Blast from the Past: Travelling with only carry on bags

Blast from the past: Originally posted in 2018. The world changed a lot since 2018 so here’s an update. The following are genuine notes from that era updated for 2021:

I was watching some travel videos on line since travel is not so easy in 2021 and I came across some – how to pack in cabin baggage videos. I dived deeper into the online ‘how to pack in cabin luggage’ and ‘travelling with only carry on luggage’ it became clear that there are fundamental errors with virtually all of the self  proclaimed professional travelers. Which I concluded that most were fake.

None of the talking heads seem to travel in winter or a colder climate. A light sweater is all that they seem to pack and this is not going to work. All also recommend packing cubes but they only take up more space and weight. Packing codes are great if you do not have weight limits. There is at least 1kg of smaller bags! They are also a waste money when a reusable shopping bag is all you really need. All use luggage case or bag with weighs at least 4 kilos and then a separate bag that adds 2 kgs. A laptop and charger is at least 3 kgs. If you a Macbook even more due to the dongle and cable situation. That’s 10 kgs already and you haven’t started packing your clothes.

Now 10 kg is important as the carry on limits vary between airlines but they are all minimal after all they want you to pay for checked in baggage. The average free carry on baggage limit is between 7-10kg and needs to be a certain size. Even less for cheaper airlines! The global standard seems to be 56 cm x 36 cm x 23 cm. The only country that has generous in cabin weight limits is the US so you can also conclude the talking heads have never  been out the country.

With these sort of restrictions you will may get away with travelling for a few days but highly unlikely you can make it any longer, which these people boast about, without doing the washing or wasting time and money on more clothing and bags to take them back in least you throw them away! Regardless it is a miserable way to travel. A word advice to want to be travel talking heads  – do actually travel. Do not use stock images in your videos use real videos of real places with you in your recycled clothing. Label what you are saying entertainment as opposed to an attempt at being truthful or informative.

In the end don’t view or read their rubbish advice – analyse – just a little what they are saying. Just because they managed to upload a video as a talking head or post some nice pictures doesn’t mean they they telling the truth. I can understand why Youtube in particular is cracking down on certain popular videos due to their obvious inaccurate advice. Pity they missed taking down the stupid ones I found.

Now my advice to to buy the lightest strongest carry on luggage 1.7 kg (2021) is the lightest I’ve seen and work around that. DO NOT waste your money on packing cubes – great idea but waste of money. Good luggage has been cheap since the lock downs so take the opportunity to get some quality lightweight carry on luggage or luggage generally. In regards to warmer clothes try puffer jackets lighter and warmer than a light sweater. That said it is possible to travel with carry on luggage only – but for most people it will be a miserable experience.