V-Flyer

As this is our first trip to Europe as a family, we are really into taking as little as possible.

Although our trip is 2.5 weeks long, we're taking nothing more than carry-ons. Well, we'll still check our primary carry on luggage, but it's small enough (and light enough) to qualify as carry on.

We found some excellent bags made by Red Oxx (http://www.redoxx.com) from Montana. The "Air Boss" bag was recommended by a guy that runs http://www.onebag.com.

My wife's bag is 19 pounds total. Mine should be close too, we'll see.

I'll let you know how it works in my return-leg trip report.


moved to Travel General by mod ... Nick

Beware - laundry bill both here and in Paris can be a bit steep.

A friend of mine can pack for three weeks in a carry-on. [:0] She also gives classes on packing in Sacramento. I think I might need her for my Oz trip

For those who are Costco fanatics, they carry an excellent regulation size carry on that is a deal ($99) and indestructible; I take it everywhere and yes, it fits in the overhead bins.

Chuck-

Topic caught my eye as I was hoping for some tips! We're travelling to Bruges for the weekend in a few weeks' time (by Eurostar) and I was only this morning thinking about what to take. You'd think, wouldn't you, that it being just a few days and travelling by train would make for easy packing. Well, Packing IS the easy bit - deciding what to take (and not) is always the tricky bit. Never can tell what tricks the weather will play on you - we always have the 'what do you think we should take? I don't know' ritual...

Let me know if anyone out there has the finite guide for packing. Packing light - ah,the Holy Grail of travel....

We are relying on several things to come together:

1. More modern synthentics (nylon, Coolmax) that dry quickly and pack flatter and lighter.

2. Washing every other night in the hotel sink with Woolite packages, a sink stopper and travel clothesline.

3. Eagle Creek packing cubes to keep things neat.

We've never traveled like this before, going all-out light. My wife thinks I've become obsessed with this (I have). The Ex Officio brand of boxer-briefs and t-shirts alone cut out half my packing weight.

I did a test-wash at home with a cotton t-shirt (>24 hours to dry!), my Ex Officio briefs (2 hrs.) and nylon REI shorts (2 hrs). Not bad. Incidently, this is my first hand-washing ever.

Most of my learning came from http://www.onebag.com and http://www.ricksteves.com.

Errm - yes - but why are you doing this? Your itinerary gives you plenty of time in each place you are visiting and the walk from the aircraft to the baggage hall usually gives you plenty of time to collect your things?

It will be interesting to see how you get on!!

But stop drinking that strong coffee!![V]

All very well if you are comfy wearing synthetic fabrics! All I can say is thank goodness for washing machines while away - though I take the point made earlier that it can be tricky to find these things in some european places! Only other thing I've found useful is to take along some stuff that you think has caome to the end of its natural - take it clean, wear it, throw it away! Makes for leass washing, and also makes more room for bringing home those little extra treats!