Over the past year I have fully converted from lugging around a huge 30 to 50 pound suitcase to only packing a travel backpack I thought this would be a perfect time to share all my packing tips and tricks before I head out on several more short trips in the next few months!
The bags I use!
The bag that I got last year is the Osprey Farpoint 55. It's a 55 liter travel backpack with a smaller day backpack that unzips from the main bag. This bag is the perfect bag from a long weekend away to 14 days in Europe traveling to 4 different major cities. No matter your travel style if you want to lighten the load I highly recommend this bag. The zipper on the main bag unzips all the way around so you can flap open the top and see whats inside much like a traditional suitcase. The back straps are able to be zipped into a little pouch to be hidden so you can carry the bag like a duffel or wear it like a back pack. You can check out the exact bag HERE!
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| Osprey Farpoint 55 |
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| the bag in action |
On smaller trips like a long weekend in Mexico I detach the smaller backpack and use it as my carry on (personal item) then my larger backpack fits easily as a carry on. I didn't try to push the whole backpack as a carry on on my Euro trip but I think if I tested it it would have passed. I'm certain that it would have fit in the overhead areas but didn't push it as we only had a couple flights over 2 full weeks.
While at home I use a larger purse to carry EVERYTHING but a lot of those things I don't use or need on vacation so I use a smaller cross body bag to carry a few essentials. I want to feel mobile and not weighted down that's why I love the small Fossil cross body that I got a few months back. I have used similar cross body bag in the past but love this one. It's the perfect size. A smaller wallet works well with this bag like the one pictured below. Both these bags can be found HERE!
The leather passport cover is something I have had for years. It's the perfect way to be a classy traveler and protect your passport.
Now that you have what bags I recommend and love how do you pack them to make the most out of your space?
Let's conquer easiest first....going out traveling everyday you will need a few essentials in your cross body. Sunglasses, a scarf to cover in churches and incase a chill hits, Secret deodorant ball to stay fresh, small wallet, and camera. Most other things I don't need and I still have plenty of space left for brochures, small city maps and such for daily sightseeing.
Before any trip I make a packing list in the back of my planner that has EVERY THING I need and how many of each. I usually make the list the week of travel and don't actually pack my bag until the night before. The night/day of packing I lay all items out on my bed and as I get them laid out I mark them off my list so I can make sure I see all items before I pack away. To me this allows me to double check my list, make sure all my items go together and are necessary and keeps me from forgetting anything.
On small trips I don't use packing cubes I just nicely organize inside my bag since there is usually still plenty of space. On larger/longer trips packing cubes are a must. They literally saved my trip over the Summer in Europe. I used a packing cube for each city (4) and inside each were the exact outfits for that city from top, pant, socks, and undergarments. I rotated pajamas and the dirty clothes went into the cube. Not only did this keep me from digging through my bag for outfits, it also kept everything clean that was supposed to be clean and in its place.
I labeled each cube with the city and the 5th cube held a couple dresses and sweaters that were interchangeable throughout the trip. On smaller trips I simply bring a large canvas bag as my dirty clothes bag and all things are contained by the end of the trip and I can easily stuff it all in my bag and head home.
Keeping everything in its place is an important one because a couple months ago on the last trip I took to Europe for 14 days I went to France and all over Italy my bag weighted a total weight 11 kilos or 20 pounds. If you know anything about international travel that is definitely not the norm so I was SUPER proud of myself. My bag was stuffed..... like NOT ONE MORE THING will go in stuffed. If I didn't have the packing cubes maximizing my space and compartmentalizing all my clothes I don't think all of it would have fit.
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| Fully packed for Europe and ready to go! |
1 bag + 2 countries + 3 flights + 3 trains
+ 4 major cities + 5 packing cubes + 20 pounds
= 1 very happy traveler
If you are sick of lugging around big bulky suitcases then give this option a try. There are tons of different bags that will work for you if you just get rid of excess items and try them out! I have been only carrying on (for the most part) and only carrying a backpack for a full year of travel now and I LOVE IT! I will never go back to the big suitcase.
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