Six Weeks, Carry-On Only

Published on 01 June 2016
#capsule #carry-on #shoes #travel

I've never been one to travel heavy. I used to travel a lot with my mother when I was younger. We'd have four check-in bags between us, three of hers, and one of mine. Mine was the small one. The majority of my travels since have generally been no more than three weeks in duration, with access to laundry (if needed), and easily served by carry-on luggage.

Two years ago, we were on our honeymoon. One week in Hong Kong, followed by five weeks in Europe, travelling by train where possible, including a couple sleepers. Experience has taught me that backpacks are not my friend, and I had no intention of dragging a large suitcase through train stations, and over cobblestones. We were also staying at Airbnbs, only a few of which had washing machines, and we had no plans to hang around laundromats. I had to revise my carry-on strategy.

I kid you not, I spent months researching how to pack for this trip. I had already resigned myself to having zero space for souvenirs, and was checking 5-year historical weather data, poring through various travel blogs, foraging through my wardrobe for various outfit combinations, and even looking up what shoes to buy or bring[1] without looking like a complete tourist. I didn't expect to look like I'm walking a runway, but I also didn't want to look like a target.

This is what I ended up packing for a mild European summer, and how I felt about them at the end of the trip.

Carry-On Europe

Tops

The tunic shirt got a lot of wear as a tucked in shirt with pants, or belted with leggings. It comes down to mid-thigh, and even though that seems like a lot, the thin fabric doesn't add a lot of bulk. The Icebreaker T was used layered or by itself. Both of these could be hand-washed, and could dry quickly overnight. The Evolve top is great, though I didn't often make use of the adjustable sleeves, also hand-washed, but took a little longer to dry. I have actually bought a second one of these.

I usually bring a tank top for layering purposes, and they're so small I don't even count it as an item. They're good for warmth, and they help to extend the number of wears of your other mid-layers (unless you sweat a lot).

The reversible top was only okay, it allowed me to change the look up a bit, but the cut isn't very good (can't complain, it was USD$18) and the knotted side obviously takes longer to dry.

While the other tops are in regular rotation even at home, I've swapped the reversible top out for some other longer sleeve shirt or T. Four tops with a range of sleeve lengths give you ample options, especially if they can be layered.

Pants

  • 1 linen, taupe straight leg
  • 1 jeans, black skinny leg (similarsimilar)
  • 1 travel pants, Northface charcoal, straight leg
  • 2 leggings, black 3/4 and full length

The jeans are straight forward. Not easy to hand-wash, but if you don't sweat and you air them out and alternate bottoms, you can stretch it out until you get access to a washing machine. I brought the linen pants because I don't like the cut of the waist of the Northface pants and thought it might annoy me, and I brought the Northface pants because I was afraid the colour of the brown linen pants would annoy me. All three got good use, but I would happily swap out the linen and the Northface for a single pair of pants in a colour, cut and fabric that would be a good non-jeans alternative.

The leggings got good use as well with the tunic shirt, and were an easy hand-wash, but I only bring one pair now. I don't like getting cold and would wear the 3/4 thermals as an under-layer, but a good pair of leggings or tights serve that purpose.

Outerwear

The jumper is mid-weight and can easily be thrown in a washing machine without concerns of shrinkage. With European summers being nothing like what they are in Australia, this got quite a bit of use, especially when we were along the coast. The raincoat was a good alternative to an umbrella, and keeps your hands free. Not suitable for a downpour, but good for coverage in a light shower. I got mine from eBay.

Innerwear

  • 1 week of underwear
  • 2 bras
  • 2 regular socks
  • 2 ankle socks
  • 2 footlets

So, I know this seemed excessive. I could certainly have dropped down to three pairs of underwear (people suggest two, but that's madness) and found I was hand-washing daily anyway so three would have worked quite well. The bras were non-underwire ones from Uniqlo. These are comfortable, easy to hand-wash and the padding is quite resilient for machine washing if you needed to throw them in (with a laundry bag). I could have dropped the regular socks, and just had three pairs of ankle socks for the same reason as the underwear. The footlets are to wear with flats. I'll get to this soon, but I wear closed shoes generally, and the footlets give you an extra bit of lining and sweat coverage. And if you're walking a lot and don't have many shoe options for alternating to allow them to air between uses, you want to do what you can to minimise the sweat issue.

Shoes

I wear orthotics, which makes shoe buying and travel selections a bit of a nightmare if you want something that doesn't look completely utilitarian, and is versatile enough to wear with pants and skirts/dresses. Both of these met my requirements, and while I still wear these shoes regularly, I don't often pack them. When I'm travelling and won't be doing a heap of walking, my go-to shoes are a pair of leather lace-ups (Frankie4 Ellie) for day-to-day, and either my favourite knee-high boots (similar - Eccosimilar - Ecco), or black wedges (Camper, no orthotics). If we were travelling in cooler months, I would have brought the knee-high boots, without question. I can walk for miles in those.

I'll write a review about the shoe situation later on, but the Frankie4's are great. These flats also come with an ankle strap which you can loop through the back if you need a little more support. This is great if you have narrow heels and are inclined to keep slipping out of your shoes. The Rudi isn't available anymore, but I expect its successors are equally good options.

Other

The scarf is for accessorising and warmth, and they're light, so there's no harm bringing one (or two) of these regardless. The belts were used with the tunic shirt and Chrysalis Cardi when used as a dress. I just now bring the one wide belt.

I wore the AngelRox wrap as a skirt, and a top layered with the tank top. Honestly, I'm not as in love with it as I was when I first saw it. I've dropped this one entirely, and sub it out with another thing that can serve as a skirt/dress.

The Chrysalis Cardi is the best. Scarf or cardi on cool days, dress when I need it, additional blanket on the plane. I love it so much I made a second in a different colour.

Extra Bits

When I'm travelling for work, or need to bring a laptop, I have a separate bag that counts as my personal item. Otherwise, I just use a padded cross-body bag which can carry my camera with an extra lens, and other essentials. Space for a small water bottle is also good to have.

I found zipped packing cubespacking cubes really helpful for keeping your luggage organised and more compact, and I usually bring a small zipper laundry bag to toss all the smalls in when they go in the machine to avoid the laundry sock monster.

Additional Resources:

  1. Travel Fashion Girl
  2. Her Packing List

[1] I wear orthotics, and most travel blogs end up suggesting sneakers (hard to find a pair that looks nice with skirts or dresses, may need another pair of shoes), or sandals (no support, those which can be worn with orthotics tend to look completely functional, but otherwise aesthetically displeasing). I could write chapters on trying to find orthortic-friendly shoes that don't make you look like a 70 year old school marm.

[2] I reverse engineered the pattern for these items from their respective product sites. If you want these products, I highly recommend you buy them direct.