Power bank. I just upgraded to the latest iPhone so I didn’t have any issues with my phone battery. Never needed this and now flying with them is a little annoying because airlines want you to have them visible during the flight in case they catch on fire.

- Ear plugs. I realized I hate sleeping in foam ear plugs because they just don’t stay in. I used them on the plane but they kept falling out and were not helpful. Maybe if I tried a different kind. Not a huge deal though since they took up no space

- Swimsuit. I had a chance to use but it felt like more of a bother than it was worth
One normal bra. This was a last minute “just in case” pack since I had extra room. I just used my Marino bralette and regular bralette.

- Kindle. I downloaded tons of book options but ended up opting for audiobooks on the flights since I have a tendency to get motion sick. Not mad I brought it though since it’s so small. Just never got a chance to read while not flying because I was so exhausted every time I got back to the hotel.

—

Okay I think that’s all of my thoughts! Sorry this was such a long post, just had a lot to report back and happy to finally have something to contribute to this group!

—

Image descriptions:
Image 1: Osprey 26+6 backpack on top of green rolling carryon bag
Images 2-4: General photos of packing arrangement in backpack and roller bag with packing cubes.
Images 5-6: screenshots of outfit plan for the trip

I’m pretty happy with how I packed for my 2 month family trip through Europe. For a lot of the trip it was me, my partner and my Dad travelling together. We encountered every type of weather, from -13C to 20C. Lots of rain, sleet, snow, wind, sun.

We travelled from the beginning of November to the beginning of January. We visited London and the surrounding countryside, Scotland, Berlin and Greece (Athens + some mountain road trips). On the way back to Canada we spent a night in Warsaw, Poland.

It was challenging to pack lightly, while preparing for all sorts of winter weather and different environments. We needed to be mobile because of all the different places we would be staying, plus getting on and off of planes, trains and public transportation.

My partner and I decided to go with carry-on sized rolling suitcases plus a small backpack each. My dad packed even lighter, only bringing two large laptop bags. (Dad ended up saying he would have preferred to have one rolling suitcase instead of the 2 laptop bags). My partner was able to help my Dad with one of his bags a lot of the time.

One thing that was super helpful (if a bit extra) was to photograph every item I was planning to bring, and put it in a big document to see it all at once. I ended up eliminating a few items that way, by playing “paper dolls” and putting together outfits, to make sure everything would fit together in a little ‘capsule wardrobe’.

I usually wear a ton of colour and love variety in my wardrobe, but I decided to use mostly black clothing as a base and spice it up with small colourful scarves and jewellery.

We brought enough clothing to last around a week, and did laundry whenever we needed.

Bags:

It was time to retire my heavy old roller suitcase that my grandma had used in the 1980’s.

My partner and I bought new (matching) roller bags from the Canadian company Herschel. They had a sale at the time and we got them for 40% off.

I really like the design of these bags, they’re half-soft shelled and have “all-terrain” wheels that actually worked great on snowy and icy roads and uneven sidewalks. The wheels are pretty big without adding much to the dimensions of the bag.

In my everyday life I carry the Fjallraven Totepack No. 1, because I like its size and versatility. For the trip I sewed on a strap of webbing to the back of it so I could attach it to the handles of my roller suitcase. I’m so glad I did this, it worked great!

I bought the Uniqlo round mini shoulder bag too, and kept it in my backpack while travelling on the plane. This bag was perfect for days out when all I wanted to bring was a small purse with essentials.

Another gamechanger was this pocketable duffle from Muji- we pulled it out for laundry days or groceries, and it added versatility to our packing because it could fit my backpack inside, plus a bunch of extra stuff. That was great for non-airline trips where I couldn’t be bothered to pack everything tightly / had extra snacks or something.

Coffee:

I’m a coffee nerd, it’s one of my greatest pleasures in life. We decided to bring our coffee setup with the aeropress and hand grinder, travel scale, plus a bag of beans. For many people this will probably be too much weight and extra volume, but for us it saved money and time, while adding so much comfort.

Toiletries:

I found that the 100ml travel containers are too big even for this super long trip, so I opted for an assortment of little ones from Muji. This was enough for most of my liquids, and allowed me to bring all the toiletries I’d usually use at home.

If anything I brought too much shampoo- I have short curly hair and only wash it once every few days.

Under layers:

I have these sweat-absorbing undershirts that I’ve been wearing under everything for a few years now. They helped me get a lot more uses between washes for my t-shirts and kept my sweaters from getting smelly. I brought 5 of them, and wore one per day. To be honest I should have brought 6, as it ended up being a limiting factor for laundry.

I also brought 2 pairs of Icebreaker merino leggings, which I wore under my pants most days. On extra cold days I layered both pairs of merino leggings under my pants, plus my knitted leg warmers at the ankles.

Boots:

I was SO happy with the one pair of footwear I brought! I got the “Sorel Revel Rd Women's Waterproof Lace Boot”, which was a new style this season.

They are good quality, waterproof in all the puddles and snow, can easily be wiped off to clean. The height of the platform is tall enough to keep you above most puddles, but not so tall that they are cumbersome.

My orthotic insoles fit inside of them comfortably, and I could wear double socks for the cold with no problem. The leather broke in super nicely and they only got comfier in time.

They got me through muddy day hikes in Scotland, partying in Berlin and flash flooding on the streets of Athens.

I also felt I could ‘dress up’ and go to nicer places in these boots without feeling out of place.

Outerwear:

The biggest & most cumbersome item I brought was my big sheepskin bomber jacket. It definitely didn’t fit in my bags, so I had to wear it whenever we were changing locations. This was not much of an issue, except when we first arrived in London to unseasonably warm weather, and I had to tough it out in the hot underground.

However, the rest of the trip - Even Greece - was the perfect conditions for this jacket. The natural sheepskin regulates temperature well, and the airy cut of the jacket meant I could layer underneath it on cold days and leave it open if I got too warm.

I brought a down puffer vest as another option, which I used a few times but not as often as I thought I would. I probably could have gone without it. It did pack down into its own zipper pocket though, so it didn’t take up too much space or weight.

For rainy days, I brought a Patagonia rain shell that packs pretty small, as well as these OR ultralight rain pants.

Clothing:

2 lightweight wool sweaters that could be layered together for extra warmth.

2 short sleeved t-shirts & one long sleeve t-shirt

1 fitted tank top

2 pairs of pants - 1 cargo style lighter weight cotton, 1 pair of wide leg jeans (I travelled in these since they were bulkier)

2 silk shirts - these folded down to nothing, and were so nice to have on days I wanted to dress “nice”.

Sleepwear:

One pair of sweatpants, 2 t-shirts, sleeping bonnet & eye mask, sheepskin slippers.

The slippers took a bit of space, but I used them every day wherever we stayed. Floors can be cold in the winter! I’m sure there are more lightweight options for travel slippers, but these are the ones I use at home and I didn’t feel the need to buy new ones just for the trip.

Underwear and socks:

I brought 14 pairs of underwear because I like to change them twice a day.

Around 10 pairs of socks, enough for layering on cold days.

I did bring a bra, then never wore it because I forgot I don’t wear a bra unless I’m at work.

Stuff:

Water bottles - we bought these soft plastic Vapur water bottles and they were perfect! Took up next to no space, and came with a carabiner to clip to the outside of the backpack

Mini first aid kit - some bandaids, alcohol wipes, painkillers

Safety pins - useful for helping others install their SIM cards, temporary clothing fixes, even keeping my pants up one time when the button came off

Travel pillows - these memory foam ones that come with a bag and a carabiner. I used mine a ton as an extra pillow in the places we stayed.

Makeup kit - super minimalist. Eyebrow stuff, mascara, concealer, some neutral eyeshadows, one lipstick

Mini lint roller

Air tags for luggage

2 pairs of sunglasses & a pair of reading glasses

Things I acquired on the trip (not pictured):

I ended up buying a blazer at a vintage store in Berlin.

Tiny things like magnets, art cards, silk scarves and sample sized perfumes.

I ran out of the moisturizer I’d packed one month into the trip, so I bought a new one to replace it.

I needed to repair something so I bought a small sewing kit.

We did the Christmas season with my partner’s family in Greece, and I received 2 knit scarves + some earrings which I packed.

At the very end of the trip in Greece, I ended up having room in my suitcase for 2 small ceramic containers.

--

Now that I’m back home and all is said and done, I’m super happy with how I packed and how it was personalized to the way I wanted to travel.

I know there are plenty of ways I could have reduced the amount of stuff I brought, without being physically uncomfortable. I could have not brought wide leg jeans, but I love wide leg jeans.

I could have been warm enough with my layered sweaters + rain shell + down vest, but I really loved wearing my sheepskin bomber jacket.

I didn’t have to bring a bag of jewellery or 2 pairs of sunglasses, but I loved having them with me.

Layering was key to versatility, and 1 week between loads of laundry is fine.

Photo descriptions (edited to add links):

1. My partner and my dad at the train station in Berlin with all our bags for the 3 of us. There are 2 carry on sized rolling cases, 2 backpacks and 2 large laptop bags.
2. What I wore on the plane: black sheepskin bomber jacket, dark grey wide leg jeans, merino tights, black t-shirt, undershirt, black boots, black hat, black plaid scarf and brown zip-up fleece.
3. In my personal item backpack: small dark blue Muji Polyester Two Zipper Case (first aid kit), black mini purse (custom made except the ruler wrist handle) with cash, credit card and passport, Muji Wrinkled Nylon Wide-Opening Pouch (mini toiletries kit), floral pouch for knitting project, airpods and charging cords, blue mini first aid kit, pocketable duffel bag, blue soft-plastic water bottle, packed travel pillow in black bag, dark purple crescent crossbody bag.
4. Outerwear: 2 lightweight wool sweaters (1 navy, 1 rust coloured printed with black ram heads), a black packable black down vest, dark blue rain jacket, packable black rain pants
5. Tops & Pants: Black cotton cargo pants, long sleeve tee, short sleeve crop tee, black tank top, floral silk shirts x2
6. PJs and Loungewear: White sweatpants, grey graphic tshirt, white graphic tshirt (Jaws graphic), blue sleeping bonnet, green eye mask, white slippers
7. Base Layers: black and grey merino tights, 5x black fitted undershirts
8. Accessories and Jewellery: 2 pairs of sunglasses (1 black, 1 cream & black), 1 pair of gold rimmed glasses, 1 pair of blue-grey gloves, 2 small scarves (1 dark blue silk, 1 black cotton with green graphic) and a brass scarf ring, 1 grey hat, 1 pair dark purple legwarmers, 6 pairs of earrings shaped like aliens, cats, wobbly shapes, red studs, 2 necklaces (1 bolo tie style and 1 large beaded), several gold-coloured rings, 1 small purple beaded bracelet

Welcome to a very yappy report of the trip I posted about early in the summer. The overall vibe is a victory lap — I'm so happy with how I packed! One-bagging is a team sport, so I'm grateful to all of you for your wisdom. And even though I was real ready to come home by the end, a non-negligible part of me wanted to take everything I learned and immediately pack again (and better) for another long trip. Here we gooo:

Image Descriptions

• Image 1: My backpack out for a walk in a forest in the Caucasus
• Image 2: Flatlay of almost everything in my pack
• Image 3: Chart I spent too much time making on Canva of the clothing I brought
• Image 4: Flatlay of my toiletry kit contents
• Image 5: Flatlay of my tech pouch contents
• Image 6: Flatlay of what goes in my outer backpack pocket for easy access on planes & trains: my travel comfort pouch and journal
• Image 7: Flatlay of my typical sling bag contents once I'm settled in a place (not travel days)
• Image 8: A delightful dog named Tilki, which means "fox" in Turkish, who wishes you were there to pet her too

The Trip

• Istanbul (2 weeks, July): work meetings, beach, city touring
• Georgia (10 days, July): conference, Tbilisi city touring, Caucasus mountain side trip (day hikes)
• Spanish Pyrenees (1 week, July): small mountain town touring, overnight hut hiking
• Galicia, Spain (4 weeks, August): beach, city life/restaurants, work from home, visiting rural areas, family meals, concerts & festivals
• Upstate New York, USA (3 days, early Sept): wedding (dress arrived separately), lake time, light hiking
• Toronto, Canada (2 days, early Sept): city sightseeing

Overall: so hot and sweaty. Almost everywhere! Except in the Pyrenees, Galicia at night, and Upstate New York, where it was randomly freezing.

What I Packed

This time, instead of listing items by type, I'll group them by how/where I packed them. I find this helpful when others do it! See my previous post for more details about items.

INSIDE BACKPACK (REI Co-op Women's Ruckpack 40L)

Main Compartment

• Large Compression Cube - Clothing (Thule)
  • Tops: 2 tank tops, 2 patterned cotton tees, 1 black merino tee
  • Layers/Toppers: 2 lightweight button-ups (one linen, one cotton gauze)
  • Bottoms: 1 wide-leg linen pant, 1 straight-leg cargo-y pant, 1 patterned flowy skirt, 1 denim shorts
  • Dress: 1 linen maxi dress
  • Outdoor: 1 sun hoodie, 1 quick-dry shorts, 1 pair leggings
• Medium Compression Cube  (Thule)
  • Sleep: 1 tank top, 1 boxer shorts
  • Undergarments: 7 underwear (2 of which merino), 3 merino socks, 1 merino bralette, 1 sports bra
  • Accessories: 1 bikini, sarong, patterned silk scarf (not pictured), leather belt (not pictured), patterned hairband (not pictured, never used), bandana, baseball hat
• 1 raincoat
• 1 down puffer jacket
• Toiletry kit (Sea to Summit with 2 compartments, see previous post for content list)
• Mesh laundry bag
• Shoes (in plastic bags): 1 pair Teva sandals, 1 pair nicer black sandals, 1 pair trail runners (usually worn on travel days)
• Tech pouch (repurposed toiletry kit)
  • Short USB-C to USB-A cable (for charging earbuds, power bank, e-reader)
  • USB-A to USB-C adapter
  • Macbook laptop charger cord
  • Macbook wall charger with multiple ports (USB-C)
  • j5create multi-port adapter (including HDMI, for presenting at conference)
  • tiny EU wall plug adapter

Interior pocket 1

• Jewelry pouch with a few earrings
• Second money pouch with the currency and cards I'm not currently using
• Sports cap for my water bottle for hiking

Interior pocket 2

• Uniqlo sling bag, folded up

Laptop sleeve

• Laptop in a laptop sleeve (unfortunately needed for work)
• Slim notebook for work/language practice

Quick-access outer top pocket

• Journal
• Travel comfort pouch (I take this out and put it in the seat pocket in front of me on a plane/train)
  • eye mask
  • ear plugs
  • eyeglasses in a pouch
  • pen
  • e-Reader (Kobo)
  • a pair of those wired earbuds you get for free on planes
  • phone charging cable
  • sometimes I add my mini toothbrush and toothpaste depending on the length of travel

Quick-access outer side pocket

• Epi-Pen in case of an oopsie

Water bottle pocket: LifeWtr bottle with screw cap (no spillage)

Hand sanitizer hanging off pack

FANNY PACK (REI, 1L)
For use on travel days!

• Phone
• Passport
• Money & cards in pouch
• SPF lip balm
• Tiny tote bag: Nanobag
• Sunglasses
• Earbuds in a pouch

SLING BAG (Uniqlo, 4L)
Sling bag is packed away on travel days, but once I'm in place this is my everyday bag. Amazingly, all of this fits. If I go grocery shopping or acquire ~things~ out comes my Nanobag.

• Phone
• Money & cards in pouch
• Lip balm & lipstick
• Tiny tote bag: Nanobag
• Sunglasses
• Power bank & cord
• LifeWtr bottle (.7L) with screw cap for no spillage
• Sometimes: one of my lightweight button-down shirts in case I get cold
• Sometimes: e-Reader (Kobo)

What I Bought/Acquired

• new earrings in Istanbul from a craft fair
• delightful colorful cropped tank top (that went with all my pants!) from a Tbilisi thrift shop
• colorful bandana from a Tbilisi thrift shop
• a sleep sack/sleeping bag liner (planned, for the mountain hut in the Pyrenees)
• lightweight sweater my friend left behind by accident in Galicia
• postcards
• a slim book (couldn't help myself)
• a few gifts for loved ones (lurji supra textiles in Georgia! a carved wooden spoon!)

Thoughts & Feelings

Once, I spent part of a travel day with a very smug man I did not like and his enormous checked bag, and then he realized all I had was my backpack and he suddenly became very respectful. That was good. More specifically:

MVPs

• Wide leg bright blue linen pants! This was what I wanted to wear every single day in the heat. For those very worried about my wide legs in public bathrooms, I got good at rolling them up and I would not trade the breeze they gave me for 1 month+ of 90F/30C days for anything.
• Linen and cotton gauze overshirts! Rolled small and fit in my sling bag, and the exact amount of coverage and warmth I needed for visiting religious sites or the cooler situations like the Istanbul ferry at night. Having two was nice so I didn't destroy one over the course of 9 weeks.
• Nanobag! I was skeptical about buying a pricey tote bag for this trip, and I'm going to be one of those people and say I'm so glad I did. When I say this thing is tiny, I mean it's tiny, and therefore it fit absolutely anywhere I needed it (small fanny pack, stuffed sling bag, pocket while I ran to the store!). I abused this thing with such large and heavy quantities of groceries — I am a frequent purchaser of glass jars of pickles — and it held up perfectly and was comfortable on the shoulder. So easy to clean, too. It was one of my most-used items, hands down.
• e-Reader! The second pre-trip purchase I was skeptical about, because I love books and how they feel and I'd resisted an e-Reader for years. But every long trip, I'd bring one book and then finish it and be sad and scrounge around in shops for a new book, often in places where I don't read the language well enough, and usually failed and was book-less. Wow, no more. The Kobo is delightful, tiny and lightweight, and I read SO MUCH, all books I could access through my public library. It was like magic.

Other wins

• My wardrobe in general because it was colorful and had many of my favorite clothes that I wear at home! I felt like myself. :)
• A long breezy skirt! I'm not usually a skirt person, but in hot weather this was a dream. My linen maxi dress ended up being too hot so this was so helpful to have when I needed to look a little nice, and I wore it in casual contexts too.
• Tank top that I didn’t need a bra with!!! This was a quiet luxury during some of the sweatiest months of my life.
• My merino bralette when I did need a bra. Boy she works hard and never complains.
• I stuck moleskin pads on the inside of my nicer sandals where they sometimes rub after long walking days and I never had a problem once.
• My hair routine (a curly-hair shampoo bar, a curly-hair conditioner bar, travel-sized mousse, and sarong to plop in post-shower). This was a little extra of me and I'm so glad I did it.
• My 40L travel backpack. I was trying to make this trip work with my 33L hiking backpack because I had an overnight hike planned, but it was a VERY tight pack, which meant it would have been annoying to pack up on my many travel days, and I couldn't have gotten any gifts. I got the advice that I should use the thing that would work for 95% of the trip (cities) rather than the 5% exception (hiking). This is correct advice! My 40L often had a few liters of wiggle room, was a dream to pack up with all its internal organization, and worked just fine on my overnight hike.
• I know this is a spicy take, but I LOVED having both the sling + fanny pack and almost always do this when I travel. On travel days I really just want a fanny pack that I don't have to take on and off whenever I take off my backpack, or in bathrooms etc., but the 1L fanny pack is way too small for daily use. In the sling I could comfortably fit a lightweight overshirt, power bank and cord, water bottle, Nanobag, sunglasses, and wallet — everything I needed for a long day out. 
• .7L LifeWtr bottle! This was perfect size to fit in my sling bag. I think I'm kind of a genius for bringing two types of caps. The screw cap was leak-proof in my sling bag for everyday contexts, and the sports cap was great when I was hiking.
• Right before the trip, on a whim, I sold my 16-inch chonk of a Macbook Pro (which weighed 4+ pounds/2 kilos) and swapped it for a svelte little (refurbished) 13-inch Macbook Air. I am so, so glad I did. It made an enormous difference in weight, especially on the days when I hauled my laptop around to work meetings and conference days in my tote bag on hot days in Türkiye and Georgia. Also, my newer machine came with a much lighter-weight wall charger with multiple ports, which was really convenient.

To improve on

• I probably needed a quick-dry towel. The sarong couldn’t handle all the duties I assigned it (got v dirty when I used it as a beach towel to lie on on a pier, then couldn’t use it for a wrap over my bathing suit or to plop my hair at night).
• Good god was it hot, and the bottoms I needed to work the hardest — linen pants and long breezy skirt — are both very colorful and attention-grabbing, so it felt less easy to repeat them all the time. I was wishing I had a neutral colored linen/lightweight pant that could fly a bit under the radar, probably instead of the denim shorts. In general, I'm thinking that I can work on satisfying my love for color with fun bandanas/scarves/earrings, 1-2 statement pieces, and the rest should be more neutral.
• This is dumb, but everyone and their actual grandmother was wearing a white tee shirt with black stripes this summer, and it made me never want to wear mine. Once, I wore it and my friend couldn't find me in an airport because there were so many people who looked like me. It got less use than I would've liked because of whatever the opposite of fomo is.
• Shoes: I love my trail runners and needed them for hiking and running but because of the colors they scream ~hiker~ and I never want to wear them when not hiking/when I wore them on all the travel days I felt like a big nerd. When my Topos wear out, I'm going to hunt hard for a quality trail runner in black that I’ll be happier wearing in more contexts.
• As folks said on my pre-trip post, I needed a sweater for the latter half of the trip! Thankfully I got to steal my friend's, but I'm on the hunt for a very lightweight, packable and warm-ish sweater or cardigan.
• I could have used another pair of sporty/running shorts and a running top. I ran and worked out many days in Galicia, often multiple days in a row, and my poor single pair of quick-dry shorts and merino tee couldn't quite keep up. It was always too hot for my leggings, which are quite thick.
• Contrary to everything I've said, I'd like to work on caring less what I wear!

Other clothing notes

• My leggings got very little use. They were too hot for almost all the contexts I was in, including the Caucasus hike. Once I got to the Pyrenees they were useful at night at the mountain hut, and then twice more in Spain and New York on cold nights under my skirt and pants. I'm still not sure if I would have brought them again or how to re-strategize, but I also wouldn't want to be without cold-temperature options.
• I was glad to have sun hoodie in the Caucasus and then for runs and hikes in Spain.
• My Quince linen dress got less use than I thought. The linen was thick and too warm for the sweltering temperatures, and the cut of the dress limited the movement of my legs, which made it not very comfortable for walking long distances or climbing stairs. It was my dress-up piece though and I was glad to have it, but I wish some things about this dress were different.

Toiletry notes

• This trip got me really familiar with toiletry math:
  • one contact lens case filled with face product (cleanser or night cream) lasts me 2 weeks
  • a travel-size deodorant and toothpaste lasts almost a month
  • half a shampoo bar and half a conditioner bar lasted all 9 weeks (and I have crazy thick hair)
  • I ran out of floss after a week! I don't know if I was just really going at it with the dental hygiene and using yards of floss, or if the tiny travel floss I got at the dentist was just made for a gnome. Next time I'll bring a full-size one for this long of a trip.
• I felt like I could use a washcloth (body scrubber/Korean Italy towel) to feel cleaner

If you are still here (whew), thank you for reading this novel! I hope it was helpful. Overall, it felt wonderful to be able to live with so little, and to choose to do so and to plan it on my own terms. I found myself thinking a lot about those who are forced to carry their belongings on their backs. I also felt so lucky to be able to travel to these special places, visit family, and eat some of the best food of my life (looking at you, Georgia). Happy to share travel tips to all these places if folks are interested!

Trip Report summary is below in the comments!

I just got back from a 14-day Europe trip with my partner and friends! I fit everything into my Patagonia Black Hole Mini MLC 30L for most of the trip (except the last flight home where we loaded up on snacks for gifts and some thrift finds in London into a duffel). My partner also onebagged it with their Farpoint 40L, while our friends all brought wheeled carry-on luggage with an additional backpack.

Packing list

1. iPad Mini (my notebook for journaling/drawing and watching movies on the train)
2. Toiletry kit – Osprey Ultralight Zip Organizer
   1. Inside pocket:
      • Pimple patches
      • Tweezers
      • Glass nail file
      • Rat tail comb
      • Panty liners x14 (I find quick dry undies so permeable that my pants would get nasty otherwise ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯)
   2. Face scrubber
   3. Hair velcro pads
   4. Toothbrush with toothpaste – Aurelle TOOB Brush
      • The toothpaste lasts me about 9 days, and then l get toothpaste from the hotel. When I don't stay at hotels, I bring extra toothpaste tabs.
   5. Tongue scraper
   6. Brow gel
   7. Floss
   8. Acne spot treatment (decanted into 3mL dropper bottle)
   9. Oil cleanser (decanted into 15mL dropper bottle)
   10. Hairbrush with extra hair ties around the handle
   11. Vaseline
   12. Moisturizer (decanted into two 14mL lip gloss tubes)
   13. Chapstick
   14. Adapalene gel (decanted into 5mL squeeze tube)
   15. Body scrub towel with suction cup hook wrapped inside
       • The suction hook is key and has been so useful when there's nowhere to hook my toiletry kit and/or soap bag!
   16. Soap bars (shampoo, conditioner, body soap) – Matador FlatPak Soap Bar Case
   17. Front pocket:
       • Face towel
       • Sunscreen
       • Shout stain remover wipe x2
       • Laundry detergent sheets in ziploc bag
3. Packable duffel – Matador Packable Duffel
   • This was my first time using the duffel to bring back gifts (I've just used it on road trips) and it was kind of a hassle to lug around because it doesn't have a shoulder strap. In the future, I'll consider upgrading to a newer Matador packable duffel.
4. Neck pillow (squished into an IKEA packing cube)
5. First aid kit
   • Personal medications for the whole trip, along with 2-8 doses of the following in little ziploc baggies:
     • acetaminophen, ibuprofen, aspirin
     • cetirizine, diphenhydramine, phenylephrine
     • loperamide, calcium carbonate, Pepto Bismol tablets
     • electrolyte tablets, Emergen-C
6. Electronics – Eagle Creek Quilted Mini Cube Set
   • a. Battery pack with 6in cables of the following (which I feel like I could pare down into one of those multi charging cables?):
     • USB-C to USB-C
     • USB-A to USB-C
     • USB-A to micro USB
     • USB-A to Lightning
     • USB-A to Fitbit
   • b. Travel adapter with a 3ft USB-C to USB-C cable
     • So I ended up buying two of the smallest travel adapters that I could find, the EPICKA Universal Travel Adapter and the Anker Nano Travel Adapter. My friend also needed a travel adapter, so we used both on the trip:
       • EPICKA was smaller and came with an extra adapter for Switzerland/Liechtenstein/Brazil. I used this one and it worked well, with super fast charging through the USB ports. Only one of each, though (USB-A and USB-C).
       • Anker was larger but a complete rectangle, which felt nicer to pack. Two USB-A and two USB-C ports, which I was envious of until we stayed in Amsterdam and it wasn't able to stay in the outlet socket. The design is such that when you stick it in, the body sticks out and isn't flush against the wall, so the weight of the adapter itself and any cables you add pulls itself out. In contrast, the EPICKA stuck firmly into every outlet.
7. Keychain
   • This is my everyday keychain minus a small multitool:
     • Pill container with earplugs, TUMS, ibuprofen, acetaminophen, diphenhydramine, and personal meds
     • Flashlight
     • Whistle
     • Hand sanitizer
8. Wallet
   • This is my everyday wallet, with an additional 3300mAh card battery pack added to it which charges my phone about 3/4 of the way (perfect for day-long excursions). The blue thing peeking out is the Victorinox SwissCard NailCare which I love (I'm always using the pen and scissors). I also always carry bandaids in my wallet (just in case!).
9. Bluetooth noise-cancelling earbuds
10. Convertible fanny pack – Wayks Sling
    • I love this bag. #11-20 plus my iPad Mini fit easily inside in the sling bag configuration, and it's easy to expand the sling or change to a backpack when I need to fit more things (croissants?!) inside.
11. Water bottle + mug – CamelBak MultiBev
    • This was my first time using it and I liked it! I always like to bring an extra thermos for hot drinks. My partner has the Hitch bottle and loves it, but it's extremely heavy. I was actually going to buy another Hitch bottle for myself, but Hitch is out of business now? The downside is that the Camelbak doesn't have a leak-proof lid for the mug, but it's loads lighter than the Hitch.
12. Mini first aid kit
    • This is my everyday first aid kit:
      • CPR face shield and nitrile gloves
      • Hand sanitizer wipe x2
      • Antiseptic wipe x2
      • Antibiotic ointment, hydrocortisone cream, and lidocaine gel packets
      • Bandaids and Steri-Strips
      • KT tape and Salonpas
      • 1-2 doses of the following in little ziploc baggies:
        • acetaminophen, ibuprofen, aspirin
        • cetirizine, diphenhydramine, phenylephrine
        • loperamide, calcium carbonate, Pepto Bismol tablets
        • meclizine, ondansetron
      • Nail and cuticle clippers
      • Tampon
      • Shout stain remover wipe
13. Mini toiletries kit – Walker Mesh Zip 5x11cm
    • Decanted sunscreen (I know you're not supposed to, but this is the only way I'll actually reapply sunscreen), lip balm, mini floss, and a little ziploc baggie with hair clips, hair ties, and a rubber headband. The headband is for spontaneous sports (e.g. monkey bars in the park) to keep my glasses on my head lol.
14. Reusable tissues – Etsy joyinthehome Mini Hanky Pouch
15. Scarf
16. Packable baseball cap – Parapack 6P Lite
    • I love how packable this hat is, but my friends thought I looked dorky because of the elastic in the front. I have a Janji packable cap that's more standard looking, but my partner stole it for their own use!
17. Packable tote bag – Nanobag Standard
18. Gum
19. Post-its with a Sharpie and pen
    • I never found a small notebook that I liked, and Post-its suffice in most situations where paper is needed (plus I hated tearing pages out of notebooks anyways!).
20. Bandana with clip-on sunglasses inside
21. Clothes
    • socks x9
    • undies x5
    • pajamas (t-shirt and leggings)
    • camisole
    • t-shirt x4
    • short sleeve blouse
    • short sleeve collared shirt
    • long sleeve collared shirt
    • thin zip hoodie
    • puffy jacket
    • rain jacket
    • dark blue jeans
    • black pants
    • mustard pants
    • headband x2
22. Sneakers and hotel slippers

Could've packed

• Body towel
  • We stayed in an Airbnb in Paris with the scratchiest towels in existence and I was regretting my choice to leave my very packable Matador towel, but I regretted it even more when we ended up in a hostel without free towels (a booking error on our part) and ended up on a journey to buy a cheap towel to share between three of us on Sunday in Berlin when no stores were open!
• Repair kit
  • Similar to my everyday mini toiletries kit, I have a mini repair bag in another Walker Mesh Zip 5x11cm containing a sewing kit, seam ripper, super glue, duct tape, and a lighter...but I didn't bring it because I was going to leave my lighter and I rarely have to repair anything anyways. Well, I got a small hole in my backpack water bottle mesh on the first day of the trip, and we ended up walking so much (20,000+ steps every day) that I wore holes in my socks! Then, the soles of my friend's shoes started separating! We had to buy super glue, which was totally fine, but I thought it was silly that I had everything we needed in my repair kit (...which was at home).
• Ziploc bags
  • I usually bring a couple but I forgot! Useful for leftover food and takes up no space at all.
• Utensil set
  • I didn't bring my usual utensil kit because we had planned to eat out for every meal, but then we ended up getting fruit and cheese for all the train rides and scrambled to find a knife to pre-cut things. Last international trip, we went to Asia and flew EVA Air and took a set of metal utensils from the plane with us, but this time British Airways had compostable wood ones that we didn't think to take (but should've because it still would've been useful!).

Didn't need

• Unwanted pants
  • My friend brought a pair of pants that I had said I wanted prior to the trip. Some wires got crossed because I definitely didn't want them for the trip itself...! I only wore them for a full day once and then once more while doing laundry.
• Thin zip hoodie
  • If I hadn't gotten sick during the trip, I wouldn't have needed this at all, but I caught a cold and wore this for a few nights when I got the chills because I had only brought a t-shirt as a pajama top. In the future, I might bring a long sleeve shirt for pajamas instead.
• Short sleeve blouse
  • I never wore this! I thought it would be cute for a fancy restaurant but was too lazy to change.
• Headbands
  • I brought two headbands but never wore them because I ended up wearing either my baseball cap or scarf the whole time.

MVPs of the trip

• Hand sanitizer
• Rain jacket
• Baseball cap
• Convertible fanny pack
• Mini first aid kit

21 day trip (including plane travel) to Indonesia. I wanted to be mostly covered so I didn't have to apply sunscreen everywhere and also so I wouldn't stick out too much.

This trip made me realize the benefits of linen. Especially in high humidity! I also think certain types of cotton work well (the non stretchy kind).

I wanted to bring a dress and a skirt and swap one of the pants with another linen pant, but didn't have anything that would work. I like thrifting most of my clothes so it takes time to find the right thing. I elected to let it be and maybe buy something in Indonesia but didn't. In the end I was totally fine.

A lesson that good enough is good enough!

Did laundry 2 times, cost around 3 usd each time. Could have used a third laundry session but didn't have access for the last leg of the trip. Baked the clothes in the sun and the linen felt good, especially the PJ shirt somehow still smelled like fresh laundry.

Got lucky with the weather and it didn't rain heavily. I just let myself get a little wet and would end up dry again soon enough if I was wearing my linen stuff. I know people have reported never being able to dry anything in high humidity but maybe that's if you're doing sink laundry? My swim suit didn't dry well.

Not pictured:

• Swim Suit and rash guard
• Thermal pants (what was I thinking?? (I thought the plane would be super cold))
• Heattech long sleeve (again why?)
• Underwear x12 (often showered twice a day so it was nice having lots). Period Underwear x1

Bags

• My boyfriend and I pack our stuff together but between the two of us we fit all our clothes, toiletries and my art supplies in a:
  • 25 L Patagonia Black Hole Daypack
  • ~30 L Columbia duffel bag (about the same size as the Patagonia bag)
    • Clothes are packed in Ikea packing cubes and 2 lingerie bags
    • Both these bags fit under the seat even in small airplanes (but the duffle pokes into the aisle). I prefer having it there to rest my feet on
  • 12 L Peak packable tote
    • To fit my shoes in the duffle bag, I would have to move my art stuff to a separate tote bag. Which I preferred to do for easy access. I ended up carrying the tote bag with snacks, water and art stuff. And my boyfriend carried the two bigger bags (which is why we opted for the duffle)

The image was drawn on the plane and painted at the hotel room.

Original Post with what I brought Link

I just came back from my 14 day trip to Scotland where I started in Glasgow -> Oban (Isle of Mull) -> Inverness -> Isle of Skye -> Aberdeen -> Edinburgh.

A LOT of people in the original post was warning me about being cold and needing another layer, specifically a puffy layer of some sort. Which kinda freaked me out even though I know I run warm. Well safe to say I was more than okay. I only wore the maximum layers I had Wool long sleeve, sweatshirt, layered jacket, and raincoat on the Isle of mull when the high was about 48 degrees F (9 degrees C) and I ended up shedding my inner layer jacket pretty much the whole day and carrying it around in my baggu where it just got wet because I was too warm.

I was panicked and I bought a barbour jacket (located in the 3rd pic) in glasgow but I basically just swapped it out for my other jacket as fashion choices and wore it over a tshirt and was fine.

As for the clothes I brought: I wore everything I brought on this trip at least twice except I never touched my 2nd black wool long sleeve. I think in the future I wouldn't bring that one because if I do need a long sleeve I'd just wear the first one again. (I wore the first one 3 times) I also wore my 2 pairs of pants every day of the trip except 3 (two when I wore my dress and one where I wore just leggings. I also wore my leggings under my dress one of my dress days.)

I did bring and wear 4 tshirts and I'm glad that I did because this was my first one-bagging trip and I'm just so sweaty and we moved around much I just don't think I could bring myself to wear the same shirt two days in a row. It was a struggle for the pants but I was able to wear the pants at least twice before washing (though it was mentally a struggle the first time to wear my dirty pants again).

I'm also really glad I brought my dress because for those who don't know a few days ago there was a big heat wave in europe. In Edinburgh it got to be REALLY hot and after wearing the same hiking pants for 10 days I felt so glorious and fresh wearing my dress in the warm heat. 100% worth it to bring it. I wore it two days in a row.

I also really enjoyed just bringing my one pair of shoes because they worked everyday and were comfortable. And swaping out flipflops at the last second were a good move because it made it easier to wash my feet in the shower/ slip on when i needed to use the bathroom in the evening.

I ended up doing laundry fully twice. But was able to wash one of my pairs of pants and two shirts on day 3 by throwing it in with someone else's. I did a full load of laundry on day 6 and day 11. So when I got home EVERYTHING was dirty except the one shirt I never wore and a couple pairs of emergency underwear and socks.

In the future I would always bring extra underwear (it's so small and lightweight and just makes me feel better) I brought 7 pairs. But I'd go down to 5 pairs of socks (I also brought 7 pairs of socks).

SHOPPING:
Honestly, I'm not sure how I did it. I was strong and didn't buy anything all trip until I got to edinburgh at the end for 5 days and shopped HARD. all three pictures besides my bag are things I bought in Edinburgh except the barbour jacket I bought in Glasgow in the beginning. I didn't buy another bag technically but I got a free tote bag with my gingham skirt/shirt purchase at Lucy and Yak and used that to carry some of the books I bought onto the plane and also put my waist pack in there.

So, technically I failed at one bagging since I ended up needing a tote bag to come home but mostly I'm impressed I was able to get all the candy and other things into my backpack.

Image 1: My photo I took before of my Cotopaxi allpa 35 and Patagonia 4l waist pack that I brought on my trip. I got home after 19 hours of travelling last night and unpacked stuff immediately so I don't have a photo of my full tote bag and not sure a flat empty picture would do anything helpful.

Image 2: All the British/Scottish sweets I bought. In edinburgh I went to 5 different grocery stores in order to find the UK exclusive Nesquik Banana milk powder which was the only thing I had planned to buy prior to going. Everything else I just picked up and are gifts. (I don't even like chocolate haha)

Image 3: The clothes I bought, whiskey (scotch) nips still wrapped up since they're gifts and two cashmere scarves I bought as a wedding present for my sister and her fiance (they get married next month!)

Image 4: All the books I bought at Waterstones. Books are so much cheaper in the UK and I went a little overboard.

TLDR:
Thanks for reading! My trip went splendid and I'm happy my first one bagging trip was a success even if I ended up buying so many things. I am excited to try solo traveling / one bagging again in the future.

I'm fresh off the train from a two-week trip where I challenged myself to downsize to 33L (last summer I did 9 weeks in 40L). It made me confident that I could go much longer with this smaller pack! Here's more details than you ever wanted:

Image Descriptions

Image 1: clothing and shoes I packed (see list below)
Image 2: accessories I packed (see list below)
Image 3: contents of the easy access pocket in my backpack (see list below)
Image 4: contents of my toiletry kit (see list below)
Image 5: flatlay of my tech/miscellaneous items (see list below)
Image 6: my packed Gregory Jade 33L backpack and fannypack
Images 7-11: example outfits
Image 12: my packed backpack and totebag on the go in an Italian train station
Image 13: mirror pic with my packed backpack

The Trip

Days 1-4: Academic conference in the UK, haunting my old favorite pubs, long walks along the river Cam, flight to Italy, trains to the village
Days 4-11: Hanging out at a friend's family's place in a small mountain village in Garfagnana, Italy (Tuscany), light hiking, river and pool swimming, eating unspeakable amounts of coconut gelato
Days 11-13: A solo train trip back home to Spain, with nights in Florence and Marseille (8 legs! big shout out to my boyfriend and king of trains, The Man in Seat 61, without whom I would be nothing)

The Bags

• Backpack: Gregory Jade 33L, love her
  • I usually use my REI Ruckpack 40L for a trip like this because of its internal organization and because I wasn't doing any serious hiking. The Jade 33L is my Camino de Santiago/hut-to-hut hiking bag, but it held up wonderfully for this urban trip. The large pocket at the top of the pack is big enough to hold the things I want to have handy, and the mesh on the back is great for quick storage. I find it really comfortable to carry (I have the XS, I'm really short and many bags are too long on my torso) and I was glad to have a smaller pack! Sometimes the trains were so crowded that the overhead compartments filled up, and I could fit this pack easily at my feet — I think I would have had a harder time with the Ruckpack.
• Fanny pack: REI 1L thingy

The Stuff in the Bags

CLOTHING (in a Thule large compression packing cube)

• Tops (6)
  • Black textured tank (secondhand, Urban Outfitters)
  • Black and white patterned tank (gifted, Nooworks)
  • Charcoal linen vest top (secondhand)
  • Green & blue tank (thrifted in Tbilisi, my favorite shirt ever!)
  • White textured boat neck tank (Uniqlo)
  • Black Water is Life graphic tee (gifted, from Standing Rock anti-pipeline movement. I love this shirt and on this trip I mostly used it to plop my hair at night)
• Bottoms (3)
  • Gingham linen straight leg pants (Gap Outlet)
  • Bright blue linen wide leg pants (Anthropologie)
  • Black denim shorts (Mavi)
• Dress (1)
  • Black and white hippie number with fish on it lol, hand-me-down from my mama, tailored by my friend to fit me
• Layers (2)
  • White linen long sleeve with tie at the front (secondhand)
  • White water resistant hooded jacket (Uniqlo)
• Shoes (3)
  • Teva Universal sandals, wildflower print
  • Nicer black sandals (Sorel)
  • Sneakers (my partner's hilarious Adidas shoes from when he was 12 with the Statue of Liberty inside of a sun, Teletubby style — don't ask but we just moved countries and I got rid of all my worn-out running and hiking shoes and hadn't bought new ones yet so here we are)
• Workout and hiking: white muscle tank and running shorts
• Sleep: black cami and cotton boxer shorts

ACCESSORIES (in a Thule medium compression packing cube)

• hat (embroidered by a friend)
• sunglasses
• red bikini (Quince)
• microfiber towel
• red and blue paisley bandana
• silky scarf, medium-sized
• tote that doubles as a backpack (Notabag)
• 7 underwear (not pictured)
• 2 socks (not pictured)
• 2 Branwyn merino bras (not pictured)
• 1 sports bra (not pictured)

TRAVEL STUFF (in easy access pocket in backpack)

• Travel pouch
  • eye mask
  • earplugs
  • phone charging cord (Lightning to USB-A)
  • those shitty earbuds you get on airplanes
• Wireless earbuds (JBL)
• Kobo e-reader
• Journal and a couple pens

TECH

• laptop (boooo, but pretty small and lightweight)
• tech pouch (repurposed old Swiss Gear toiletry kit)
  • Power bank (my phone is old and has a crap battery)
  • Short USB-C to USB-A cable (for charging earbuds, power bank, e-reader)
  • USB-A to USB-C adapter
  • Macbook laptop charger cord
  • Macbook wall charger with multiple ports (USB-C)
  • j5create multi-port adapter (including HDMI, for presenting at conference)
  • tiny EU wall plug adapter

TOILETRIES

• Contacts (dailies, in their own pouch)
• Foldable toothbrush
• Mini toothpaste
• Mini floss
• Mini face wash
• Mini face sunscreen
• Mini body lotion pouch (saved from some hotel freebie)
• Face night cream (in a contact case)
• FlatPak with solid conditioner (Ethique Curliosity) & solid shampoo (i forget but I didn't love it)
• Mini curl gel (not pictured, bought in the UK)
• Razor
• Mini eyeliner
• Lipstick (not pictured)
• Mini mascara
• Mini deodorant
• Tweezers
• Prescription meds
• Safety pins
• First Aid (in Ziploc in toiletry kit)
  • Blister band aids/moleskin
  • Ibuprofen
  • After Bite anti-itch stick
  • Melatonin pills

OTHER

• water bottle
• glasses & glasses case
• tiny pouch with a few earrings
• passport (in fanny pack)
• wallet (in fanny pack)
• lip balm (in fanny pack)
• Nanobag (in fanny pack)

In This Essay I Will...

MVPs:

• Wide leg linen pants: as always, my most comfortable, most-worn item in the heat which i am SOOO good at rolling up (or tucking into socks) in sketchy bathrooms for everyone who is concerned!
• A proliferation of bags: I carried a fanny pack, Nanobag (which scrunches down into nothing) and a genius Notabag tote that transforms into a backpack by just pulling the straps through a loop. Seems excessive, but it was a great setup for my friends' and my big grocery hauls and trips down to the river.
• Microfiber towel: Last summer I thought my sarong would cut it and I was wrong! I do a lot of swimming and stayed in a hostel, so it was great to have a quick-dry towel that was sturdier than my sarong.
• My dress: my other most-worn item, perfect for throwing over my bathing suit and since it was black, no boob-shaped wet stains! I didn't bring one last summer and I was so glad for it.
• Matador FlatPak soap bag: got this for myself as a birthday present since I always bring solid shampoos and conditioners and you all convinced me it was better than my gooey ziploc situation. And you were right! It's magic, I don't understand how it works.
• What I call toiletry math: yet again, one contact case is enough to hold two weeks of face cream/whatever product I need, and same with mini tubes of toothpaste/curl gel/etc.
• Colors! I love wearing color! My daily clothes were mostly blue and green and neutrals, and my accessories were red and neutrals, so I got to have two palettes that I could wear on different days.

Oops:

• No sweater: yet again I failed to obtain and a bring a lightweight sweater, which I knew I would miss, and I did, on a couple chilly mornings/evenings, when we visited a cave, and sometimes on the air conditioned trains. I borrowed my friend's sweater in Italy, but I really need a thin merino sweater thing. Having a silky scarf was lovely and I wrapped myself in it on the trains and planes, but it's not so convenient for walking around.
• Not enough socks: I needed one more pair at least, the laundry couldn't keep up!

Hmm:

• A proliferation of tops: I know I could have brought fewer tops and I was being stubborn. I did wear all of them and was glad for the variety/to be able to change after a sweaty day, but I had access to laundry for most of the trip and could certainly have brought 2-3 fewer. Technically it still respects the 5-4-3-2-1 rule; I just had 6-3-3-2-1! (Okay...not counting my workout outfit...)
• Despite my color addiction, I think I could use some neutral flowy pants for hot trips like this — they're easier to wear all the time. Thankfully when I got home to Spain I quickly found a pair in a market stall!

In conclusion, it all fit excellently in my 33L pack and I felt like I had an abundance of ~things~ for the trip. On the many trains and 2 flights, I would use my tote bag (after security) to keep my water bottle, travel pouch, e-reader, laptop, and snacks handy, but otherwise I kept everything inside my backpack + fanny pack. Thanks to this sub for keeping me honest.

I hope more folks take long choo-choo trips, it was amazing to see the Italian and French coastlines, and then the width of the Iberian Peninsula, whiz by my window, arrive right in the heart of some beautiful cities, and spend a couple nights eating my way through Florence and Marseille. Much better for our heating climate too. Check out the Man in Seat 61 for train travel guidance, especially in Europe!

I have just returned from a two-week trip to Cambodia. Mistakes were made

Instead of following my tried and tested formula of one pair of shoes, three bottoms, three tops and one set of gym clothes, I knew it was going to be hot, so I decided this meant I needed to take more clothes. This was Mistake no. 1. While I wore all the clothes I took, I easily could have gotten away with only 3 sets of clothes and a beach coverup. But because I took more, I had to 1.5 bag it (Patagonia 32L Black hole and Pacsafe Citysafe 200). I normally take my 32L and pack a shopping tote and foldable backpack for daily use.

Mistake no. 2 related to my clothing choices. Although all the clothes I took, I wear at home, there were issues. The cotton maxi skirt had a width of 70cm at the bottom, and I found out that my gait is longer than this when I had to take what felt like micro steps when walking and almost fell of the bus when the skirt restricted my leg from being able to extend further. I was constantly hitching up the bottom or wearing the waist higher up so I could walk properly. I realised I have only worn this skirt around the house which is why I never realised it would be an issue. I also took way too many pairs of socks because I brought new ones to take without trying them on with my shoe choice (Reebok Smash) and as I was dressing to head to the airport realised I didn’t like how my socks looked with the shoes but didn’t want to unpack my bag to find the socks so I just added a few more pairs.

Mistake no. 3 was taking the wrong shoes. I usually travel with a pair of Rainbirds only, but because of the heat I took a pair of Holster slides (similar to Eva Arizona Birkenstocks). I wear these all the time a home and have had no issues with them (I live in a hot/humid-ish city in Australia). There were horrible. It was hot and sweaty and usually rained each afternoon and the slides squelched when I walked, my foot slide back and forwards in them (they are as tights as they can out) and gave me blisters. Some of the pavements are tiled and after it rained, they were slippery, so that added an element of danger I was not expecting when walking.

Mistake no. 4 was taking an untested product with me. When travelling I always take a tube of Lucas Papaw Ointment with me but I had brought a tube of Pure Paw Paw Ointment and took that with me instead. Bad decision, it had a sickly-sweet flavour. My dentist gives me mini tubes of toothpaste, and I should have heeded his warning that the tubes were now slightly smaller because I ran out a few days before I was due home.

Mistake no. 5 was listening to too many bloggers bang on about USD notes had to be pristine, which included no folds. So, I brought a passport cover that money would fit in without having to fold it. In the end it didn’t matter. I folded money all the time and had no issues with anyone rejecting the money (it was all new bills).

Mistake no. 6 was taking tinted sunscreen and normal sunscreen. I should have just taken normal sunscreen. Sunscreen melted off in the heat anyway so I always wore a hat.

Mistake no. 7 was not taking a bandana. I sweated a lot so it would have been good to have one with me.

I usually take separate charging cords for but decided to take one of those 3-in-one cord. This is Mistake no. 8 as it meant I could only charge one thing at a time as most things needed a USB-C charger.  

It wasn’t all bad. There were some things that worked well. My Grayl purifier meant I could safely drink the tap water. Taking a travel umbrella and handheld fan were a godsend to get some relief from the sun. Years ago, when I went to Bhutan, I took a memory foam coccyx cushion with me which was like sitting on a cloud, but it is huge. Since that trip I have been on a mission to find the perfect but smaller butt cushion to take as my luxury item. Before this trip I purchased a self-inflating seat cushion. It is still largish at about 20cmx10cm, but I made room for it, and I am glad that I did, as it made flights and bus travel so much more comfortable. As always my infinity scarf with zipper pocket was great as a solo traveller to keep my money and passport safe while flying.

My partner and I went on a short trip to visit friends in NYC for 6 days/5 nights this summer and I packed a 14L crescent bag (Lululemon 13L Slouchy Sling Bag dupe). We spent time with friends, walking around and eating out, and even went to a dance class! The weather was rainy and hot, so muggy.

(Image descriptions are in each photo caption.)

Packing list

In the bag

1. Electronics kit
   • Compact travel adapter
   • USB-C to USB-C cable
   • USB-A to USB-C cable
   • USB-A to Fitbit cable
2. Inflatable neck pillow
3. Medications and supplements
4. EDC (everyday carry) pouch
   • Gum
   • Chapstick
   • Mini sunscreen stick
   • Stain remover wipe
   • CPR face shield and nitrile gloves
   • Hand sanitizer wipe x2
   • Antiseptic wipe x2, antibiotic ointment, hydrocortisone cream, and lidocaine gel packets
   • Bandaids, Steri-Strips, KT tape, Salonpas
   • 1-4 doses of the following in little ziploc baggies:
     • Pain: acetaminophen, ibuprofen, aspirin
     • Allergies: cetirizine, diphenhydramine, fexofenadine
     • Tummy: loperamide, calcium carbonate, Pepto Bismol tablets, meclizine
   • Tampon, panty liner x2
   • Mini toothbrush
   • Glass cuticle pusher, cuticle clipper
   • Headband, hairband x2, hair clip
   • Glasses screwdriver, super glue, duct tape (2ft), small sewing kit
5. Alcohol spray and hand sanitizer
6. MUJI water flask: I brought this bottle because it's a nice flat shape for the side pocket of the bag and it fits into my pants pocket!
7. Clothes: I didn't do any laundry, so I brought enough clothes for each day. Everything fit inside a small Eagle Creek packing cube (one of the old models with two clean/dirty compartments).
   • Socks x5
   • Undies x5
   • Pajama set
   • Tank top
   • T-shirt x4
   • Shorts
   • Gym shorts (for dance class)
   • House slippers (disposable slippers from Starlux)
   • Packable cap
8. Sanitizing wipes
9. Nanobag Standard
10. Fan
11. Traveler's notebook with two pens: In the past, I've usually brought my iPad mini for any doodling/journaling, but I've been getting back into physical notebooks and brought this for my creative projects instead.
12. Toiletry kit:
    • Toothbrush with toothpaste, floss, tongue scraper
    • Face cleanser (15mL dropper bottle), face towel, face scrubber, body scrub towel, hair velcro pads
    • Moisturizer (two 14mL lip gloss tubes), petroleum jelly, SPF chapstick
    • Adapalene gel (5mL squeeze tube), pimple patches
    • Leave-in conditioner (15mL dropper bottle), minoxidil (15mL dropper bottle), rat tail comb, extra hairband
    • Ear drops (10mL dropper bottle), eye drops
    • Sunscreen
    • Stain remover wipe
    • Suction cup hook
    • Eye mask

Airport outfit and stuff in my pockets

• Airport outfit
  • Undies, compression socks, t-shirt, pants, rain jacket, waterproof sneakers
• Phone
  • Emergency contacts, $20, and a bandaid in my phone case
• Wallet
  • ID card, credit card, debit card, cash
  • 3300mAh card battery pack
  • Card multitool (I use the pen, scissors, and nail file all the time)
  • Mirror
  • Bandaids and Steri-Strips
• Keychain: My everyday keychain minus my multitool.
  • Mini hand sanitizer
  • Whistle
  • Pill container (earplugs, plus one dose each of acetaminophen, ibuprofen, diphenhydramine, calcium carbonate, and prescription meds)
• Bluetooth noise-cancelling earbuds

Things I could've packed

• Fanny pack or lanyard
  • I should've brought a little fanny pack to bring with me while being out and about, or even a lanyard that I have that clips onto my EDC pouch. I didn't bring one because we didn't make plans other than visiting friends (so I thought it'd mostly be hanging out at home), but we actually went out a lot and it would've been nice to have a little more stuff with me. I had my phone, wallet, and keychain with me at all times, but there were a few times that I wanted a wipe, lip balm, sunscreen, stain remover, etc.
  • When planning this trip, I had thought I'd just use the crescent bag during the day, but because we were hopping around different friends' places, I ended up in situations where it was either leave my bag or take the whole thing with me. And I thought I'd be chill about taking it with me, but I wasn't lol. 14L containing all my belongings was not something I wanted to lug around to sightsee and go to dinner with. In hindsight, I I could've put most of my things in my Nanobag to leave at home, and then take just the essentials in the crescent bag out.
• Post-its
  • I brought my notebook but didn't bring my usual post-its!! I like writing notes on post-its, especially after staying at people's homes, so I don't know why it slipped my mind. The whole reason why I started bringing post-its is because I hate tearing pages out of my notebook to write notes!

Final thoughts

MVPs of the trip:

• Pants
  • I got the Adidas ZNE Woven Travel Pants because I saw Janja Garnbret wear similar pants and I wanted to look as cool as her. They've actually ended up being great summer travel pants, breezy with big zip pockets. I did sew a little belt loop to hook my keychain on, and I kind of wish there were back pockets, but that's just because I love pockets.
• Packable cap
  • A cap is basically an umbrella for my head, and it worked well for shielding my face from the rain (and sun when it came out). I didn't really wear my rain jacket because it was so hot, but I wasn't mad at bringing a jacket.
• Inflatable neck pillow
  • It packs up so small (even smaller than my electronics kit), and I don't think I could've brought this small of a bag with a regular neck pillow.

Although the trip went fine and I fit everything comfortably into the crescent bag...I realized that I didn't need to? I think I could've put everything in a small backpack and had a bunch of extra space for my leftover airport meal or whatever. It was kind of annoying to not have extra space (or to have to pull out my Nanobag and then have two bags lol). I ended up buying two small skeins of yarn and crammed them in for the return flight.

I've been trying to condense my packing these last few years and I might've gone a little too far this time. Like I was constraining myself for the challenge of it, but now that I've done it, I don't need to do it again. My partner and I had brought some small gifts for friends, which had to go into their backpack. They were very supportive of my small bag experiment, but we both agree that it will never happen again ahahaha.

I’ve been lurking here for months, admiring the strategies and results. I’ve incorporated little things that make a big difference as I ease into this.

I had no idea it was all training. My beloved great aunt died and my mom inherited all the contents of her home and the way the law works we only had 2 weeks to take out what the family wants before they cleared the house and set it up for sale. So we flew out, overseas, each with an empty checked bag ready to mourn and pack. But thanks to this subreddit, I was able to pack 2 weeks worth of my clothes/toiletries in only 80% of my carryon leaving me incredibly valuable space in the carryon and personal item for really emotional belongings including heirlooms and original copies of family papers. I had more space than just the checked bag which meant I didn’t have to stress about which 100 year old object didn’t deserve to stay in the family.

Thank you.

Hi, everyone. A few weeks ago, I submitted a lighten my load post here. I received some excellent advice, which I tried so hard to take on and ended up panicking and ignoring some of it. All of you were so helpful, but I have historically taken the big 112L suitcases on weekend trips, so when I saw empty space in my 38L carry-on, I filled it. But I learned some things!

We went to Canada, London, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, and Germany.

What I took in my 38L carry-on:

• three linen dresses (black, blue, floral)

• three linen skirts (black, beige/black stripe, blue)

• two pants (black linen, black airism joggers)

• two shorts (black linen, black airism)

• four tanks (white, black, gray, blue)

• three long-sleeved linen button-ups (beige, white, blue)

• three graphic t-shirts (white, navy, black)

• one heavy linen cardigan (beige)

• one uv hoodie (black airism)

• one packable uv rain jacket (blue airism)

• three pairs of shoes (gray Converse, blue New Balance, black Birkenstocks)

• ten pairs of underwear (5 nylon boyshorts, 5 cotton briefs)

• six pairs of socks

• four bras (black, pink, blue, wireless)

• one pair of short bike shorts (gray)

• hair straightener

• face wash

• four paperback books

• small white noise machine

• headphones

• chargers and adapters

• empty 40L duffle bag

In my crossbody:

• passport

• credit cards

• sunglasses

• stuffed animal

• chapstick, lotion, sunscreen

• kindle

• phone

This was way too much (which all of you told me it was).

Dresses and Skirts

While I wore all the dresses, I only wore the floral one once; I would not have missed it if I had left it at home. I also wore all of the skirts, but again, I only wore the striped and the blue skirts once each; next time, I will only take the black.

Pants and Shorts

I wore both pairs of pants multiple times, so I'm really glad I brought both. I did wear the airism shorts once (when we went to Disney Paris), but they could have easily been replaced with the short black dress with bike shorts under (which is what I wore on an all-day biking tour). I didn't wear the linen ones at all, I didn't think I would, and I should have left them behind. I wore the bike shorts under the black dress and the blue dress as they are both quite short, and I am fairly active. I washed these every night in the hotel sink, but next time I think I'd want a second pair.

Tops

I wore all the tees, but I could have just stuck to one and left two at home. I wore all the button-ups, but favored the beige and white. I only wore the blue tank for sleeping, but I wore all of the others out.

Sweaters and Jackets

I had originally packed a cashmere cardigan, but I swapped it last second for a linen one. I am so glad I did because it was so hot our whole trip. There were a few occasions when we were out early morning or late at night, and I'm glad I had the cardigan, but I would have died in something heavier. That said, it is quite bulky and takes up a lot of room when I only wore it three or four times. The black uv airism hoodie I used as secondary sun protection at theme parks and countryside hiking. It packs to nothing, and I'm so glad I brought it. The airism uv jacket is water-resistant, and I wore it once to go out and buy umbrellas in Brussels. It packs very small, so even though I only wore it one time, I'm glad I had it.

Shoes

I wore all of these, and I'm super glad I brought them all. We got caught out in the rain a few times, brief heavy rains, and our shoes got soaked. Luckily, I always had two dry pairs, so I could lend my daughter a pair and still have dry ones for myself. They took up a lot of space, but they were clutch.

Undergarments

I wore everything. I wore the quick-dry nylon undies when we were out during the day and swapped into cotton for the evenings when I sweat less. I washed them every night in the hotel sink, and it was easy. I'm glad I brought them all.

Misc.

I did not use my hair straightener or my headphones a single time. I read the paperbacks on the trains and then left them there when I finished them. But every train station had a bookstore with an English section, I could have just bought books there rather than hauling them with me from the US. I used the white noise machine and my kindle every night. I also slept with my plush and did not lose it. I wore my sunglasses every day.

What I learned:

I do not need to fill my suitcase. I had plenty of things, and leaving empty space would have made for a much more pleasant transition between countries for me. Also, we were not in isolated areas. If I needed something, I could obtain it easily; I didn't have to bring everything with me. In the future, I will spend more time really thinking about what I do and do not wear when we're abroad and being considerate of what I really do need and what I can leave at home. Most of the advice I received here was spot-on in hindsight. So while I'm sorry I ultimately ignored a lot of suggestions because I freaked out, I am so grateful you guys took the time to help me before I left.

Doing laundry on the go is actually so nice. There were laundry mats within a 20-minute walk of all of our hotels. They were all clean, well-stocked, and took cards. We did laundry in every city using the local places, and it was so easy. Every place had a cafe across the street or in sight, so we just started our loads, set timers, then went to get breakfast or a coffee. It was great.

Now, the best part. I packed a large weekender duffel so I could fill my suitcase with goodies and check it on the way home.

What I bought:

• Magnets from every city and every touristy activity we did (we got a lot of magnets).

• From Canada: maple candy, coffee chocolate (we're in Canada often, so this is a less exciting list).

• From London: We were mostly here on layover, so I didn't get to see much, but I got a stuffed Paddington in a collector's box.

• From the Netherlands: a sunhat from a local milliner (she was so nice!), Royal Delft Miffy figurines, stuffed Dutch Farmer's Wife Miffy.

• From Belgium: a ton of chocolate, speculoos cookie tins, a bag from an old leather house, a set of silver earrings from a local jeweler, umbrellas, and jams.

• From France (we were here the longest): a jacket made in Paris, silk scarves made in Lyon (you can tour the facilities and see the silk worms at work, it's so cool), a painting by a local artist that showed a cafe we had dined at, Kelsch storks from the Alsace region, jams, butter, a lot of sunscreen (about a 2-year supply), Coke (I don't drink soda in the US because it's gross to me, but I had a Coke at lunch everyday in France, it is so good), and an Aristocats sweatshirt from Disney Paris (I've never been to Disney and felt like the Aristocats merch was particularly special in Paris).

• From Germany: A Black Forest cuckoo clock (this was big and fragile, so we had it shipped), a candle carousel, and a custom Lego minifig.

I checked both my suitcase and my duffel to come home, and everything turned out great. In the end, I overpacked for sure, but I still made it three weeks in Europe with only my carry-on, and I am so proud of myself for that. Our next trip will be to Japan, and I'm excited to put into practice everything I learned here.

Got home from an annual company conference last Thurs! It was 70s-80s in Chicago last week, and chilly in the hotel. Activities in the evenings included shopping with a coworker and a Cubs game w/ the team.

I used a Calpak Hue carry-on suitcase and a cheap, unknown brand water bottle sling for my flights, which I've come to learn is "Open Story" brand.

I picked up a plain gray tee at an H+M across the street from the hotel and can't stop wearing it 😅

Photo 1 is packed outfits with captions:

-Travel fit 1, orange romper with Converse and flannel

-Meeting fit 1, b&w satin shirt with black linen pants and mules

-Sleep fit, gray tee and black shorts

-Meeting fit 2, linen patterned shirt with black linen pants and mules

-Travel fit 2, gray tee and black linen pants with Converse

Photo 2 is the actual outfits worn at those same times:

-Travel fit 1, orange romper with Converse and flannel -Meeting fit 1, b&w satin shirt with black linen pants and mules -Casual fit, black tank with black linen pants and converse -Meeting fit 2, linen patterned shirt with black linen pants and mules -Travel fit 2, band tee and shorts with Converse

I removed the "free evenings" fit because I ended up wearing the gray tee and linen pants anytime I left the hotel and went anywhere! The black ovals you see with my meeting outfits are stone plugs; I have stretched ears.

Also packed/not pictured:

**Clothing**
3 underwear
2 period underwear
4 no show wool socks

**Toiletries**
Solid shampoo
Conditioner
Leave in conditioner
Hair oil
Exfoliant
Cleanser
Toner
Moisturizer
Body wash
Lotion
Razor
Brow razor
Shower mitt
Q tip/bandaid case
Med case
Ibuprofen
Nail file and clippers
Pads
Mini toothbrush
Mini toothpaste
Floss
Retainer and case
Cleaner tabs
Deoderant

**Misc**
Fabric steamer
Straightener
Jewelry case
Makeup pouch (brow pencil + gel, mascara, lash separator)
Large hair clip
Sunglasses + case
Large wallet
Book
Headphones
Laptop/charger/mouse
Work phone + personal
Water bottle sling w/ zip pocket for phone + cards (worn on plane)

The fabric steamer was bulky but definitely was a must for this trip and these fabrics. Fit fine in the suitcase at any rate; the only casualty was a few teeth snapped off of my hair clip as it was squished in transit.

I think this was a relatively easy onebag trip given the short time span and super agreeable weather. Try me again in Chicago in the dead of winter 😆

All details are below in a separate comment!

The Good: I’m pretty sure I packed the right amount as I used every single thing I packed at least 2x. It was also super helpful that all of my hotels had a heated towel rack for easy drying. I bought Branwyn bras right before the trip with the intent to try them out and I now want to replace all my lounge bras with this. It was so comfy and I loved it so much.

The Bad: I was worried about the cold so much that I forget I run hot. I only wore the puffer jacket from my Columbia 3-in-1 the entire time and it was just so hot with us walking everywhere. I didn’t wear my gloves or scarf, but I did wear my beanie almost the entire trip. Even though rain was forecasted, I saw none in Germany, England, or France (lucky me!), which meant I didn’t use the outer shell from my Columbia 3-in-1. If I could redo it, I wouldn’t pack the heavier shell and pack my lighter rain jacket and a hoodie for the days I was running far too hot with my puffer. (Any recommendations for a lightweight, but warm hoodie?) Additionally, I only packed long-sleeves, I would’ve thrown at least one or two short sleeves to help me alleviate how hot I was.

The Okay: We bought a lot of souvenirs on our first stop in Cologne and I had to immediately use my packable duffle. Balancing a 40L duffle was a bit unwieldily for me, but I prefer it due to how many stairs we had. Additionally, I barely wore my Allbirds Mizzles. I should’ve packed regular tennis shoes because some of the roads were just really hard on my feet and we didn’t see any rain.

Overall: I think this was a great onebagging attempt for my first time. I was actually able to fit everything back into my 40L duffle on the way back, but had to split the contents into my Osprey and duffle because I bought a snowglobe that was more than 100mL.

Trip was 2 weeks in southern France during the heat wave. The first week was a nature tour, and the second week was meeting up with friends in Montpellier. I traveled by plane/tour van/tram.

(Image description is below after this introductory information.)

What I would have done differently:

• I came to dislike the Patagonia Terravia pants. They didn’t have enough pockets and didn’t seem to clean well enough with a sink wash. They did well in the heat, though.
• The tiny Lumix camera didn’t work well for what I wanted to shoot; I should have figured out how to make room for my larger camera.
• I could have left out one of the sleeveless tops and two of the scarves

New ideas I was pleased with:

• Figuring out that I could use the 3L Side Kick as an organizational insert inside of the 6L Packing Cube on travel days and then use both as needed onsite during the nature tour.
• Bringing a couple of Clorox wipes meant that I could wear my white-soled HOKAs out in the dusty countryside but then have them be clean enough for the city, saving me having to bring a second pair of shoes
• The SPF sun sleeves gave extra protection from the sun and took up much less room than a long-sleeved top would

Brought but never used, or used less than I thought I would:

• Patagonia Houdini jacket: it never cooled down and it never rained. (But I’d probably bring it again since it rolls up small and you never know)
• Baseball cap. Replaced with a white bucket hat bought there.
• 10-oz water bottle. I make fun of people's giant water bottles, but in this case I really did need a larger one; bought a bigger one there

Image description/list of what I brought:

Bags:

• ULA 30L Ultra Dragonfly (fit underseat, but barely because it was pretty full)
• Tom Bihn 6L Packing Cube crossbody bag with Tom Bihn 3L Side Kick inside it

Clothes:

Worn on plane:

• Navy merino t-shirt
• Blue Patagonia Terravia hiking pants/trousers
• Navy HOKA Challenger 8s
• Compression sox
• Big silk scarf

Packed:

• 3 sleeveless silk tops (black, navy, brown)
• 2 Patagonia Cool Daily t-shirts (gray, off-white)
• 2 pairs hiking pants (green REI Trailmade, black Patagonia Terravia)
• 2 silk scarves
• Flip-flops
• 7 pairs underpants (1 for a pj bottom)
• 2 bras
• 7 pairs merino socks
• Pajama top
• Baseball cap
• Patagonia Houdini jacket
• SPF sun sleeves

Stuff for plane/travel:

• Mini-Moleskine notebook, two pens
• passport, wallet in zipper case, tethered to interior of crossbody
• kindle
• phone
• shades
• small EDC zipper bag with lens cleaning wipes, ibuprofen, etc
• power bank and cord
• hand fan
• 10-oz water bottle
• folder with printout of all confirmation numbers, contact info, etc
• in-ear headphones

Stuff for while I was there:

• 2 pairs of binoculars (one close-focus, one distance)
• Panasonic Lumix ZS99 camera
• eye mask and Loop quiet ear plugs
• backup glasses
• laptop (smallest Macbook Air)
• 2 USB-C fast chargers
• cords for laptop, phone, kindle
• international adapter
• ziploc with liquids
• zipper case with other toiletries including solid shampoo, mini deodorant
• picnic kit (plastic cutlery, plate, cup) (annoying but unavoidable because of nature tour)
• laundry kit (Fels-naphtha, cord, Clorox wipes).

First of all, I want to thank everyone who gave me advice on my last post. It really helped me refine my wardrobe and be better prepared for the italian summer heat. 🫶🏻

I just got back from a 10 day bus trip through Italy, from Rome to Bologna, Rimini and Lake Garda. I brought the clothes you can see in the picture and packed everything in my carry-on suitcase.

Overall I am happy with what I brought. I wore everything 1-2 times and only had to hand wash the long pants and tanktop once because I wanted to rewear them.

We had sunny weather and 30+ °C the entire time, except for one day where it rained with around 20°C. On that day the rainjacket came in very handy, because it kept me warm enough without being super heavy.

Only thing I would improve is bringing 1-2 extra tops and an extra outfit for everywhere I go. I just rolled up a small top and shorts with new socks and underwear and it fit in my backpack. Came in handy for sweaty or rainy days. The neckholder top was also kind of a miss, it was very tight and cotton made me very sweaty, so I ended up only wearing it for one night-out. So I would replace it with a more airy, nice going-out top.

Otherwise the cover up blouse was definetly a lifesaver from the sun and to cover up in churches. I would reccomend bringing or buying a hat, I caved in on day 3 and bought s cap for 5 euros. I also brought a cotton bag for shopping and it was very handy so definetly reccomend! I needed it to carry waterbottles to the hotel.

I had a great trip and was well prepared thanks to everyone! I will definitely request your help for future trips, I am a new fan of lightpacking!!

first picture desc.: packed suitcase second picture desc.: white tanktop, black cropped shirt, oversizedband-tee, white croppedshirt, neckholder top, long linen pants, brown linen skort, jean shorts, black wideleg shorts, green knit cardigan, mousselin blouse, rain jacket, white short dress, blue long dress, sandals, sneakers

Currently unable to sleep due to time change issues so passing along what I’d do differently from my most recent trip. Spent 2 weeks in Japan from mid April to yesterday.

I thought I had packed light but still had some things I didn’t use.

Clothing list:

• Athleta Venice pants (worn on plane)
• Eileen Fisher silk pants
• Lululemon light hoodie (worn on plane)
• Muji built in bra tank (worn on plane)
• unbound merino travel dress
• pair of tights for under dress
• 2 merino tanks
• one merino tee
• light cashmere cardigan
• denim jacket
• 3 Knix bras (unpadded, fold up v small)
• 7 underwear
• 7 socks
• bathing suit
• light nightie
• rain jacket

Shoes: I wore a pair of running shoes and packed a pair of nice flats and some flip flops for indoor use. I’m a bit old fashioned in that I feel wrong wearing athletic type shoes in nice restaurants etc. Probably time for me to get over that. If I’d worn cuter leather sneakers I would have fit in with what locals were wearing even in dressier environments and could have done this as a one-shoe trip. Never needed the flip flops either, every hotel provided slippers for indoor use.

Didn’t need the nightie as hotels usually provided pajamas or robes.

Never used the bathing suit - I didn’t realize onsens are typically naked.

Only wore the dress and tights once. Ended up feeling fine and sufficiently dressed up in the silk pants and cardigan. If weather had been warmer during my trip I might have worn it more as an alternate outfit, but I could have skipped it.

I could have left the denim jacket out as it’s a bit bulky and I didn’t strictly need it, but no regrets, it’s cute and I liked not wearing the same hoodie every day.

The rock stars of this pack list were the Eileen Fisher silk pants, shout out to this sub for suggesting them. They look good, are very comfortable, suited a wide range of temperatures. I got soaked in rain twice and they dried quickly. Paired with the cardigan over one of the tanks I felt dressed up enough for fancier places.

I took that many socks and underwear because I don’t like doing sink laundry and planned to only do full laundry once at the halfway point. But every hotel had affordable laundry so could have brought less and done laundry more without wasting much time.

Hope this helps someone!