We are doing 17 days throughout Spain and France ending with a family reunion in Galicia. Not expecting anything overly formal so we are thinking about each packing a 22" carry on and a backpack or two. We are a family of 4, 2 adults and 2 kids 10 and 7.
Is this doable? Is there anything that would make this more of a headache that we may not be thinking about? We will be staying with family as part of our Galicia stay and can use laundry places for other stops.
Thanks for the help!
I think you can do this easily. I spent all of last summer in Spain, and the only reason I had to go a bit over carry-on size is that I needed a lot of space for 89 days' worth of vitamins and supplements. (The joys of getting old!) I just washed clothes in my hotels. For a family, one or two trips to a laundromat would probably be more efficient, or perhaps one of your hotels will have a good price for doing laundry by the bag.
We are doing 90 days (Aug - Nov) - the last 15 are a transatlantic cruise - we will use carry-on only. 17 days - no problem. Mix & match - multi purpose is key. Carefully select shoes - 2 pr max. Kids will likely go through more clothes than adults so plan a few extra for them.
Carry on concept is fine and practical, but do reconfirm exact carry on allowance with all airlines you will be taking...particularly any code shares. Not all are 22 inches. Also get out the measuring tape and remeasure your luggage full. What is sold as 22 can vary a lot. And one has to consider the weight. Older luggage is heavy and can eat up a third of your allowance before you put anything in it.
You don't say how you are getting from Spain to France. European airline rules are much more stringent. They expect your carry on to fit the gauge and they may weigh it as well.
These reductions in carry on sizes....and weight, are the challenges of 'carry on only' travel.
I'm all for carry on only, but as rules change, I find a growing collection of 'allowed' suitcases in my basement :-)
Even if you have to check the bag, keeping it to that size makes all the rest of your travel easier.
I found for my daughter at those ages, she used a smaller bag placed on wheels (This was the old days of pre wheels). She used her LL Bean book bag for her items. As her bag was smaller, it was easier for me to handle both, when necessary. You might want to consider two backpacks and two wheelies. If the kids become tired, you can place the backpacks on the wheeled bags so you would still each have a hand free to hold the hand of a child. I would definitely, at least, have the kids carry/roll bags much smaller than 22".
Is guys for all ththe comments. Their abuelos bought the kids new light weight bags. Theirs are actually 21" and confirmed from wheels to top of handle......did my homework! We are taking th train from France to Barcelona. It is still up in the air how we get to Madrid. From there rental cars through Galicia. We will most likely fly out of Asturias into Paris and then back to Miami.
Good thought about the backpacks especially for my 7 year old as I'm sure the wheeling the bag around will get old for him quickly, then one of us will be stuck wheeling 2 around. I was also thinking about getting one of those folding carts for the bags but that is just another thing to carry that I may end up using only once or twice.
We may end up doing a practice run with the clothes and see what exactly we will need compared to what we can fit.
There are also some great YouTube videos and tips on how to pack to maximize space. I would tend to roll most of the kid's clothing. If you haven't read her blog yet, Rick Steves' on Sarah Murdoch has a blog and website about packing light...http://adventureswithsarah.net/
Last summer she traveled with her son (10, I think)...she covers kid travel as well.
I'd avoid the wheeled luggage rack. I used those back in the days before you could buy an affordable bag with wheels, but the sturdy ones add weight. The non-sturdy ones will not hold up to being (even gently) rolled down stairs, and it's difficult to pick them up with bags strapped on. Definitely more trouble (and weight) than they're worth under normal circumstances.
Instead, pack one or two straps that will allow you to clip one bag to another, tip them onto two wheels and roll them together.
Did it last summer, similar age kids. In our case my husband and I each had a carry on size roller bag and a personal item (computer bag for him, camera purse for me). The kids had a similar size roller each - with a small tote bag inside for books and entertainment like ipod so they could pull it out on the plane/train but only had to worry about one bag. It was stressed to them that their bag was their responsibility yadda yadda, and they did pretty well with this.
My kids don't care about clothes so they had a very simple 10-item wardrobe - 4 pants/shorts, 6 shirts that match all the pants/shorts, and a swimsuit. 6 pairs underwear and socks and comfortable shoes. Then the toys/books/electronics that fit in a tote bag and done.
With kids you may want to look into apartments or apartment-hotels, many of which come with a washer. Not often a dryer, so leave time to hang things in the bathroom to dry. If you stay in hotels instead you can find laundry places or services, so this won't be an issue.
It will be much easier to have small bags - trying to lug multiple bags would be a much harder problem - small elevators, small train aisles, longer walks, small car trunks...all of this makes traveling heavy really, really difficult. I did it when my kids were in diapers, strollers, carseats and it was such a pain. This way is much, much easier even though we do need to do laundry.
Barcelona to Madrid is best by train (3 hours) unless you want to spend a few nights exploring on the way, then drive. The drive is much longer - I want to say 7 hours but I don't remember exactly. Train is super-easy.
You will need to do laundry and finding laundromats are not always easy in Europe. Also, you will need coins for the laundry machines. Hotel prices are outrageous, so you may wish to hand wash at least some of your items.
Carry a ziplock bag with some tide that is designed for hand washing while traveling. Woolite is another choice.
This is doable. We have three kids also and will be packing light, but also staying in apts with washing machines. Maybe you could stay in an apt with a washer in a stop or two outside of Galicia so you wouldn't waste time at a laundromat. I wouldn't want to wash clothes for four people by hand, but that is personal preference.
So I did a practice run, I think we will be just fine. We also have family in Madrid that we can most likely wash clothes at their place if need be during our travels. In my bag alone I was able to fit, 2 jeans, 1 khakis, 2 polos, 4 t-shirts, 4 boxers, 4 undershirts, 4 shorts, 1 dinner jacket, 1 pair drivers mocs, a packable rain jacket, and some Nikes. I figure I'll have a 3rd pair of jeans on me with a pair of top-siders for the flight and will carry a fleece in my backpack for when we go to Galicia. I'll have a backpack with me holding camera gear and an iPad. My kids since their clothes are much smaller may be able to squeeze all their stuff into 1 carry on but we'll find that out closer to our trip. Either way thanks to the responses and our trial run with my bag today I am not at all concerned.
You are teaching your children a great skill by packing light and having them manage their own things! My girls are in their teens now and have always managed their own luggage on our several 12-16 day trips to France, Italy, Great Britian, and elsewhere. We always try to plan lodging in the middle of the trip with easy access to laundry and it works well. Just plan to take light layers - now that my oldest is done growing, we have started investing in some good quality travel clothing from Patagonia and others.
