Petite girls: one 28in luggage, or 2 24inch luggage

Stairs? Yes- especially on the Tube.

But you don't really need either large suitcase (or only 1 of the 24" ones- or one even smaller). You can buy clothes there fairly cheaply. And you will probably want to do so after you see what your classmates wear. Take enough clothes to last 7-10 days. You can do laundry in that time. Take only 2 pair of shoes (you can buy more there, too). Take only small toiletries- you'll need to buy lots of those during that time, might as well start at the beginning. It might also be possible to ship some of your stuff ahead of time. Check with your school. Just remember you might have to ship it back, too. My nephew did a study abroad in London a few years ago. He took one 'normal' suitcase and a backpack (school type). Did just fine. Don't think you have to pack for every contingency. Just practical stuff to get you through the first week or two.

jcyx243,

have you considered packing light and then buying additional clothes once you get situated?

to me, having to worry about bringing 2+ pieces of luggage isnt worth it. Been there done that, with 4 boxes of equipment and 2 full size Samsonite on my first trip for work. Its where i learned to pack light. Yes, you may spend some $$$, but it will save you the hassle.

what you can do, is to sit down and really examine what you will need to bring. Layout your clothes and look at how you can mix and match clothes. Worse case, again, bring less and buy once over there. Or look at bringing your more expensive clothes if you do, so that if you want to buy, it wont be as expensive.

one other thing is that you will see many people with alot of luggage or heavy luggage trying to get around in the tubes or train stations. some get help many dont.

I would, at the least, pack with you think you can handle or want on your own and then tow them around town, the block or where ever you live. Try carrying them up/down stairs and such and see what you think. It will be the easiest way to find out if you can handle 2 pieces of luggage by yourself.

one other suggestion. Is that you bring one luggage (essentials) with you and have a friend/family ship one to you after you arrive.

good luck, happy trails and enjoy london.

people don't tend to look out for petite asian girls tugging 2 suitcases and run off with one of the suitcases, not very often anyway.

I'm sure that if you dig deep enough and look under enough rocks on Google or your search engine of choice you can find an instance of such a thing, or at least an account - confirmed in truth or not - of something similar.

Steal a phone, yes happens all the time in bars and to vulnerable people, but whole suitcases - no.

That shouldn't be a worry unless you wander off and leave one or more unattended.

More important is the cases being too big for you to wrangle. Nobody is going to help you, most likely, so being able to wrangle what you brung is critical.

Take everything you want to bring and put the stuff into the very big suitcase or 2 just large suitcases (neatness doesn't count much at the moment), sit on it to close it, and grab a local bus at home or in town, get the cases down the aisle, go a few stops then get off and drag the case(s) two or three times around a couple of busy city blocks, then back on the bus and home.

Then take out half of what you put in - those things that are essential but after the last experience are suddenly much less essential.

Oh yes, before you open them when you get home carry them up 3 flights of stairs.

If you can't do all that, you have more than you can handle.

Either leave much at home or find a strong friend to carry and lift for you on the trip in February. Have them come back to you in June.

By the way, possibly second only to Paris, I've never seen so many stairs as in London - usually stairs without a step free alternative.

In both the London Underground and the Paris Métro you will go down stairs so that you can go immediately up more, or vice versa.

I think that Ray who was crossposting with me must have been looking over my shoulder as I wrote LOL

When my petite daughter did a one-year school exchange to Finland she had the biggest suitcase the airline allowed. AND I sent stuff throughout the year. She only had to handle the big suitcase on one trip over and one trip back -- used backpack for in-country visits.

Maybe you should plan on using a taxi for the times you have heavy luggage so somebody else can do the lifting.

I'm definitely on the side of bringing less, in one smaller rolling bag that you can handle yourself in a variety of situations. Your clothes are also small. 20 kilos is too heavy for many of us. But you're too young to start acting like an old lady who needs her bags carried. Keep your hand on your bag when you're in transport stations and other busy places. Although you may need a few actual study items, the travel packing lists still works for clothes and accessories.

Since you say, "If I ever travel outside of my dorm", I assume you are not worried about getting to your dorm but about trips you might take. I travel to Europe for three weeks with a 21" bag. Certainly, with smart packing, one 24 inch bag will suffice.

Since you've got some time to figure this out, take a look at http://travelfashiongirl.com/ for some ideas for a younger person's packing lists. You also have time to figure out how to mix and match with what you've got and then try to manage with just limited clothing items for a 3 month period. Do a google search on Project 333 where where she pares down her wardrobe to 33 items for a 3 month period. She has a blog and is on FB and pinterest.

I love Vivienne Files blog but you might feel that she shows clothing suggestions that are too old for you and you might not be able to translate them to something that would be fun for you to wear or that you might have in your closet already.

I agree with the others, go with 24 inch max. I think the toughest thing might be that you will doubtless wear a winter coat over, but may want to pack it when you return home in June. You might look at some of the really squishy puffy down/down alternative coats and vests that you can put in a compression bag for the trip back home. If you don't already have something in the winter coat category if you live in the US, take a look at Sierra Trading Post online. They have great prices on closeouts but may or may not have your small size. (As a bigger person it always seems like they just have small sizes, but you may find the opposite, lol!)

It's important to distinguish between traveling on weekend and school break trips and moving for five months.

In the first instance of this adventure you are moving. IMHO, you should bring what will make you comfortable, but not too much. Pam has some wonderful suggestions about the puffy coat and looking at the website. I agree that you should catch a taxi from the airport to where you are staying for the semester. This is a move, not a Back Door adventure. Once at the dorm, you'll figure out how to get your stuff from the lobby to your room. I'm not a clothes shopper, so for me spending the time looking for new clothes would be a drag on my time, unless I were able to find everything at Marks & Spencer in one quick trip. We've gone on several semester-long trips where we stay in one place and just take what we'll need.

Now part two is for when you are traveling around while living overseas. That's when you should pack light because you will need to lug up and down stairs and on public transportation. Even a 24" suitcase will be too large for weekend and school break trips. You'll want to get a very light-weight back pack or rolling suitcase, preferably the size you can use in the European budget airlines and be able to lift by yourself for these trips. This can be your carry-on bag for the overseas flight. You can still have a large purse or messenger bag as a personal carry on item.

Finally, most overseas airline tickets allow one piece of checked luggage, but if you have two 24" bags, you'll need to pay for the second checked bag. If you have only one checked 28" bag and pack a lot into it, you'll have to monitor the weight to avoid paying an overweight charge. So you should find out how much the the charge is for extra suitcases and overweight suitcases. It might, or might not, be worth it to you. Lastly, if you are using an older model of suitcase, be careful of the weight. The older ones are heavier.

Hi all,

thanks so much for all your replies!

Although all the advice were really useful, I can't take some of them now.

For example, Feb is still really far away and I have not got any winter clothes at all (I live in Singapore, where the weather is about 30 degrees celsius all year round. even summer in Europe isn't as hot as it usually is in SG.)
So I can't pack all my stuff in the luggage and carry it around to try out.
I did just take your advice and just carried one 20" and 24" luggage up and down 3 flights of stairs. They were EMPTY and I was pretty tired.

I have a feeling that I would definitely need the 20" for travelling around europe but that can't fit my stuff for exchange. I think I would be bringing 20" (cabin luggage) and 24" (checked).
I probably won't be bringing the 24" anywhere. Just the 20" on trips to other places.
My exchange school will be having a meet-and-greet at the airport, so i think I can get help from them with one luggage.
But I guess I am on my own for the return trip home (will probably call for a taxi.)

Perhaps I should mention that I will be studying in Surrey, not exactly London. But I have checked, and the price indexes are all similar. I will be going to London at least 2-3 times too.

Also, for me to go to UK is already a strain on my budget (from my perspective, everything in UK is costing at least 2-3times more than here. As a gauge, one 40mins train ride here is about 1 pound. In UK, it's about 8 pounds?! Goodness.)
So I am not sure if buying winter clothes in UK would be a good idea, financially? Esp when I am going in early Feb. Winter is only going to last for 1 month till March right?
I am prone to feeling cold (especially since I am used to the tropical weather here) but I think I would layer up a lot during Winter and Spring. Is that advisable?

I have checked the shipping charges for the luggage too. I don't think it is worth it, as it is about 200 pounds one-way from Singapore. My school doesn't allow shipping ahead.

p/s: thank you for the warning about the stairs. I am used to having escalators/elevators EVERYWHERE here (basically 95% of everywhere I go) so I was kind of expecting the same too.

I think you might find for you it feels like winter on in to May! In addition to a coat, you are definitely going to need some clothing you can layer to keep you warm. In your case I would probably plan to wear leggings under everything. Once you get to London you can probably find long underwear layers to wear under your shirts as well. A warm scarf, gloves and a hat will be easy to find there.

With your small sized clothes, for weekends, a 20 inch is probably more than you need. If you are gone for a 3 day weekend, you really only need one other bottom piece and probably only one other top besides what you are wearing plus underwear and toiletries. You can probably get that in something much smaller than a 20inch. I can and my clothes are much bigger than yours.

You might want to look at some of the websites with packing lists, and start working on a generic packing list for yourself such as: 3 pants/2 or 3 leggings/6 shirts, etc. then start to develop it further by working on a color scheme with something like 2 neutrals and 1 or 2 accent colors.

"Only a month" of winter can feel like forever when you are prone to cold. Look for winter clothing on sale in catalogs or at outlets, don't spend a lot of money since you probably won't need it when you get back to Singapore. A raincoat is absolutely necessary, get one with a zip-out lining. Lots of leggings, tights, wool socks, a couple of sweaters, a jacket, gloves, scarf, hat (some of these you can find very cheap in England), plan to layer clothing.

Have a great time!

Thank you for the additional information.It sounds like you've got a good plan.
Adding to Cloe and Pam's excellent info: look for wool in whatever you buy, even blended into socks. If you ask about clothes on the England page, you will certainly get a lot of information on how to acquire the clothes you will need at a low price. You might also ask on an English Trip Advisor forum where local experts can give you the info.

If you go to some discount stores when you arrive, you may find some winter clothing, hats, etc on sale. It's the end of their winter season so stores will be wanting to get rid of stock. Just because winter will technically be over soon, does not mean you will be warm! Definitely get some wool socks, and a warm scarf around your shoulders will help.

I would check charity shops for a winter coat and also look in the girls department for your size, the prices may be lower. Good luck!

When my daughter took her junior year to Paris, she took a medium sized suitcase on wheels, a carryon size wheelie that could piggy back onto the larger case, and a backpack. She was able to lift all of the suitcases fairly easily and move freely. She could move with one hand free. It is very important to be able to handle your own luggage, even if you don't. You never know what type of situation you might end up in. She did not buy many clothes once there as she was was on her own for her spending money so she didn't have money to throw away on clothes. That wasn't the case with many of the students and they left with too much stuff and came home with too much stuff. Have fun!

Thanks for all the advice on clothing!

Hmm I think it is going to be too cold for me too, even if it is Spring or Winter. Thanks for the warning!

Esp Grier: looking for clothes in the girls' department is a really good idea seeing as usual ladies' clothing are too big for me :)

Thank you everyone, it's been really enlightening!

One more suggestion: Buy your winter coat/sweaters/warm clothes etc. at a thrift/charity shop and then give them back once the weather warms up enough.

I think you will adapt better than you imagine, all the other tropical transplants don't to seem to have a problem with it. From eastern Canada and northern US, we find winters in southern England surprisingly mild. Nonetheless, we loooove our tropical vacations. Thank your lucky stars you didn't pick Chicago as an exchange location.

jcyx243,

If you decide to bring "winter" clothes then look for stuff that will pack good. Clothes that can be squished is good.

as mentioned i would look for 2nd hand stores and look for winter clothes before it gets there since like anywhere else, people wait for the last moment to do things.

happy trails.

I've seen women your size lugging giant bags through the London Underground, likely doing their study abroad years.

If you have to go through the London train system lugging Giant Things, look to change lines at places identified as handicapped accessible. What this seems to effectively mean is that they've retrofitted the station so that there are escalators or lifts/elevators between lines and not just stairs.