Longer stay, still only one carry-on?

Ilona, I sure hope it's possible. I'm planning on a 2 month trip to France this summer with one carry-on (no checked luggage). Thankfully one month will be in an apartment with a washer/dryer, the other month will be on the road so will have to deal with laundry in my room. I think the possible inconvenience is worth not having to check a bag. I guess it all comes down to packing efficiently and light. Have a wonderful trip to Asia.

ilona, I'd probably carry a bit more gear for a 2-3 month trip, mainly so that I wouldn't have to do laundry as often. I'm not overly concerned about checking one bag, as that's what I do every year. Happy travels!

The "one carry-on only" mantra you see on this website is a suggestion that some have equated with a divine commandment. Before I moved here, I always checked luggage. It works for me, and I still continue to check baggage even on the short little weekend trips I take here. Who is right and who is wrong? Nobody, unless someone says "You must only bring one carry-on" or "You must check your luggage". Do what works for you.

"I still don't understand the point of taking only 2-3 pairs of underwear. It takes up almost no space and isn't heavy." That's a slippery slope. Take more underwear, it isn't heavy. Take an extra shirt - it isn't heavy. An extra pair of pants - they're not heavy. Electric razor - it's not heavy. Hair dryer - it's not heavy. Pretty soon you're no longer under the weight limit. Light packing is like zero based budgeting in business. Start with nothing. Only add what you really need. Do I really need 3 sets of underwear? I would have said "no", but on this trip, due to my schedule and humid weather, I found myself wearing the last set of clean, dry underwear, with only one extra shirt. I grew a beard and learned to do some cleanup with bar soap and a disposable razor to save the 1 lb of my electric razor.

As stated above, the answer is "it depends." Ask yourself how much do you feel you need to bring? Will you experience a lot of variability of weather? That may require more items. Will you be staying longer in one spot? If you won't be hopping from place to place, maybe you won't mind a heavier checked bag because you won't have to lug it around much. Will you be shopping a lot? In that case, pack light and bring a fold up duffle along and check the added bag on your way home. Start with a list of where you will be, what you will be doing, and what you'd need for each event/activity/weather. Then consider your own personal feelings on weight of luggage, possibility of losing checked bags, what you absolutely need, flexibility of carry ons, etc. to make a final packing list. That should help you decide what size bag you need. You may even want to pack and repack in different sized bags and experiment with your packing list before making it final.

I became a fan of carryon-only after my suitcase got lost for my whole 2-week trip in Europe. I had my essentials (passport, money, cards) but let me tell you, having to interrupt your trip to buy clothes and toiletries, and spending at least 30 minutes per day on the phone with the airline, is NO FUN. When I went to Europe for 5 weeks a few years ago, I brought a duffle bag, suitcase, and backpack. I put my pajamas, a change of clothes, extra socks and underwear, and toiletries in the duffle bag and checked the suitcase. In case the suitcase got lost, I'd be able to get by for a while. Like another poster said, it also comes down to how often you are changing locations, if you plan to take mass transit instead of cabs, etc.

I have never understood the "only take carry on" enthusiasm. Checking bags may cost a little more at times, but it does mean you have less to worry about at the airport, and can take items that are banned from carry-on bags. Maybe if your journey consists of several legs with different airlines. But if you are on a direct flight, there is little chance of a bag going missing. The time spent waiting for your bags at the arrival airport is quite small as a proportion of the total journey time.

Last year I went to Italy for a month with a carry on size bag and managed fine. It does require a bit of thought, to make sure everything works together; and the clothes you take should be easy to wash and dry. I wore one pair of shoes and packed a second pair.
I also took some stuff that I was happy to leave behind at the end of the trip, to make room for a couple of things I bought while I was away.

"Who is right and who is wrong?" For a given set of criteria, there is always an optimal solution. If being able to move around easily is your criterium, a carry-on sized bag is the best solution. I can't understand why anyone's criterium would be difficulty. I carry three changes of clothing. That means I must rinse out my underwear and a shirt every night, but my bag weighs less than 12 lb. I have carefully assembled a set of quick drying travel clothes and appropiate "drying" implements (drip dry and inflatable hangers). The only things I don't wash are my slacks (three pair of khaki or black long pants and a pair of walking shorts). If I stayed longer, I would have to find ones I could wash or take more). Incidentally, I realized today that I have enough washed clothes to finish my trip. Yea, no more washing!

ilona, I take only one carry on bag because my luggage has been "misplaced" for five days. The reason I use a moneybelt is that losing those items would ruin my trip. Losing my luggage would ruin my trip also.

To me, the issue isn't avoiding having to check a bag. The issue is how much stuff (how many pounds) do you want to carry around. I don't think there is one optimal answer. Every answer involves some difficulty. As I have gotten older, I find I'd rather wash more frequently then have to deal with a hea y suitcase.

We did a full month with one carry-on a piece and LOVED it. Will never go back. Doing more laundry was kind of a pain but we ended up meeting interesting people at the laundromat or doing it in our room. The biggest bonus came for us when we arrived back in America to go through customs. We were able to skip waiting for our baggage and beat the big rush of people from our plane to get through security faster. Knowing that it can be done will greatly influence if/when I ever carry on again. Best of luck!

Carroll, I agree- I loved having only one bag to carry. I also enjoyed the simplicity of having a limited wardrobe.
And I returned home uncluttered with lots of souvenirs, just one or two things I really liked. It's 'to each his own', but it's definitely 'do-able'.

My philosophy is this. Put everything you have to have in one bag. If you only put in things you absolutely have to have, it will fit in one carry-on bag. Put things you might like to have in the other bag, to check. Then assume the second bag will get lost, and you will have to live without those things anyway, and leave it at home.

I think it mostly depends on how you're traveling, where you're traveling, and for how long you're traveling, in addition to personal preferences like not wanting to do laundry often, or wanting to look more fashionable. If you're going to be moving around a lot using public transit, using one bag that you can carry for at least 1/4 mile without breaking a sweat is a pretty good idea. It doesn't have to be a carry-on or even small enough to carry on, provided you can carry it around without difficulty. I personally like having at least 5-7 days worth of clothing without needing to do laundry, so on a longer trip I'd probably take a bag bigger than your typical carry on, but not too much bigger, check it, and only have to do laundry once a week. That's what I did in Mexico and it worked out fine. But we had a rental car, so I wasn't schlepping luggage very far. I still don't understand the point of taking only 2-3 pairs of underwear. It takes up almost no space and isn't heavy.

Yes it is possible. Some on this thread have given reasons why they do or do not prefer to pack light, but it's not that hard, especially for a summer trip (because the weather lets you pack light and because the season does not span real temperature extremes).

I pack the same for one week as for two months. The only difference is I need to take more pills and more money for the longer trips. If there is a season change. like summer to fall, some warm clothing may be required. I have bought additional clothing in Europe when the weather turned cold or wet. It is so much easier to move around with only a carry-on plus a small day-bag (I use a small backpack). I do a little sink-washing nightly and about once a week I take everything to the laundromat. It works for me. I take laundry "capsules" from home for enough trips to the laundry. Too often, the laundry soap available in laundromats is full of perfume. Whew!

Wow! So many replies and so quickly! Thank you all so much!!! Really smart, intelligent answers; very helpful. If did not give you this extra information: my daughter is going to Asia to model and I am going with her. So the packing will be very interesting; we decided to keep it simple clothing, and we will share many accessories! I thank you all very very much, and wish you all safe travels!!!

We too are in the carry-on crowd. Two reasons; 1) same as previous posters, if your luggage has ever been lost or delayed, not a fun way to start your vacation. Even more concerning if you have connecting flights. 2) Once we are off the plane, I want to get out of the airport and not have to wait for a checked bag.
In the event we do check a bag, we make sure we have packed our carryons with enough clothing, toiletries etc, that a lost/delayed bag would not impact our vacation. If we accumulate purchases on our trip, we may check a bag on our way home, just to lighten the load.

Our family of five spent two months in Europe with a small purse or backpack and one roll aboard each. Even with varied climates (cool in Sweden, hot in Italy) we managed just fine. I had lost luggage once, it was not fun. My husband is tall and has trouble finding pants long enough. To us, the planning ahead and washing as we travel is worth it. We travel with clothes that wash well and have not run in the wash. It is easy to do a dark load and a light load if we are lucky enough to find a laundromat. Note that some of the so called travel clothing needs to hang to dry. With a family of five, this was not a good idea. I opted, instead, for clothes that could go through the dryer cycle. Enjoy your trip!

For trips of about a month, I take a carry on and small underseat bag. I usually bring a lightweight backpack for extras. When I return I check my bag, and carry gifts etc in the backpack on the plane. My camera and electronics are in the underseat case.

If I was going that long and maybe only moving once every few weeks, or conversely renting a car - I would probably take more stuff (when we drive to the US - our SUV is usually half full of stuff)...but if I was going to be moving around a lot and using trains/buses, I'd pack lighter - it's not fun surrounding yourself with luggage and carting it on and off trains, or up and down steps. Not sure what the train stns are like in Asia, but a lot in Europe involve going down steps, under the tracks, back up...and if you are struggling with 2 (or 3, as I saw some people with) large cases...ughhhh.

For me, the "only take carry on" thing started years ago when I went to England with a carry on plus a large suitcase. I was staying at a B&B and had to carry the huge suitcase up 3 flights of narrow stairs. I had already lugged it from the airport onto a train, and from the train rolled it along uneven pavement to my B&B. (Wheels came off; could not be put back on.) My trip had barely started and my back and shoulder were already hurting. And so it went. The heavy suitcase was lugged around every time I moved to a new location. At the end of my trip, I realized I had mainly worn my favorite (lightweight knit) outfits from my carry on bag (in different color combinations) my whole trip. Yes, I did laundry several times. Laundromat around the corner from B&B. When I was back home unpacking my bag, I only found 2 pieces of clothes in the big bag that I had even worn on the trip!! Only you can say if you can get by in Asia with one carry-on and not checking any luggage. For me, I would say yes, simply because hauling around a ton of stuff with me ruins my trip, no matter what the length of my trip.

I haven't checked a bag anywhere in over a decade, save once. That was my return flight from Germany in December '09, since we had wine, and then got stranded in Toronto for 3 days thanks to the Christmas Day Bomber. I couldn't fly anywhere, my wife was 3 months pregnant, and we were sleeping in Baggage claim (without our bags, since they were lost). Finally, I rented a car, drove to Pittsburgh, then flew to Colorado. It was like salt in the wound, since it was the first time that I've checked in a long time.
Whether I'm travelling for a week, or 3 months, I pretty much pack the same (I actually pack more for a week, since I don't plan on doing any laundry). Light and Fast. My last trip to heathrow saw me on the train headed for London while the rest of the poor saps were still waiting for their luggage. It is a pretty big time saver, and laundry every few days in the room isn't a big deal to me.

Excellent, excellent points. This is awesome. Thank you so much!!!

I agree with "it depends". When we go to Hawaii we usually stay in one place for at least a week or more. For some reason we pack more for a warm destination. When we go to Europe we each take a carry on and I also have a back pack. In Europe we are usually staying a night or two here & there and then off we go. We usually rent a car so we could have more if we so choose. Will you be in one place for a week or more or will you be on the go? On the go, less luggage, less hassle.

Well, Lee, I still think "it depends". You don't mind carrying only 3 pairs of underwear because you don't mind doing laundry in the sink/wearing stuff that has only been washed in a sink. I do. And luckily since underwear is small and light and can be stuffed in just about any corner in a suitcase without having to worry about wrinkling, that works out fine for me, because I like to spend as little time in my hotel room as possible when traveling. If people don't mind doing hotel sink laundry every night AND want to pack as absolutely lightly as possible, hey, only pack a few pairs. But most of us can get by just fine packing a week's worth of underwear and still carry-on.

I agree with Roy. DW and I each pack a 21" roller bag, and inside I have a flattened backpack, and she has a flattened day bag (both underseat sized) We each have an additional underseat sized personal item bag for under the seat with all important papers, perscirptions, and 1 full change of clothes. That is for going to Europe. When we get ready to come home, all the gift items go in the backpack and daybag, and breakables in our regular personal bag if needed, and all the dirty clothes or anything we wouldn't mind losing, goes in the roller bag to be checked....I could really care less at that point if my luggage is lost or delayed....they will more than likely get it to me somehow, or travel insurance will replace it and contents. The two once flattened bags now go in the overhead bin, and the 2 personal items go under the seat....works for us! D