When we decided to travel for two months with nothing but a carry-on and a personal item, I honestly wasn’t sure how it was going to go. Two months was about 5 weeks longer than any other trip we had taken carry-on only, and this trip included everything from beach to city, hot & humid to rainy & cold.
But now that we’re home, I can say with confidence: I packed too much… and also not enough.
Disclaimer: Laundry was our friend
When you’re traveling for this long, laundry has to be part of your routine. Most of our trip was spent in apartments where we could wash clothes and hang them to dry.
Once you accept that you’re going to wear things more than once (where possible) and do laundry along the way, the amount of clothing you actually need drops dramatically.
What was in my carry-on?
What I brought & how it worked out (Green= worked well; Yellow= needs modification; Red= would not repeat):
2 dresses - 1 Michael Stars Daisy gauze sleeveless, 1 Unbound Merino Midi Travel Dress. These were the superstars of the trip.
1 pair dark wash jeans - I never pack jeans, they’re heavy and don’t dry well if you have to wash them, but because we were going to be in Scotland and England I added them in. I wore them twice in Scotland, it was too hot for them in England.
1 pair linen pants - I wore them once.
1 pair of athletic joggers - I only wore these on travel days, so they were never packed in the suitcase. I could have also worn them in Scotland instead of the jeans.
2 tank tops with built in bras - Amazon CRZ Yoga Butterluxe worn as workout wear and with regular shorts.
2 sleeveless blouses - 1 linen, 1 polyester blend. I could have just brought the linen one. The poly blend was too hot in Portugal.
4 pairs of shorts - 1 White, 1 Black, 1 Denim, 1 Athletic. I was worried about bringing the denim shorts due to drying time. They were lightweight though, so it was worth it.
1 long-sleeved blouse - I used this for a swimsuit cover (until I bought a dress for that purpose) and over the tank tops on occasion.
1 merino wool cardigan - this was heavier weight and I mainly wore it on the plane, over my pullover if I got really cold, or as a layer in Scotland. I’m glad I brought it, but it did take up a lot of space so I would bring something thinner next time.
1 merino wool 1/4 zip pullover - I wore this on travel days to stay warm on the plane, and pretty much daily in Scotland as a layering piece. Because it was merino wool it stayed fresh the whole time.
1 tankini - I wore this a few times and then ended up buying a bikini in Portimão.
7 pairs of underwear - this was the right call, especially towards the end of the trip when we had 7 days of hotels and no laundry.
4 pairs of socks - I had the merino wool Ondo no show socks, best socks ever. These can be worn twice, (for real), and then sink washed with very quick dry time.
1 pair of sandals - Taos Trophy 2, so comfortable for all day walking on cobblestones or flat ground. Highly recommend.
1 pair of sneakers - Hoka Solimar, very comfy. I wore these for longer walks and on travel days (so they were not packed). They were white, and by the time we left Portugal I wish I had brought black ones. I ended up buying a $15 pair of black sneakers to wear in Scotland because the Hokas were so dirty.
1 pair of rubber flip-flops - Archies, very comfortable if you need arch support.
1 sun visor - I wore this at the beach almost daily. I have the one from Halo with silicone strips on the headband so it doesn’t slip down.
1 sun hat - I wore this a couple times, but the wind made it hard to wear, and even though it was “packable”, it took up a lot of space. I ended up donating this.
1 packable raincoat - 33,000 Feet brand on Amazon. I only needed this in Scotland, but definitely worth the packing space.
You can always buy a few things - and I did
1 bikini ($35)
1 cover-up dress ($12)
1 cardigan ($10)
1 sleeveless blouse ($8)
1 lightweight sweater ($5)
1 pair inexpensive black sneakers - I used my orthotic insoles in them ($15)
1 cashmere turtleneck at Uniqlo ($30)
1 wool scarf ($18)
Instead of trying to pack for every possible scenario, you can pack for the conditions you expect and buy something if reality turns out differently.
My carry-on was the Monos Carry-On Plus. I know there are similar bags with better warranties, but we have used these bags on multiple trips and the wheels and handles (the parts that normally break first) have held up very well, plus it’s incredibly light weight.
Packing cubes: yes...but not for everything
I also experimented with the great travel question: to packing cube or not to packing cube?
My answer is: both.
I used half my suitcase for clothes, the other half for miscellaneous items like sandals, hair tools, hats, and all my miscellaneous pouches.
The larger items - dresses, pants, long-sleeved tops - were laid in the bottom of one side of the suitcase. Smaller items like shorts, tops, underwear, socks and my swimsuit went into packing cubes.
I also had a packing cube specifically for my hair stuff: microfiber towel, brushes, clips, hair ties, shower cap and dry shampoo.
Then I used smaller pouches for other categories, like bathroom items and jewelry.
For me, the goal wasn’t to make everything fit into a cube. It was to keep things organized enough that I wasn’t digging through my entire suitcase every time I needed something.
What was in my personal item?
In my Nomad Lane Bento Bag:
The front was the admin stuff - passport, wallet, phone, pens, glasses, portable battery for my phone
The top pockets were for liquids and my tech pouch, with my chargers & cables.
The back compartment was for the three bags I may want to access during a flight:
The black and grey pouches are Travelon Compact Hanging Toiletry Kits. The black one was my non-liquid makeup bag. The grey one was essentially my traveling medicine cabinet - prescription and OTC meds mainly.
The leopard-print bag is my in-flight “bathroom bag,” with things like hair ties, lip balm, mints, and deodorant wipes.
Inside front packing area (under the black mesh):
A cardigan, reusable shopping bag (we used this SO MUCH), converter plugs, some more charging cables, and snacks.
I also brought my 16” laptop, my kindle, and disinfecting wipes.
I love the Bento Bag, but I would not bring it on this kind of trip again.
We had to take 3 different flights on small, inter-European carriers that required us to check our carry-on roller bags. Once those bags were checked, we had to carry the Bento Bag until we got on our flight. It does have a shoulder strap, but neither of us thought to bring ours. Even if we had, it would be so much weight on one shoulder. We are going to have a similar situation when we spend 3 months in SE Asia next year, so we are currently looking at 28L backpacks to use as our personal item for those type of trips.
Toiletries were the thing I worried about most
I thought toiletries would be the hardest part of packing carry-on only for this long, but they really weren’t.
Use your liquid allotment to bring the things you know will be hard or impossible to find. Most things can be purchased wherever you’re going. (Google is your friend) I used mine for hair oil, hair mask, and a few skin care & cosmetic items. Bring things in solid form if you can.
The one thing I wish I had brought more of?
American-strength deodorant. 😂
I can put my deodorant of choice on at 5am and even after a day of heat, humidity, and 10K steps, I am fresh as a daisy at 10pm - thank you, Carpe. (this post is not sponsored). Deodorant is not created equally around the world, and this was one area where I definitely should have packed a little extra. I thought I had packed a brand new tube, but it was gone about 2/3 of the way through the trip and it took me several tries to find something that worked well enough.
So, what did I learn?
I’ll pack fewer “contingency” clothes next time.
High quality merino wool is a miracle - I’ll be looking for a few more items in that fabric.
My reusable shopping bag (Nanobag brand) was used so often, I would probably bring two next time.
No white sneakers.
The biggest surprise of traveling for two months with so little wasn’t what I missed, it was how little I actually missed.
We had clean clothes. We had enough variety that I didn’t feel like I was wearing the same thing every day. We bought a few things when we needed them. And I never once wished I’d packed more things (other than deodorant) or a bigger suitcase.
There’s something pretty liberating about realizing you can live for two months with the contents of a carry-on and a well-organized personal item.
Pack less. Do laundry. Buy what you need. Organize the things you actually need to reach. And leave a little room for the things you didn’t know you were going to find along the way.
That’s probably my biggest packing lesson from two months of travel.
Also? Buy the dang Highland Cow embroidered bag at Uniqlo in Edinburgh! Such a regret! 😂
LOVE a well vetted, curated list! Thank you! Can't wait to hear what backpack you settle on!