The great hand luggage only challenge!!!

[anat0l]

Re: Travelling internationally with carry on only...

In any case - at a casual glance then 1/one/ONE pair of Denim Jeans IS Plenty!

1 pair of jeans for 10 days of travel?

1 week perhaps - 10 days starts to be a bit of a stretch...

 

[serfty]

Good denim is bulky and for fabric dense, so has volume and weight.

On the other side, denim has a lot of absorption, three days wear in temperate environments is generally fine. You are not thinking of wearing it in tropical environments are you.

In 10 days, one wash should suffice.

Once other bit of advice is to avail you self of airline lounge shower facilities frequently. It's OK to shower more than two time per days.

 

[davidj-bell]

Re: Travelling internationally with carry on only...

Good denim is bulky and for fabric dense, so has volume and weight.

On the other side, denim has a lot of absorption, three days wear in temperate environments is generally fine. You are not thinking of wearing it in tropical environments are you.

Because of its bulkiness, demin takes longer to dry, so depending on what your facilities are, you may be better with 2 pairs of jeans made of a lighter material.

 

[serfty]

Because of its bulkiness, demin takes longer to dry, so depending on what your facilities are, you may be better with 2 pairs of jeans made of a lighter material.

Or, indeed, Chinos ...


... like threads now merged ...

 

[Logan^]

I did a month with carry on only in the UK, including a wedding, back in September 09.

My roller has compartments for my laptop and then just used a suit bag for my trousers, wore my jacket onto the plane and got the SQ FA's to hang it up and yeah was sweet.

Managed to get 7 days of underwear, 5 T shirts rolled up and a couple of shirts in, both long and short sleeve and one pair of smart shoes and yeah was fine.

It is do able, you just have to pack very light. My Xmas trip to Thailand was a doddle with carry on only.

 

[jehane]

I've read this thread with some amusement. It's clear that I have *very* different standards to most people here. I'm an ultralight traveller - if I find that I *really* need something that I haven't packed, I buy it when I get there. As a mostly self-funded traveller I usually backpack - travelling cheaply allows me to travel more often. I am a veteran of washing clothes in sinks, and wearing jeans for far more than 10 days (China in winter, and I'm pretty clean). Anyway, here are some of my experiences...

1. A few years ago I took a 6-week trip across Poland and the Baltics in early summer with a 35L pack and a handbag. The pack was checked in due to my never-leave-home-without-it swiss army knife (yes, I do use it), otherwise it would have fitted in hand luggage (both size and weight). This included a tripod and a second pair of shoes.

2. Last year I spent a month in California and SW USA. I had a 65L pack, small duffel and a tote for carry-on. As well as clothes and toiletries I had a small tent, sleeping bag and 2 mats, plus small bits and pieces of assorted camping gear. Plus laptop (13"), and a lot of books (so much cheaper over there). Clothes alone would have easily fit into carry-on.

3. In January I went to a wedding. For the four day trip I took carry-on, which weighed in at 5kg. This included 2 wedding outfits (day/night) and casual outfits smart enough to also fit in a quick meeting at Head Office.

My upcoming trip is again to the USA, again with plans to camp. This time I'm considering going with hand luggage only (clothes) and buying cheap camping gear when I get there, to be dumped before I go home. I'll only need a tent and mat - I doubt I'll need a sleeping bag where I'm going. While I am very tempted to go carry-on, I don't know if I can manage without my knife. I also plan to buy several books over there, which may scuttle my carry-on plans.

And just in case there are still some stereotypes floating around, I'm female.

 

[anat0l]

On the other side, denim has a lot of absorption, three days wear in temperate environments is generally fine. You are not thinking of wearing it in tropical environments are you.

I generally go a week in my jeans - with studious care, even in summer (e.g. right now) they last a week just fine.

I guess it's not too bad to stretch it a bit longer than that if it isn't too hot/humid.

Obviously SIN and BKK are in monsoon climates; HKG is probably about to head into monsoon in late May, so to answer your question of am I thinking of it, well the most I'd probably head out is in SIN and that's a big 'if'. Most of the time I'll be in the air conditioning.

In 10 days, one wash should suffice.

I guess I could bring a lighter pair of trousers.

Once other bit of advice is to avail you self of airline lounge shower facilities frequently. It's OK to shower more than two time per days.

You don't have to tell me twice - I usually have a shower each time I'm in the lounge unless time is a constraint, or I'm on a multi-stop.

I've read this thread with some amusement. It's clear that I have *very* different standards to most people here. I'm an ultralight traveller - if I find that I *really* need something that I haven't packed, I buy it when I get there. As a mostly self-funded traveller I usually backpack - travelling cheaply allows me to travel more often. I am a veteran of washing clothes in sinks, and wearing jeans for far more than 10 days (China in winter, and I'm pretty clean). Anyway, here are some of my experiences....

...

My upcoming trip is again to the USA, again with plans to camp. This time I'm considering going with hand luggage only (clothes) and buying cheap camping gear when I get there, to be dumped before I go home. I'll only need a tent and mat - I doubt I'll need a sleeping bag where I'm going. While I am very tempted to go carry-on, I don't know if I can manage without my knife. I also plan to buy several books over there, which may scuttle my carry-on plans.

And just in case there are still some stereotypes floating around, I'm female.

I'm male, and I bow down to your HLO prowess. :mrgreen: To be honest, when you mentioned "handbag", I immediately guessed "must be a woman".

You could teach a lot of women a thing or two - if not to convert them to HLO then at least pack less! There have been threads about females going HLO (on FT particularly) - the biggest struggles for some of them are matching clothes and their cosmetics/amenity bag (esp. with LAG laws making it a bit awkward).

In saying all this (i.e. let's get back to generalities), buying stuff as you go probably goes with part of the HLO experience. That is something I wish to minimise (along with the whole buy quite a bit of something then throw it away).

BTW thanks for all the tips everyone. This sounds really exciting.....

 

[jehane]

Thanks anatol. I hoped the "handbag" would be a strong hint but I wanted to make sure. I'll be honest, I've met a LOT of women who pack dozens of outfits "just in case". I knew someone who packed about a week's worth of separate outfits for a weekend away. My secret? I'm not a fashion plate. I'm neat and clean, but not fancy. Toiletries can be an issue though - but you can get 100ml bottles if you're not fussy about brand, and they're not much more per 100ml than the regular size. I also use the hotel ones when I can - I'll probably stay in a hotel occasionally which means not needing to bring them. I hardly wear makeup - not at all when I'm camping! The only thing I've tried to do without and failed is a good face moisturiser.

For your trip, I would definitely recommend switching at least one pair of jeans for something more lightweight. Wear the jeans on the plane as they are heavier. You can drop one shirt, leaving you with 3xshirts + 2x tshirts. Stuff your chargers and adaptors into your shoes, fill further with socks and underwear if there is any additional space. Otherwise that looks pretty good.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[simongr]

Just spotted this in my trawling around for iPad related info:

Travel Vest from SCOTTEVEST/SeV - Men's Travel Vest with Hidden Pockets

This is a very tempting purchase (I have multiple vests already) if I can work out how hot/cold this will be. It is even now iPad compatible

 

[JohnK]

Hand luggage only does not work if taking golf clubs with you on a trip....

 

[anat0l]

As tempting as it may be, I think for my SC run coming up I cannot do it HLO.

Reasons:

• Due to where I am going, I've been asked to carry some stuff with me - all favours. Too much for hand luggage, and the people involved do not think HLO is a good enough reason to stop me from doing the favours.
• I'm likely to carry quite a few artifacts with me on this trip (read: collecting amenities / kits ). Some of you may view this as cheap, silly and/or highly unnecessary, but whatever - everyone is different. Whilst most of them will comply with the 100 mL rule I just might get caught out on the 1L rule, necessitating a bag to be checked to store some of the excess.
• Good timing for cleaning clothes and giving them ample time to dry will be severely limited. I need to pack almost all my clothes for the time I am away. Not much chance that'll fit in a hand carry (and if they weigh me I will be very much busted!)

 

[deka2]

Have read this thread with great delight.

Wife and I travelled SYD-MEL last week for work on our first hand luggage only test run. All went well other than our Antler air aeon only fitting sideways into the overhead locker.

Next trip is to Europe and America for a month, and are going to try to keep our bags with us for as long as we can. Shopping in New York will be the tester, and our final flight from HNL-SYD on Qantas with only a 7kg allowance may be the end of the road for hand luggage.

One of the things I found in our last few overseas trips is the weight of all the leads and connections.
After much research we now have USB connections to charge both phones (Iphone and Nokia), Digital Camera Battery and GPS if we decide to take it. All will be plugged into my eeepc, which is the only charger we are taking.
This has saved us both weight and space.

 

[rhjames]

Have read this thread with great delight.

Shopping in New York will be the tester, and our final flight from HNL-SYD on Qantas with only a 7kg allowance may be the end of the road for hand luggage.

Easy fixed. Don't go shopping!! It's just more things to have to carry around.

 

[deka2]

In most places I would agree with you rhjames, but in the USA the clothes and shoes are so much cheaper than here, I get tempted.

 

[rhjames]

In most places I would agree with you rhjames, but in the USA the clothes and shoes are so much cheaper than here, I get tempted.

That's true. I'm one of those people who spends about $200/year on clothes and shoes, so I don't appreciate the savings. I bought my last shoes in about 1995, and still going strong. I admit I can go weeks and never put shoes on. I stay with thongs and bare feet - more comfortable and cheaper. (Yes, I'm semi retired, and live near the beach). I also admit my last clothes purchase was a T shirt in Alaska last year (cheap and I needed it).

If I have to suffer going to a shopping centre, I meditate for days to prepare myself for the ordeal.

I was in Sydney international last week, and took time to look at the amount of luggage some people we checking in. Mind blowing. I recently had friends visit from Europe, to travel around Australia for 3 months. After a week, they returned to us, and left about 50% of their luggage with us. They returned a couple of weeks later, and left a further 25%. They are still way overloaded, in my opinion.

Anyway, if you can get some good bargains in NY in your last few days, it's not such a big deal to check it in, and have to wait a few minutes at your final destination. Of course, that could just be the time that luggage is lost in transit. Good luck.

 

[docjames]

Have read this thread with great delight.

Wife and I travelled SYD-MEL last week for work on our first hand luggage only test run. All went well other than our Antler air aeon only fitting sideways into the overhead locker..

What aircraft was it? (I have the same luggage) It seems to fit end-in on the 737-800 but not in most bins on the 767 or 737-400. SYD-MEL i am presuming a 767 it was then. Note that on the 747 it'll often fit end-in the outer bins (above the window seats) but not the inner ones (above the middle block of seats).

 

[rhjames]

Just for interest, what do people do when friends ask them to bring back something from overseas? What about presents?

I have a basic rule - no presents and no bring backs for others. (I might make an exception of perfume if I can get it at the airport, or on board).

I figure that the burden of me having to go shopping and carry additional weight for someone else is more than the cost saving is worth. Years ago, I carried a tape recorder around Europe and USA on a business trip, just so a friend could save a few dollars. That was the last time I brought anything back for someone else.

 

[deka2]

Correct. Both aircraft were 767, and it appeared not most people had to put there luggage sideways.
With two of us together we try to get on early and wait for the groans from people behind when they open up the locker only to see it full.

 

[serfty]

Correct. Both aircraft were 767, and it appeared not most people had to put there luggage sideways.
With two of us together we try to get on early and wait for the groans from people behind when they open up the locker only to see it full.

Interestingly on the 763's, many people do not notice the centre OHSB's.

HLO is relatively easy on Qantas Domestic Jets with the 2 x 7 Kg limit.

 

[deka2]

A bit harder for a QFNB flying International.

Our first flight is SYD-LHR-CBG on QF and BA.

I seem to remember reading tthat we will only be allowed 1 piece of luggae at LHR.