Breaking the RS rules on Traveling Light--Questions

1. Luggage "thievery" is not a major concern especially on a train like the Eurostar where you do through pretty good security and immigration prior to boarding. And the luggage bins hold a lot of luggage. We have used the luggage bins on trains all over Europe for 20 plus years with no problems.

2. What is the answer other than they might or might not? I would think that a lot depends on the amount of storage area they have and just how much luggage you have. And it might depend on the mood of the desk clerk when you ask. Hotels, for obvious reasons, are not big on long term, multi-day storage. Since you like the idea of large luggage and over packing, then just understand the consequences and learn how to deal with it. No one says you have to travel light. Traveling light only serves your conveniences, no one else, so no rule to break.

I agree luggage thievery is not a major problem on the Eurostar, however, it can and does still occur. I usually travel with a backpack and a small roller, but if my luggage is away from me, I make sure it is locked and then add a small luggage cable lock and wrap it around the luggage holder bar. If you feel you have to bring a large suitcase, try to stay away from the large obnoxious sized suitcases, you know, the ones that barely squeeze down the aisle and get in the way. The more slender cases can actually fit over your seat on the Eurostar.

Since you are returning to the same hotel, I would expect they will store your bags. 9 total nights are a lot of business you are giving them. I assume Premier Inns have some sort of a reward program? If you haven’t joined it, being just a basic member will help as well. Plus you’ll get 9 nights of points.

Good luck getting an answer--any answer--from Premier Inn. I like the hotels a lot, but their responsiveness to emails and handling of phone calls are really poor. The corporate website is also pretty bad, but I think I recall seeing "luggage storage" listed as a service for some of the hotels. I assume they are referring to check-in/check-out days, but if you see that on the website for your particular hotel, I'd consider that encouraging. If it isn't mentioned, that's not necessarily bad news (see above re: bad website). But the chain is known for providing high-value-to-price-ratio rooms, not for outstanding, go-above-and-beyond service

In addition, I trust you realize that luggage security in hotels cannot be relied on. I've seen dozens of bags just sitting out in the hallway of a rather nice US hotel, because the luggage-storage area was full. Similar situations have occurred in several of my budget hotels in Europe.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Premier Inn rooms aren't large. It's entirely likely you won't find it easy to open a large suitcase anywhere other than on the bed. And I'm not positive you'll be able to store a large bag (much less two of them), plus two backpacks, in your room and keep walkways clear. There's also limited hanging space in most if not all PI rooms. There will probably be 6 hangers. You can try asking for more. You may or may not actually get them. Even if you do, I'm not sure how many will fit on the short hanging bar.

I have no reason to think you'll run into a luggage-capacity issue on the Eurostar (I've never ridden it), but I have had that problem with a 25" bag (that's counting the wheels, so not a large bag) on two French trains during the month of July. No place to put a bag except in the vestibule of the car where it was blocking one of the doors. So instead of sitting in my seat, I had to camp out in the vestibule on a flip-down seat for a few hours, moving the bag from side to side, depending on whether the left-side door or the right-side door opened. It was annoying.

I'm pretty sure you're going to regret this.

We traveled a couple of years ago on the Eurostar from London to Paris. Two females in our party both carried a larger piece of luggage (think the medium size in a set of three pieces) for three reasons:

1. To bring back all our treasures (souvenirs)
2. Because we don't like to wash clothes on vacation
3. Because some in our party have a lot of "beauty" products to bring along. Yes, even travel sizes don't always cut it for them if we are gone for longer trips.
   

SO...we don't follow the pack light rule.

On the Eurostar it was a bit harder to deal with larger pieces of luggage because they have to be kept on the end if there is no room near your seat, or sometimes this isn't possible because the luggage would be in the way of others. However, it can be done, it is just a little bit of a struggle trying to get them stacked etc. when other people are waiting behind you to get on the train. Even so, we'd do it again. We try to get out of the way of others and offer them sincere apologies, but we would especially do it if we didn't have to travel from place to place that often. We just can't/don't want to travel with a carry on size. Rule breakers!!!!

I’m a bit shocked about the comment that Premier Inn rooms aren’t large.

I stayed at 2 on my December London excursion. I’ve been to London proper numerous times so chose to stay in the Chiswick and Richmond suburbs.

Both of my stays were at Premier Inns and both rooms weren’t small. Traveled with a 22 inch roller bag. In both rooms were sofa beds along with the twin bed. I’d put the bag on top of the sofa beds and unpack them.

The Chiswick Premier Inn was a 20 minute walk from the Turnham Green Station and was a converted office building at a roundabout. Only things nearby were a Tesla office and the George and Devonshire Pub which was part of the adjacent Fullers Factory.

The Richmond Premier inn ( room 220 ) was plenty roomy.

Now if you want small opt for 105 at 63 Bayswater.

The PIs were fine for me alone, but with a second person in the room (I was sleeping on the sofa bed), luggage space was at a premium. With two people in the room you need to be able to walk around both sides of the bed, even if only to access the sofa-bed.

We don't know how large Willy's bag(s) will be, or the size of the backpacks.

I think you’re fine with the amount of luggage you’re bringing. I adhere to pack smart not pack light and find all these light packing challenges absurd.

The big question will be the leaving the luggage at the Premier Inn for three days. That’s not normal and if the hotel manager remembers the IRA days, it may be an absolute no go. There’s probably some corporate wide policy that she or him can look the other way at, but it’ll definitely depend on who’s in charge.

The rooms are certainly big enough to open the suitcases in. And, it’s too bad but they don’t have a loyalty program.

We stayed at Premier Inn County Hall and the room would have been fine for your size of luggage, but I agree with acraven about the hangers - we didn’t have a closest. I also agree with her about contacting them ahead of time - no luck there for us. However, service once we were on-site was excellent. You don’t mention which PI, but if you were willing to share, we might have some plan B options for you in terms of luggage storage.

If you can't leave the bigger bags at the hotel, you might be able to leave them at the station in London. I couldn't find rail service between London and Devizes on the National Rail website so I don't know how you're doing this, but that website should have info about services at the London station you'll be using. Or, worst case, lug the stuff to your Devizes hotel and back to London.

Sounds like a good trip, glad you're giving each city enough time to appreciate it.

Thanks for all the comments so far! Moocho grassyass!

So, more details: The bag(s) will be the standard large luggage piece(s)--29-inches tall. maybe one, maybe two. IF two pieces, the plan will be to pack a normal 21-inch carry-on INSIDE one of the large pieces for the flight to Europe, then have the small piece as a separate bag for the return trip, which will cost extra and be pre-paid. We really won't be "overpacking" very much, though I'd love to bring our WaterPik LOL (still need to explore the electricity issue for the WaterPik). The "backpacks" are small Ravenna fabric day packs with straps for carrying on one's back--just for personal stuff like medications, IPad, IPods, guide books, pre-booked museum/transportation tickets and such that we don't want (the airline) to lose. Flight to Europe is on Level Spain/Iberia and they're pretty rigid about carry-on sizes and numbers. Flight home is Air New Zealand and the third bag will cost €60. We'll be staying at PI St. Pancras. Oh, and re the train to Devizes. Indeed, the train doesn't go there, so we ride it to Chippenham, then take a taxi to Devizes.

I didn't know that "left luggage" was a thing, so, in Googling it, I found an outfit called Stashers. They will hold a bag for £6 per day AND provide £1,000 insurance with that fee (we'll leave only clothing behind). Comically, they list PI as one of their partners and show St Pancras PI on their map of stash locations. Stashers appears to have a great many stash points all over London. Emma--no worries re locking/tieing our bags on the Eurostar. Also, we're not "worried" about theft; it's just an open question. Too much information is a good thing! (I'm an engineer--a blessing and a curse. ;«) ) FWIW, we've traveled some in the USA on Amtrak, where larger luggage is stored in a common "remote" location and we've never had a problem.

Again, thanks to y'all for the comments.

Edited to add: A US version WaterPik will NOT work in Europe. The 110 volt vs. the 220 volt issue.

We made a train trip from Nice to Paris last June and I was somewhat concerned about luggage theft as we had friend who had luggage stolen off a train in France. I observed at every stop how people out of sight of their luggage would get up and check on it and then come back and sit down. At first I thought people were just moving about, but over a few stops I noticed it to be a pattern. I can't tell you for sure what nationalities my fellow passengers were, but based on clothing and that some were on laptops working during the trip, many that checked their luggage were French business men and women.

You'd be more maneuverable if you had two 24" or 25" bags instead of one 29" bag. I realize the need to place the small bag inside a larger one for much of the trip means the larger bag has to be fairly sizeable.

Have you considered just buying something cheap in Europe if it turns out you need to, rather than carrying an empty bag with you? You could travel back home with all your fragile things packed into one of your sturdy outbound bags or a carry-on. The new, cheap bag could be full of clothes and other non-breakables. That's the way a lot of folks get their purchases home.

TJ Maxx is known as TK Maxx in the UK and likely has a typical selection of discount luggage options.

Most PI's will store luggage for the day, although that might be less likely at those based at airports or near motorways. I'm less sure they would store for multiple days (I imagine they won't). The best way to be definite would be to ring the specific PI you're visiting. I've always found the local staff very helpful. It's not immediately obvious on the website but the local reception number is usually shown. Even if they say "no", the local receptionist will probably know an alternative.

I wouldn't worry about luggage being stolen on the Eurostar. Perhaps it has happened, but I suspect less often than at airports. Buying a Eurostar ticket with just the hope of stealing a bag containing more than someone's dirty pants isn't a great criminal idea. Locking your bag to the rack is dangerous and anti-social.

Instead of taking a large bag with a 21" inside it why don't you just take the 21" (much more manageable) and then buy another bag if you buy enough stuff over there that you need an extra bag to bring it all home. They sell suitcases of all sizes and types all over London.

Thanks again for the comments and suggestions.

acraven & Isabel: We own just the two large (29-inch) bags and two older carry-ons, which are just a bit too large to qualify as carry-ons today--are the airlines and the luggage manufacturers in cahoots? LOL We have considered the possibility of buying an extra bag once in Europe, but...we really don't need another bag, especially a cheap one. Why buy a new bag when we can bring one from home for "free"? Using just the two carry-ons we own will be, to some degree, a limiting factor in what we can bring. At this point, we don't care to buy two new bags just to have the 25-inch size. The cheapest route seems to be to bring the two large bags (with the one carry-on inside of one of them) and then just dealing with the potential inconveniences as we encounter them. Also, the carry-on will be used for the trip to Devizes, assuming we can identify a place for left luggage. We could use just one 29-inch and one carry-on and we could easily get to Europe with those, but then coming back we'll likely need a third bag as one of the purchases we'll likely make is a set of four (delicate) Spanish cazuela six-inch clay cooking dishes. We've no idea what purchases might strike our fancy in Paris or London/England (well, besides a Dishoom cookbook), if anything. This our first, but hopefully not last, trip to Europe. Lessons will no doubt be learned the "hard way" and we can reassess upon our return. Meanwhile, we're still mulling this over and may well convince ourselves to accept a different idea, thanks to the suggestions here, in the coming days/weeks. Our itinerary has certainly evolved greatly over these past months!

Be very careful about the packed weight of your large suitcase(s). Check the checked-baggage weight limit for your air carrier. A 29" bag is heavy even when empty. It doesn't get lighter when you put a carry-on bag inside it. Overweight-baggage fees are very steep, and the one-way fee could exceed the cost of a new (cheap-from-TJMaxx-or-Marshalls) suitcase.

Willy,
Have you traveled in Europe before? If so, have you traveled for this long before?

Your main bags will be stored at the end of the rail car on the Eurostar. There is overhead storage for smaller bags at your seat.

I see by your question on another thread you must be senior citizens like us. Do either of you have any health issues? The good news is that you won't be changing locations often. However, since you're taking public transportation, you'll be doing your share of schlepping. Keep that in mind when planning. "We're bringing at least one full sized piece of luggage--maybe two--". Do you mean one piece each or two altogether? I suggest you go up one size from carry on but not the huge full size pieces.

We like to bring back souvenirs as well - something to help us remember the great times we had, as well as little mementos for the grandkids. We seek out locally produced items, especially artwork. There's a photographer in London who uses the 19th century wet plate process to photograph landmarks. I bought a small print from him. We also found a children's book being sold by the author and brought our granddaughter a signed copy.

acraven: Yep, we're keenly aware of the weight limits and always check bag weights before leaving for the airport. One of the large bags is evidently from the age of dinosaurs and weighs 17 pounds on its own! The other one and the carry-on weigh 17 pounds together, so 66 pounds available between the two with the carry-on in one. I'll call it 60 pounds to leave some cushion.

DougMac: First time to Europe, no health issues (assuming corona virus isn't running rampant by then), and, yep, we're officially geezers now. Other than our flights (three of 'em--home and back, plus Madrid to Paris), Eurostar and the train to Chippenham, we'll be carrying no luggage on "public transportation"--it'll be strictly taxis to/from airports and train stations. We each have one large bag and one backpack, plus the stored carry-on. I can see no good reason, given the way we're traveling, to lug anything around each day. The idea of needing luggage storage in a museum or other site seems foreign to me. It's not the way we want to travel.

ONE OF YOUR BAGS WEIGHS 17 lbs ON ITS OWN???!!!

I don't usually shout on the Forum, but this is absolute folly.

Kim: Sounds crazy to me too, hence I referred to it as a dinosaur. It is what it is.

It is but I am not sure we are not being played a little. But good fun. Willy please promise us you will come back with a complete trip report. I will not public admit to how much luggage we took on our first trip to Europe in '93.

Frank: Played a little???
I do promise a sterling trip report. I’ve even bought a small Moleskine-like notebook for accurate records.

We each have one large bag and one backpack, plus the stored carry-on. I can see no good reason, given the way we're traveling, to lug anything around each day. The idea of needing luggage storage in a museum or other site seems foreign to me. It's not the way we want to travel.

We took our first of several trips to Europe in 1966. We've done organized tours, river cruises and traveled independently. We've used public transportation and rented cars.

Our favorite way to travel by far is light and low to the ground. We prefer to be unencumbered. It's amazing how little you really need if you pack strategically. Travel as you prefer, but you came here asking advice. It is my opinion that you are taking too much/too large luggage. During our travels I've seen any number of tourists struggling with numerous large pieces, I've been thankful I wasn't one of them.

Have you considered an inexpensive, lightweight duffel or two as your “extra” luggage?

One of the large bags is evidently from the age of dinosaurs and weighs 17 pounds on its own!

This is the time to either get yourself a new bag or borrow a bag from a friend or relative,

Keep in mind that most that most airlines have very high fees on overweight bags. It is very easy to exceed that weight when you have a large suitcase. How are you getting between Madrid and Paris? Luggage allowances are even less on intra Europe flights,

Rather than putting a regular carry-on inside your large bag, consider taking something small and lightweight like a nylon duffel.

The Dishoom cookbook (and most UK books) can be ordered from Book Depository. Browse while you are in the UK, but if you are buying lots of books you might want to save your back and have them shipped.
https://www.bookdepository.com/Dishoom-Shamil-Thakrar/9781408890677

Oh, good point about the trip from Madrid to Paris. That's not likely to be on a plane with a 50-lb. weight limit.

Hi all

So, to address the recent comments and questions:

1) The flight from Madrid to Paris is with Air France and the baggage limit it 23 kg (50.7 pounds) per bag. We will, as always, be careful and weigh our baggage so as not to exceed the weight limits.
2) I really like the idea of a nylon duffle instead of our current carry-on. Lightweight and inexpensive--win-win! I see a duffel bag in our future. Thanks JKL and Laura.
3) Yes. I came here with questions and I am eagerly soaking up ALL of the advice. I will note that my two original questions have been well answered: 1) Eurostar will have a place for our bags, and 2) If we can't leave our bags at the PI in London, the company Stashed is a good alternative. With a duffle bag, we may just be able to go with one large bag and one carry-on.
4) I really don't see us "struggling" with one or two large bags, except perhaps briefly at Eurostar at Gare du Nord, where my better half will likely need my help in getting her bag up the train stairs if we go with two large bags. We've travelled all over the US with (generally only one) large bag and it hasn't been an issue.
5) We can certainly buy the Dishoom cookbook stateside (bless Amazon), but having purchased it at the restaurant will make it a "special" memory, assuming it is sold in the restaurant. Plus, we can taste the food before we buy. Heck, we might even be able to get our waiter to sign it. ;«)

Thanks again for all the advice!

Willy

Note that Eurostar does limit the amount of luggage your allowed to bring. It's quite generous (two "large" bags and a small handbag per adult), but not unlimited. Also don't bring knives or other potentially dangerous items. See https://www.eurostar.com/us-en/travel-info/travel-planning/luggage.

Some Eurostar departures run nonstop between London and Paris while others do make a couple of stops.

Large Bags and trains are just no fun at all, and your large bags sound not only large but heavy. Europeans just don’t do this when they travel and after lugging two 26” bags on trains several years ago, I won’t ever again! For any future train trip, I wouldn’t lug anything over a 22.” I might carry 2, if necessary, but nothing larger. They get heavy, cumbersome, and must be lugged up and down stairs or escalators (if you are lucky) and in crowded spaces. Also, you may have a limited time to get them on or off a train with uneven elevations from the train to the landing, and the spaces to store larger bags on trains is limited. Traveling in Europe you will find that cabs are smaller than you might expect and large bags don’t fit well there and in smaller hotel rooms. Once at your location, you may have to roll your bag some distance and the streets and sidewalks may be uneven. We have also learned not to lug much stuff home, especially larger and heavy stuff. You will be surprised what you can buy here or what you can buy there and ship home if necessary. On a trip to China several years ago, I just couldn’t resist bringing some things home so I bought an inexpensive bag there to stuff some things in to bring home so that advice is good. . For an upcoming trip to Paris, I might take a lightweight 25” bag, but I only have to take it from the airport to a van and to the hotel and then return home. You might want to seriously rethink your bag situation for smaller and lighter bags. Some airlines restrict size (HxWxD)as well as weight so you may want to check that as well as weight because bag cost can become expensive. The older bags may have worked for you in the past, but may not be ideal for this trip. I rarely hear people say they wish they had lugged more STUFF and larger bags. BTW, we have found that the Rick Steves Hide-Away Tote Bag is a handy item to travel with on Europe Trips and traveling here in the the USA and around home.

What JKL said - my husband and I both travel with carry ons. At the start or our trips overseas, we'd visit my sister in the UK before coming home and would borrow a weekender bag from her for our purchases, which my mom would take back when she went to visit. And we'd also expand our bags. The last few trips we've taken little folding bags (2 - one is from Ikea and is a backpack type bag but folds really small) and again have had more than enough room for our purchases.

I did see at a local shop a compact duffel that was probably about 8x8 when in it's pocket, but expanded out to what looked like a full size duffel - I was so tempted, but it was $50 (it was a good quality one) and the two others I have are fine.

So why not look at something like that - take your large bag, but take a folding duffel...here's a list...

https://www.smartertravel.com/foldable-travel-bags/

This is the Ikea bag we got - https://www.ikea.com/ca/en/p/knalla-backpack-black-white-90330483/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIiOHD0Jzl5wIVgZOzCh2DgQwLEAYYBiABEgKgVfD_BwE

I really don’t see us “struggling” with large bags...

That’s because you haven’t traveled in Europe. Those who responded have. Notice a trend? Your replies indicate you are determined to ignore the advice (which is based on experience) that we have offered and take too much luggage.

I don’t know how more plainly we can say it. Please don’t do it. I guarantee you’ll have a better experience if you scale back your luggage.

29"? TWO 29" bags? A 29" bag that weighs 17 POUNDS on its own? Very kindly but how is that even possible? Is it a steamer trunk?

My DH and I flout the RS packing-light "rules" with our much-loved, two-wheeled 24" Travel Pros but wouldn't consider anything larger than that. With additional carryons, they've provided enough room for multi-week trips (we do laundry now and again and don't mind; it's part of the adventure) + room to bring home museum books and other mementos of the trip. Mine, packed to leave home, weighs under 25 lbs.

Yep, European hotel rooms can be plenty cozy! Depending on size and /or configuration, two 29" bags could have you crawling over the top of them from bed to bathroom. Also, not all European hotels have elevators, and their stairs can be darn steep. Train/metro stations may or may not have elevators/escalators and/or they may be out of service.

The thing about elevators is that they are sometimes out of service. I wish more train stations had ramps, which don't break, but very few do.

If you are moving around on trains and whatnot, you most likely will struggle with larger bags.

I mentioned earlier my hubs and I only take carry on. Even our first trip - we followed Rick's travel light advice. In 2014, my mom came to Italy with us. She had been visiting with my sister in the UK when we collected her. At the time she was still taking my sister's possessions over that she couldn't take when she moved in 2007. So she took a carry on, as well as an either 29 or 32 inch. Of course, those two bags came to Italy with us. We didn't even move around that much - flew to Naples, train/bus to Amalfi Coast, train to Rome then to Venice (12 or 13 nights).

It really reinforced our travel light philosophy. My hubs ended up dragging her big case and one or two of the personal items. I had his carry on and mine, and my mom (who is a senior so we aren't going to make her take the big bag) had her carry on and the other personal size. On and off buses, trains, up and down stairs, over cobblestones, onto the subway and vaporettos. Hindsight - we should have left her bag in the UK and had one of the grandkids bring it to London.

If all goes well, she is coming back to Italy with us next year and has already committed to only taking her carry on (or at least only a 24 inch as opposed to the big one).

Willy, I hope you have a wonderful trip and look forward to your trip report! For what it’s worth, I’d consider checking your older, now too big carry on bags and investing in those nylon duffels or current carry on bags. I’ve posted often how much I love the 2 wheel Travel pro 22” roll aboard which can be found well under $100...and weigh in under 6 lbs. I am sure your 17 lb dinosaur has served you well, but if there is more travel in your future...retire that baby !

Just at this moment there is a great deal of luggage on sale. Macy's has a lot of things (including TravelPro) at 50% off (yes, I know you can usually find luggage at a discount year-round). And there were more bags than usual when I checked TJMaxx and Marshalls a bit over a week ago.

The wirecutter.com review site gives Travelpro highest ratings. When I compare Macy's discount price for the 'Platinum Elite 21"', it is $255 at Macy's (reduced from $600 list) but the current price at Amazon is $202. They could be different models, but I didn't see much of a difference. Ebags.com also lists it at $600, with a current price of $245.

I've been lurking here, reading all the responses. My absolute favorite forum discussion about packing and luggage is this one, "Why didn't I listen to you, Rick? Packing." It's from late 2018 and closed now, but the comments are highly relevant to this discussion about taking big, awkward, heavy luggage.

I hope you read all the comments there and learn from them. Many admit to taking too much stuff on their first or early trips to Europe.

As others up thread said, you're facing lots of challenges, not the least of which will be getting those gigantic, awkward and heavy bags up and down stairs, including on and off trains with narrow and steep steps and a gap between the platform and those steps.

By the way, don't plan on anyone helping you. There are no porters. Taxi drivers will help with getting your bags out of the taxi, but they are highly unlikely to take them into the station or lodging for you. It's also unlikely that there will be any luggage carts available anywhere, much less any that could handle all you plan to take.

You are only going to be gone for 19 nights. It's incomprehensible to me that you need that much volume for such a short trip. I Googled the volume of 29" bags with wheels. When I converted the unexpanded available packing volume from cubic inches to liters, it was about 102.

At 74 I will sometimes accept help with my "large" bag, but I travel solo and remain a firm believer in the concept that if I can't manage my own luggage on my own, I shouldn't be going.

My go-to bag these days is an International one (20.25x14x8) that has a volume of 36 liters. I used it last summer for a 5-week trip. When I
weighed it full at the airport, it weighed about 17 pounds. The fact that your 29" bags weigh that much empty really got my attention. My bag can expand to 9.25" deep, making the volume 39 liters. I've never expanded it mostly because I haven't needed to, but I might do that for my flights in May.

Regardless of luggage size, IMHO coordinating clothes so that everything goes with everything else, packing for a week and doing laundry along the way (either in the room or at a laundromat), is much better than schlepping an XL or over 20 pound bag.

I'm also looking forward to your report on how things went after you get back.

Thanks to all who have made comments and specific luggage models/sales. A quick update:

By yesterday afternoon, our plan was to use one large suitcase and one carry-on, then buy a nylon duffel bag in Europe if we needed the space. That's all out the window now as I looked more closely at the fine print and discovered the maximum size limitations on luggage--58-inches for L+W+H. We sit at 62-inches.

So, we either use two the carry-ons we own or buy one new 25-ish inch bag and use it with one carry-on. Anyhoo, we'll hold off for a couple of weeks and just stew on it.

Thanks again!

Personally I find it easier to handle two 21",22" bags than one 25" bag. The 25" is obviously bigger and heavier, more awkward, with some limitations as to where it can be stored. With two smaller bags it is simply easier to store and to handle.

This is when I know RS has infiltrated my world - I consider a “full-sized” bag to be 24-25”. Most, if not all, of us recommend the carry-on size bag because of an incident with large luggage. Perhaps there’s a new thread in here as to what incident made us decide to pack light. Our incident was a 29” duffle that lost a wheel as we were dragging it through the streets of Cherbourg from the train station to the ferry dock, because on Sunday late afternoon there were no taxis waiting at the train station. Words were exchanged.

We get around the carry-on limitation by using a fold-up sports/gym duffle that fits in our carry-on and then comes out once we’ve landed. Dirty clothes go it them for the trip home as checked luggage.

Patty - we're lucky we never lost a wheel (which is why I go with a 2 wheel and not a spinner) - we have lost the 'coverings' off the wheels, making for a very noisy experience. And after seeing some guy struggling with a 2 wheel carry on that the extender handle decided to break off of - I def make sure the handles are good and sturdy!

But other than the trip with my mom reinforcing our travel light philosophy, even before that - seeing people with 2-3 bags struggling at train stations up and down the stairs under the tracks or even just getting off and on trains just solidified it. And don't forget tiny elevators! (If you're lucky enough to get a place with elevators!) On our mom trip - we stayed in an airbnb apartment in Rome and the elevator was big enough to hold two people. So we had to send mom up with two bags, then back down for me and two bags, while hubby took the stairs. Fun. :)

My longest trip before moving to France was a 6-week visit to France, including a short side trip to London and Bath via Eurostar and local train.

My wife and I each took one carryon and one small day pack. Never regretted it.

I think if I had taken large bags, I would have regretted it frequently: each time I had to move it, each time I had to take it on and off a train, each time I checked in or out of a hotel, each time I jammed my toe against it in a tiny French hotel room in the dark, and each time I loaded it into the back of our rental car.

Which London Premier Inn are you staying at? Looks like different ones have different size rooms. We stayed at one with small doubles. We ended up switching to 2 doubles from a queen, just to have a place to place our bags while we pack.

Going234, the one I referenced is a 22” 2 wheel walkabout, currently $95 at Macy’s. I bought one for a friend this time last year for about $80. She loves it.

Our incident was a 29” duffle that lost a wheel as we were dragging it through the streets of Cherbourg from the train station to the ferry dock, because on Sunday late afternoon there were no taxis waiting at the train station. Words were exchanged.

WORDS WERE EXCHANGED.

Oh Patty that is priceless, I can just HEAR those words now!!!!

Becky: PI St. Pancras. The photo (and accompanying text) for the double room we booked shows/states a king sized bed, plus a desk and a couch of sorts. While smaller than most US hotel rooms, it looks more than ample to accommodate two suitcases of any normal size. Now, does that photo show the room we'll get? We'll see. The photos of our double rooms in Madrid and Paris show smaller rooms and it's unclear from the photos just how much "extra" space there will be, but there "seems" to be adequate room for suitcases. While it currently looks like we'll be travelling with two (slightly too big to be) carry-ons, or possibly one carry-on and one "medium" suitcase, it isn't clear to me how much of an advantage two carry-ons offer in terms of floor footprint vs. one carry-on and a four-inch longer (taller) suitcase. Perhaps someone can chime in on that.

He**'s bells, the coronavirus situation may make it a moot point in the coming weeks. I hope not.

Link to PI room photo: https://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/hotels/england/greater-london/london/london-st-pancras.html?cid=GLBC_LONSTP

If you store your suitcases vertically, there will not be a huge difference in the floor space required for a 25" bag and a 22" bag. I don't think most folks store their bags vertically, though. I know I don't. It stays flat on a luggage rack, some other horizontal surface or the floor so I can open it easily. At the very least, my tablet computer goes into the bag before I leave the room for sightseeing and comes out when I return at the end of the day. Did you notice that there doesn't seem to be a dresser in the room? Unless it's hidden somewhere, you'll be storing your underwear in your suitcase, along with any clothes you don't have room to hang up.

I wouldn't like having to stack one suitcase on top of the other for lack of floor space. It would annoy me to have to move the top bag every time I needed to get into the bottom bag.

Our travel for work fairly frequently (10 trips a year, 1-2 weeks usually). I started out taking way more than I needed and have trimmed down to a carry on for a week and on longer trips I take one medium checked bag.

I notice the true road warriors take as little as possible. The ones with large multiple checked bags tend to be the guys in Hawaiin shirts, cargo shorts and sandals and the blue haired women. Once I watched a woman try to check a bag that was grossly overweight. When she opened her bag, she had a sewing machine inside!

emma: So what I called "couch-like" is a daybed and is, at least, fairly typical?

A lot of PIs do have day-beds in their rooms. I slept on those in five or six different PIs last summer. If you go to the PI website, select the hotel you plan to use and say that you want a twin room and get one, I think that means the hotel has rooms containing a large bed and a day bed. I say "I think" because that website is an embarrassment for a company the size of Premier Inn. Who wants to know that their hotels usually have such-and-such a feature? You want to know whether the feature exists in the hotel where you plan to stay.

You could also try going to TripAdvisor, selecting the hotel you're contemplating, and looking at the guest photos.

I think the website calls it a "day bed" but am not sure. I found them perfectly fine to sleep on, though not as super-comfortable as the mattresses on the regular beds. The main thing (for those who want to sleep on it rather than use it to store suitcases) is that it's not a convertible sofa.

In the past , say 10-15 years ago, my carry-on shoulder sack/duffel bag was 17 lbs at check-in in SFO. I have stripped some of the "stuff" to get the weight down now to 15 lbs. This was in addition to the checked in "old" spinner at 30 lbs. With the Samsonite spinner, nowhere as well constructed as the "old" spinner, I try to strip down the weight at check-in to 25 lbs. or less.

What RS considers packing light, I consider lugging way too much. I used to have this conversation with my mom regularly. I enjoyed traveling with her but she defined her clothing needs by three "outfits" per day times number of days traveling. I mix and match a handful of shirts and two or three pairs of pants, one warm layer on warmer trips, two on colder trips plus a waterproof rain shell - one pair of shoes that are good for walking and look nice enough for a cafe.

My mom's toiletries bag weighed about as much and took up the same space as my shoulder bag. After one trip, my mom needed shoulder surgery from lugging her multiple heavy bags.

I just got back from sailing in BVI. I was miserable because we had to check/carry two stand up paddle boards for my fiance's neice/nephews. To me packing heavy makes traveling a chore.

Do what pleases you but the joys of packing light are many: getting easily on and off public transportation (not needing a taxi), carrying your bag when temporary storage isn't an option, easily keeping track of your stuff when you're in major pickpocket locations, fitting your bags, out of sight, in the trunk of an economy rental car and not being sweaty and miserable because you're hauling a ton to name a few.

You could bring less clothes overall by doing laundry. Once you make that decision, you could leave behind all your dirty laundry at a service when you go to Stonehenge. My wife and I did that in Rome once where we took a side trip to Tirana, Albania and needed to pack very light for that flight. We brought the minimum for 3 days. Then, when we returned to Rome, we had clean clothes, ready for pickup.
The cost of the laundering was less than 3 days of storage.