I don’t know about you, but after our trip to Europe last year where we hauled our suitcases on and off the metro and the trains and airplanes, and up and down three flights of stairs in the metro, I don’t want to have to go through that again.

At the time, I did not think that we had really over-packed by too much.  We were going to be gone for about 21 days and even planned to stop to do laundry about 10 to 12 days into the trip.  We each had one checked bag and one carry-on bag and one personal bag.  The personal bag had our medicine, travel docs, one change of clothes, my kindle and snacks. Nothing was over-weight; but when you figure that the checked bags were close to 48 pounds each and the carry-on bags were about 20 pounds each, that added up to a lot of stuff to carry. The three flights up from the metro station to the street was the final straw. We were going to pack lighter next time.

I bet you would think about what you needed to bring with you if you went through something similar. In fact, I challenge you to experiment before you leave home. Pack your bags, get on a bus or a train or the metro locally, haul your things to a hotel in a town a hundred miles or so away from home, carry your stuff to your room and then decide it it was too much.

Well, it is almost time for the next trip to Europe. We spent many hours over the past few months studying and watching seminars.  I really liked the RickSteves.com video on packing light. I also looked at one from PackingLight.com that demonstrated how to travel with the equivalent of enough clothes for 60 outfits that will fit into a carry-on.  Unfortunately the video from PackingLight.com is no longer available online. In both cases you would have to wash underwear and sox every couple of days to make their packing plans work. Well, I only needed to have 20-30 outfits for our trip, which meant that I could bring extra underwear and sox and not have to hand wash them every night or two, so that looked pretty good to me. Still need to find out if my existing carry-on bags would work or if I wanted to buy  a new convertable bag that could be used as a backpack or hand carried luggage so that my hands were free when we hopped on and off the metro.

Before spending any money on a new carry-on bag, I also looked at what airlines allowed in the way of carry-on bags since it seemed that every airline had their own rules, especially the smaller airlines in Europe. So, to save you from having to do the same research, here is the results of our research. What you will see is a summary of several airlines rules followed by a summary of luggage that you own then a table showing examples of replacement carry-on luggage. I deleted the specifics of my luggage to leave you space to print out this article and to enter your info so that you can do your own survey. Click here for more on Packing Light.

You should know that if you go for wheels, you will give up about 20% of the total carrying capacity.  Also, most airlines have a restriction on how long wheeled bags can be for carry-on purposes because the wheels stick out beyond the end of the bag. EBags have lifetime warranty. They also have shoulder strap at no extra cost. It is $10 extra for Rick Steves Bags. Eagle Creek has a “no excuses” warranty. External compression straps cover bottom half of case with Rick Steves bags and the whole bag with eBags. This last item is important if you are trying to squash the bag down to fit in the overhead. Prices were online prices in March 2014.

After watching the webinars and doing the reading and re-thinking what I really needed to bring on my trip, it was time to decide to either stay with my existing roller type carry-on or buy a new convertible carry-on.  I bit the bullet and bought the convertible carry-on because I knew that it would be much easier when we were on and off the metro trains.

But, will it all really fit like they showed on the videos?  It was time to pack my carry-on suitcase to verify what I had learned. I also wanted to see how wrinkled everything got when things were scrunched down with the compression straps. So, I decided to try out the packing method showed on the Packing Light video. I was able to pack 4 pants, 7 shirts, 1 sport coat, 7 sets of underwear, my DOP kit and a few other items. Total weight was only 20 pounds, including the carry-on bag. I did not put in an extra pair of shoes or sox, but I will probably put the DOP kit in my personal bag and replace it with the shoes and sox and the weight will be about the same. Now I need to follow the advise on Rick Steves’ website and go downtown and walk around for a while. Better yet, take the bus or the metro to town, do some window shopping and come home. I bet I will be taking out some things when I get home.

I will get back with you after I take a test run with the new bag.

———————————————————————-

Turning Dreams into Memories,
One Vacation at a Time.
Bon Voyage!!!

As you might guess, this document is a compilation of information from our travels as well as from other travelers. I hope it has been of value to you.  Check out the important links below.

• Packing Checklist
• Parent Authorization Letter For Unaccompanied Minors
• Medical Treatment Authorization Letter
• Travel With Minors – Permission Letter

Don’t hesitate to email us when you return from your trip with any suggestions that will make this document better for you and your fellow travelers!

You may also want to visit our Facebook page, www.Facebook.com/TeamEdwardsTravel