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How To Pack LESS AND Travel Light

It’s taken me years to become a minimalist packer and I’m now a great believer in pack less and travel light.

In this post I’m sharing how to travel extensively with no checked luggage and just a cabin bag and a personal item as hand luggage.

It’s been ten fabulous years since the backpacking husband and I sold everything we owned to travel the world long term and nomadically.

Ten years since I became an empty-nester and ex-housewife and we downsized all our possessions to slowly and gradually become minimalists.

I say slowly, because I laugh now when I see the photo below taken at Glasgow airport in 2014.

This photo was taken as we first set off as nomads on an extended trip via the USA and Central America, to a small Caribbean island where we planned to spend three months.

But just look at that huge pile of suitcases!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• SO MUCH LUGGAGE!
• HARD CORE SUITCASES
• HARD CASE HARD CORE LUGGAGE!
• THE BACKPACKING HOUSEWIFE!
• STILL SO FAR FROM BEING MINIMALISTS
• WHEELED BACKPACKS
• PACKING AND TRAVELLING AGAIN
• HAND LUGGAGE ONLY
• TRAVEL LIGHT PACKING TIPS
• IS IT DIFFICULT TO TRAVEL LIGHT?
• TRAVEL LIGHT – TEN PACKING TIPS
• THREE COMPELLING REASONS TO TRAVEL LIGHT
• MY TRAVEL LIGHT PACKING LIST
• TRAVELLING LIGHT – WHAT HAVE I LEARNED?

SO MUCH LUGGAGE!

Granted, the backpacking husband did have a lot of dive gear with him.

He planned to do lots of scuba diving and a PADI Dive Master Internship.

And, in my suitcases, I had lots of beach clothes and a tonne of torches and sprays and creams and bug zappers, and everything I thought I needed to live on a Caribbean island with sporadic electricity supply and lots of biting flies!

HARD CORE SUITCASES

For our next big trip – spending eight months in Central America and the USA and Canada – for some reason I decided we needed to upgrade our suitcases.

I did lots of research on finding the toughest hard-shell and hard core and indestructible luggage as possible.

I bought two from DELSEY SUITCASES and I guess I was hoping they’d be future proof and last all our future travels.

And so, for the next two years, we lugged those big heavy and fabulous suitcases from Europe across to the Caribbean and The Americas then all across Asia and the Pacific from Beijing to San Francisco and across the USA and Canada before heading back over the Atlantic and back to the UK having circumnavigated the whole world!

We learned a lot about travelling and about ourselves on that trip.

But not necessarily how to travel light.

Hard case hard core luggage!

THE BACKPACKING HOUSEWIFE!

Because for the next world adventure – setting off from London to Bangkok – we decided that we needed to ditch the suitcases and buy backpacks to facilitate a lot of travelling and wrangling about in boats and island hopping.

Yay! The Backpacking Housewife was born!

Except, back then, I was still packing everything bar the proverbial kitchen sink.

And all my worldly goods were carried on my poor aging back.

I could hardly take the weight of my backpack even when using my daypack as a ballast.

Look at the size of those backpacks!!

STILL SO FAR FROM BEING MINIMALISTS

Through necessity, we started making hard choices about how many clothes, gadgets, toiletries, and other stuff we thought we needed.

And we learned the hard way because we started leaving stuff behind us as we travelled.

But we were still so far from being minimalists.

I justified this by saying that everything we owned in the world travelled with us.

I’ve heard it said that we ‘carry our fears’ with us when we start to travel.

“If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness and fears.” Cesare Pavese.

I must have feared running out of clothes and shoes and toiletries!

The backpacking husband, who was doing professional scuba diver training as we travelled, carried a lot of dive gear with him.

I don’t scuba dive but I really enjoy snorkelling, so back then I always had a full-face snorkel mask and fins and my water shoes with me, but later found out that you can often rent these things at your destination anyway.

That fabulous trip around Asia with our backpacks – exploring lots of Thailand and Malaysia and Philippines and Indonesia – ended up taking up two whole years.

It was the longest we were away from family and friends back in the UK.

Although, one of our sons lives in South Korea with his family, so we were able to see him several times and we spent quality time together.

Luckily, our other two sons and a few of our friends from the UK came out to join us for holidays in South Korea and Thailand and Malaysia.

Eventually, we got rid of those heavy backpacks and bought large and medium soft sided backpacks with wheels.

WHEELED BACKPACKS

Wheeled backpacks, especially as we were both now in our late 50s, are a fabulous backpacking compromise.

You might like to read a more detailed post I wrote on Backpacks or Suitcases?

At last, after eight fabulous years of travel with heavy suitcases and overloaded backpacks, we were finally making progress in finding ways to lighten our load.

The backpacking husband had gained his professional dive qualifications and so no longer needed to carry all his heavy PADI Dive Manuals everywhere – they are all online now but back then they weren’t – and he also decided he could leave some of his gear back in the Caribbean at the dive centre there.

Then in 2020 the pandemic happened.

On that fateful day when all Trans-Atlantic flights were cancelled, we were at Heathrow Airport in London, awaiting for our flight to the USA and onto Honduras Central America and back to our favourite island in the Caribbean.

In a panic, we managed to contact a friend who had a holiday home in Scotland that we’d rented a couple of times before, to ask if he could make it available for us again.

Thankfully he did and so, feeling shocked and uncertain, we headed back to Scotland to wait it out.

PACKING AND TRAVELLING AGAIN

Two years later, we were grateful to have found a safe haven, but we were also desperate to travel again.

We’d found it very hard to settle back into living in one place for so long.

And we hadn’t exactly needed a travel ban to prove a nomadic life suited us.

So, as soon as we could – in late February 2022 – in freezing cold weather and heavy snow, we headed to Glasgow airport.

We had our Covid vaccine certificates but at that time we also needed to take a Covid test at the airport to prove we were fit to travel.

And, exactly two years on, we thankfully resumed our journey back to the Caribbean.

A Grand Six Month Trip To Asia

Six fabulous months later, at the end of August 2022, we arrived back in the UK to see family and friends before heading over to France on a three-month housesitting assignment.

Housesitting (mostly in France) is something we have done many times and over our many years of travel to allow for some downtime and to save money between our travels.

While in France, we made new future plans for A Grand Six Month Trip To Asia.

We wanted to visit our son and his family in South Korea.

We also wanted to see all the exciting places and explore all the countries that were still on our travel wish list like Japan and Taiwan and to revisit and to travel more extensively in Vietnam and Malaysia and Thailand too.

And, once our itinerary was planned, and we saw this meant one long haul flight from London to Singapore and then lots and lots of onward travels by planes, trains, busses, large ferries, small boats.

We knew there was no way we were going to manage all that with heavy luggage!

Plus, in using the cheapest economy flights we could find, checking in luggage would have added considerably to our tightly controlled transport budget.

HAND LUGGAGE ONLY

We researched the exact dimensions of one of the least generous airline carrier’s free baggage allowance and sourced our new hand luggage to suit.

Air Asia, for example, allows one cabin bag of max: 56cm x 36cm x 20cm.

Plus a personal item of a handbag or laptop bag.

We bought a personal item sized backpack each – I chose a small backpack as of course I’m still the backpacking housewife – and a small hardcase wheeled cabin bag to Air Asia’s maximum cabin bag dimensions.

However, we weren’t only restricted by size as weight was also an issue.

As many airlines only allow a combined weight of 7kg for cabin baggage.

So at the airport we often wore our heaviest or bulkiest items to save space and weight.

And we both constantly struggle with the weight of gadgets but they get priority over clothes I’m afraid!

I use a lightweight laptop and the backpacking husband uses a tablet.

And of course we might not need a home but we do need a phone!

I recommend a duel-SIM unlocked worldwide phone so you can buy and use it with a SIM at your destination,

TRAVEL LIGHT PACKING TIPS

I find rolling clothes and outfits together helps to organise and lessen creases.

I don’t use packing cubes as I feel this is extra weight.

I do use reusable plastic zip lock food bags to organise items like charger cables etc.

No PJs needed as I often sleep in vest and yoga shorts.

I like to stick with a colour theme for my clothes so they mix/match.

Light cotton day dresses can also be worn over a bikini as a beach dress.

A longer dress and a shirt with sleeves are often required at temples and religious sites in Asia.

A sarong can also be used as a long skirt or a shawl.

For travel days in hot countries, I often like to wear light cotton ‘playsuits’, as they combine a top and shorts or a blouse and pants (trousers).

I never bother taking a towel as it’s usually supplied by accommodations.

I often buy toiletries at my destination.

But prefer to take a reef safe sunscreen and insect repellent with me if possible.

I don’t have any valuable jewellery. I like to wear simple trinkets.

Travel with a small digital luggage scale to check your luggage weight as you go.

I wouldn’t be without my GOMI Power Bank because if I’m reading my Kindle Ereader and using my phone all day I often need a quick recharge on the go.

AD When I'm exploring I wouldn't be without my GOMI POWER BANK

IS IT DIFFICULT TO TRAVEL LIGHT?

On occasion, it is difficult to manage with so little, especially the time we went to South Korea in December and again in February because it was freezing cold.

It was actually snowing when we arrived in Seoul and we didn’t have warm coats.

We had to go from the airport into Seoul by train and then take the KTX (Bullet Train) south to the City of Daegu and all the way I shivered and had coat envy!

I managed to buy and also to borrow some warm clothes for the time we were in South Korea.

Many of my clothes are from a thrift store or bought online and second hand anyway.

My Skecher trainers were bought online and are second hand but hardly worn.

Although, I bought my lovely comfortable Reef flipflops new in the half-price sale.

If clothes wear out or get damaged I can usually easily and cheaply replace them.

And think of all the money saved by not having to pay for checked luggage!

TRAVEL LIGHT – TEN PACKING TIPS

1. Choose the Right Bag: Check the cabin bag regulations for your airline and exact specifications for your flight.

Make sure your carry-on-sized suitcase or a travel backpack to meet with the strictest sizes if you are flying with more than one airline.

Choose a lightweight but durable bag to avoid unnecessary weight.

2. Pack Versatile Clothing: When limited by size and weight you are forced to prioritise what you carry.

Take clothes in neutral colours that can be mixed and matched to create multiple outfits.

I use layers for warmth instead of bulky items.

I choose items that can serve multiple functions, like a sarong that can double as a blanket or sarong or even a skirt.

3. Limit Shoes: I never travel with more than two pairs of footwear.

Typically, I travel in my comfortable but bulky to pack trainers and take a pair of flat sandals or flip flops for alternative use.

4. Get Organised: I prefer to use zip lock plastic bags (food bags) to keep things like trinkets and cables and small items organised in my luggage. I find you can flatten them and squeeze the air out creating a compression bag to help reduce volume and space.

But I do know some travellers who advocate packing cubes.

5. Pack Light Toiletries: I like to use travel-sized bottles and transfer my favourite products into smaller containers.

Also consider using solid toiletries like shampoo bars which are lighter and take up less space.

Only bring essentials as most hotels provide basic toiletries and you can buy items as needed.

6. Minimize Gadgets: It helps if you can use your devices in multiple ways.

For example, I use my phone as a camera.

Take only essential electronics and chargers.

Pack a universal power adapter and a power bank for charging off grid.

I wouldn’t be without my stylish and fast charging Gomi Power Bank.

7. Do Laundry: I like to choose accommodations with laundry facilities or I’ll do laundry in the sink.

Pack clothes made from quick-dry materials to make washing and drying easier.

8. Organize Documents: Travel with only necessary physical copies such as your passport and a few backup printouts of essential information like your travel insurance details.

Store important documents like tickets, itineraries, and maps on your phone or cloud storage.

Make sure your next of kin have access to your important documents in your cloud storage or any other way that suits so that you have independent backups in an emergency or loss or should the need arise.

9. Leave Room for Souvenirs: Leave some space in your bag for items or gifts you might pick up during your trip.

I’m not really a souvenir person but on my last trip I bought a silk scarf for my mum and some shell bracelets for friends I knew I’d be seeing on my next trip.

A small foldaway cotton bag can be used for shopping and saves using plastic.

10. Review and Edit: Before you close your bag, go through everything one last time in case you can remove anything that seems unnecessary or redundant.

Use your small digital luggage scale to weigh your bag once again to make sure you meet airline requirements and that it isn’t too heavy to carry comfortably.

THREE COMPELLING REASONS TO TRAVEL LIGHT

1. Convenience and Mobility: This is the number one reason for us to travel light is because light luggage is simply easier to carry.

Lighter bags are more comfortable and your back and shoulders will thank you.

This in turn makes travel so much easier because you are able to move more freely and take spontaneous detours or to walk longer distances without being burdened by heavy bags.

Especially through crowded airports, train stations, or getting onto ferries or climbing into longtail boats while island hopping in Thailand.

It’s also very helpful not to be hauling heavy suitcases when your hostel or hotel room is on an upper floor and there’s no lift.

This number one reason alone promotes a good feeling about adopting a minimalist mindset and travelling light.

2. Cost Savings: The number two reason for us deciding to travel light was to avoid paying the extra charges for checked baggage on budget flights.

Traveling with a carry-on helps to avoid these fees.

Plus less weight on planes, trains, and automobiles can contribute to lower fuel consumption and a smaller carbon footprint which can be better for the environment and this also promotes a good feeling.

In carrying less luggage it’s also easier and more feasible to use public transport to and from your destination rather than needing to take expensive taxis.

3. Time Efficiency: And I feel the number three reason is to benefit from less stress and faster check in times at airports because with hand luggage only you can head straight through to security and then to your gate.

You can also bypass the baggage claim area upon arrival.

Packing and unpacking is much simpler when you have fewer items to manage.

Fewer belongings also means you have less to worry about and to keep track of and this reduces stress and the risk of losing items or having things stolen.

Travel Light - Hand Luggage Only #travel #handluggageonly #travellight #midlifetravel #over50

MY TRAVEL LIGHT PACKING LIST

This is what I packed for six months of travel in Asia!

Travel Clothes: Underwear. Vest. Black Leggings. Cotton Socks. Skechers Trainers. Denim Kuhl Shorts and Kuhl Cotton Shirt. Black V-Neck Wool Sweater.

On My Person: Passport. Phone. Credit Cards. Cash. Any trinkets/rings/watch.

In My Small Backpack: Foldaway rain jacket. One outfit (usually a light dress plus underwear). I pair Reef flipflops. Bikini. A cotton sarong doubles as a scarf or blanket. Small plastic bag containing various 100ml toiletries. Toothbrush. Reading Glasses. Sunglasses. Small cotton bucket hat.

Also My Essential Gadgets: Small laptop. Gomi Power Bank. Cables/Leads. Plug Adapter. Kindle (Ereader). Small Walkman (Music). Earbuds. Refillable Water Bottle. Small digital luggage weigher.

In My Wheeled Cabin Bag: 3 sets underwear. 1 x socks. Bikini. Sarong. 1 x rash vest (for sun protection/snorkelling). 2 x Vest Tops. 2 x Yoga Shorts. 1 x White Cotton Shorts. 1 x TShirt. 2 x Day Dresses. 1 x Longer Dress. 2 x All-In-One shorts and one longer leg set. Small purse containing mini first aid kit of paracetamol & travel sickness pills & similar meds, safety pins, plasters.

TRAVELLING LIGHT – WHAT HAVE I LEARNED?

Our six months of travel with hand luggage only was a great success and I will not now travel any other way.

I have truly grasped and understood and embraced minimalism at last!

And I feel my life is richer for it.

I discovered that with few possessions there is less to worry about.

Less worry equals less stress.

And less stress equals freedom and happiness.

I finally realised that I’d once measured my own value in material things.

Now I value life experiences and precious moments over material things.

Travelling lightly has taught me that I can live lightly too.

Less is defiantly more.

I am truly thankful to have learned such a valuable life lesson in life.

Even if it did take me the best part of 60 years!

Do you travel light or aspire to do so?

What are your must have items?

Leave a comment or get in touch!

I’d love to hear from you!

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