Ever wondered how travellers manage to live out of only a carry on bag!? Do you dread carrying your 20kg roller bag over European cobble stone? Or stress about having to pay extra baggage fees? Well this is just the read for you 😉 So I recently got back from my last adventure to the Middle East, and I thought I’d give you all a bit of an insight into exactly what I packed and how I lived out of 37 litres and a personal backpack, for a month long trip!!
*Update: February 2020!! I’ve just gotten home from a 3 month adventure around South America with this trusty carry on bag!!
Every single trip I’ve done I’ve taken a smaller bag each time! I think this is for multiple reasons! One, I just get sick of carrying so much luggage around all the time!! My style of travel is definitely more fast pace as I’m always trying to see as much as I can, usually in a constricted amount of time! So sometimes I’m on the move consecutive days, which means almost repacking my bag every day…. Which is soooo much easier, the less items I have!! The second reason is that the more I travel, and the longer I travel for, the more I realise how little I can actually live with! I don’t need a new outfit every single day, I don”t need 5 pairs of shoes or 3 different make up palettes!!
The number one thing I force myself to remember, is that if others can live in said country, so can you. Meaning it doesn’t matter if I forget to pack extra toothpaste, or shampoo, you’ll almost always have access to local shops, and if locals can survive with what they have there, then so can you! So its completely unnecessary to try to pack absolutely everything you own!!
The next tip is to just pack a weeks worth of clothing!! And take your own washing powder! This pretty much enables you to travel for as long as you’d like, and just do one load of washing per week!!
When I’m picking what garments to pack, I always try to pick ones that match with AT LEAST 2 other items, usually 3! This is vital in making sure that I dont have too many things that only go with one other item – meaning that it’ll be worn so much less!! I usually have a few exceptions, like a dress and then a nice dinner top or something, but generally I love to almost be able to grab blindly from my bag and already know the items I grabbed will match!!
All other non-clothing items only get packed if they’re super necessary, and I can’t really (or dont want to) buy it where I’m heading. Examples of this are medications, prescription glasses/ sunglasses, make up, toiletries ect.! I also usually take a travel towel, since I often stay in hostels or go to the beach a lot, and this trip I was so excited to try out a Tesalate Sand Free Beach Towel!! It folded up pretty compact to fit in the bottom of my bag, and I absolutely loved how stylish and quick drying it was – absolutely amazing for traveling!!
Sometimes when I’m traveling for extended periods of time, I do of course get sick of the clothes I’m traveling with. In this case I simply donate them wherever I can, and buy new clothes on the road. It’s a strict rule for me that I only buy new items if I’m throwing out or donating old ones!! This ensures I’m never overloading my bag, and also makes me think through if I really want/ need the new item!!
The last little tip is to use packing pods!! It makes it so much easier to quickly pack your bag up when everything has it’s exact spot in your bag!! Plus its super convenient to find things when they’re all sorted into their own groups. I usually have a pod for toiletries, underwear/ bathers, clothes and other ‘bits and pieces’!
So here’s my full list of absolutely everything I took with me on my last summer trip!! Feel free to use this a a bit of a guideline/ checklist for when you’re packing for your next adventure!!!
| Clothes | Toiletries | Other |
| Black T Shirt | 50ml Shampoo | Tesalate Towel |
| White T Shirt | 50ml Conditioner | Sunglasses |
| Olive T Shirt | 80ml Body Wash | Spare Iphone |
| Black button up | 30ml Face Wash | Go Pro |
| Orange Spot Button up | Hair Comb | Ipad |
| White button up | Moisturizer | Chargers |
| Pajama top | Leave in hair cream | Snapwireless Portable Charger |
| 3x Bras | Sunscreen | Crossbody bag |
| 7x Undies | Lip Balm | Card Wallet |
| White shorts | Laundry Powder | Headphones |
| Beige shorts | Brow Gel | Umbrella |
| Black wide legs | Mascara | Hat |
| Lepoard print skirt | Eyeliner | Hand Sanitizer |
| Bike shorts | 3x Earrings | Laundry Bag |
| Pajama shorts | Bamboo toothbrush | |
| Ichiche dress | Toothpaste | |
| Socks | Contact lenses | |
| One piece swimmers | Razor | |
| Birkenstocks | Hair ties | |
| Lactose Sneakers | Watch | |
| Flip Flops | Personal Backpack | |
| Water bottle | ||
| Passport! |
Soooo here’s a quick collage of all the outfits I managed to assemble together with just this packing list!! Not a bad effort if you ask me and I’m sure there were even more combinations that I hadn’t gotten to yet!!
I hope you found this post useful in some way, and definitely hope it’ll make you at least think about what you’re packing and if it’s really vital to your trip!!
Signing off,
Alexx
Alex's Adventures 