Our very light luggage

Back in January I told you how I was planning to make luggage for all of us for our next international trip. That was the trip we’ve just been on. I did indeed make luggage for us, and it went really well.

In the first few days particularly I was really paranoid about the shoulder straps’ stitching ripping where they attach to the top of the bags, but I didn’t need to worry. My bar tacking added extra strength and they were fine.

So, the original plan was that we would take under 5kg of carry on luggage each. Did this work? Was it possible? In the end we aimed for under 7kg each, as during the flight booking process, we didn’t end up using one of the airlines we had originally planned to, and therefore the limit wasn’t 5kg anymore.

We never actually weighed our fully packed luggage anywhere, so I don’t know! Wherever we checked in for flights, we were never asked to weigh our hand luggage. The closest we came was in Venice when the girl doing the paperwork asked if we had any bags to check in, and we said no. After she’d done all her computery things, and was about the send us on our way, she said, “Can I just look at your bags, please?” Sure! We all turned around and showed her the bags on our backs. “Oh! That’s fine!” I think she’d realised that if the girls could carry their bags so lightly, without complaining and without looking like they were going to die under the weight, that there must be no problem with them being overweight.

I had made the bags specifically for the international carry-on sizes for the airlines we were using, so they came in below or on the maximum size for all the airlines we used.

In the day or two before we left, I made use of a sale at one of the local travel stores and purchased three packing cells for each of us. One large one each for our clothes bundle, and two smaller ones for other stuff. These were excellent! It was like having drawers in your cupboard. Rather than everything floating free, it divided things up so that the bags were kept neat and well organised.

People’s reactions to us travelling with only carry-on luggage have been quite amusing. Some people wonder how, others wonder why. Others just wondered where all our luggage was!

“How” is not so hard – take lightweight everything, and make sure all your clothes are quick dry and can be worn in any combination. Layering clothing is important, and travelling in summer is a definite advantage – the clothes are lighter and less bulky.

“Why” is also easy – because it is liberating to travel with so little! Your luggage doesn’t get lost by airlines when checked in, because you never check it in. There’s no dragging bags over cobblestones, because they are always on your back. There’s no need to hire big cars or taxis to take all the luggage because the luggage takes up hardly any room. In terms of kids – if there’s less stuff, there’s less to get lost, and less to collect up when they’ve emptied everything out. (Kids can be messy, as can parents!)

It is something I highly recommend for travelling. It takes a lot of planning, but for us it is just another enjoyable aspect of planning a holiday. If it is something that you’re interested in, then I highly recommend www.onebag.com.