How to Pack Light?

medusaoblongata

medusaoblongata

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May 1, 2000
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I recently took a 3 day car trip with a girlfriend of mine, and ended up bringing almost more than I could carry. This wasn't too bad since there was a bellboy to take the bags from the car to the hotel room, but it still seems like a bad habit, since...

I'll be taking a 2 week trip to Europe (France, Italy, Spain, & Switzerland) in September, and I definitely can't travel with more than I can comfortably carry. Hopefully significantly less, since I'll be buying stuff while I'm there, and I'll most likely end up having to carry some of her stuff too. But how do I carry 2 weeks worth of clothes, plus whatever other gear I may need, in a relatively small and light package? I know I can get by with one jacket, one sweatshirt, one pair of boots (unless I buy more there), but I can't wear the same pair of pants for two weeks, and even 5 shirts won't be enough.

Any trips on a (non-camping) way to travel light and still have everything I'd need to be comfortable?

Some more details: We'll be traveling by car more often than train or bus, not more than a few nights in any given city, most hotels will not be pre-booked (to give us some leeway with scheduling).

Any other tips on traveling Europe besides how to pack lightly?

Thanks guys.
 
That is one good site.

Not much to add to what can be found on there. I tend to view my camping and non-camping trips as extensions of one another as far as packing goes and use some of the same light, fast drying kit for both.

Decanting/repackaging sponge bag contents saves a good deal of weight and space. I found tooth gel in tiny 1"x2" sample size, good for three weeks travel, easy. Shaving gel that does not foam-up decanted to a 35mm film pot, 3/4 full is enough for daily shave for three weeks+. All my wash kit goes in a small stuff sack since most "travel" sponge bags and organisers now weigh more than the contents I carry.

If you can wash clothes, and more importantly, get them dry again, two sets of trousers, three shirts, three sets of socks and as many pairs of underwear as you like;) is enough to carry on a continuous cycle. I tried with just two shirts, but always seemed to be checking out with one that was either wet, or too dirty to wear another day :rolleyes: The spare pants are insurance, I often never get around to using them unless something gets spilled on the first pair, or I need to dress up. Of course, that depends on the kind of trip and how many faces I need to be able to present.

Any other tips on traveling Europe besides how to pack lightly?
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Look at what all the other American tourists are doing and do something different :D
 
As a tourist ? Tourists in Europe dress like they do here -not formal. Wear things that can be washed and dried easily [all cotton may take too long].When you get into a hotel just wash a few items , hang them up and they'll be dry in the morning !
 
Use laudromats. Choose light and quick drying fabrics that don't need to be ironed (I'm a huge docker's fan).

Book hotels near railway stations/airports or easily accessible by public transports (if you mostly plan to visit large cities, there should be plenty, and they are generally pretty safe even in the evening).

If you plan to travel by car, a good GPS might save a lot of hassle.
 
Check out Rick Steves' books on travel ( http://www.ricksteves.com/ ). My wife and I traveled in Europe for three weeks with a single convertible-backpack-carry-on each. It's really the same philosophy as UL backpacking: take only what you need, find multiple use items, UL fabrics and shoes, etc. One thing to keep in mind is that you will be in large cites, so if you need more toiletries or clothing, they are readily available. Do take some long pants or convertibles-- shorts aren't allowed in some churches (St. Peters in Rome is one). I found US "business casual" a good compromise across Europe-- that means khaki slacks, polo shirts, and button down short sleeve shirts for me. We walk 10-12 miles a day, so good shoes are as important as any hiking trip.

Rick's book are great and the "Let's Go" series has good reviews of cheap hotels. The Michelin guides are the best information on history/architecture/art/museums for the size and weight. We took the Let's Go book for Western Europe (this was before the Iron Curtain fell) and took only the sections for the countries we were going to see, cutting the weight in half.

We have travelled in Winter a couple times and found it much cheaper. If you are going to see museums, there are no crowds in Winter. We went in May last time, which was a nice balance of weather and light crowds.

We like going by rail in Europe, using rail passes. Gas is expensive and driving distracts from really seeing the countryside. One trick is to spend several days in the first city before activating your pass. We flew into Brussels and paid for a cheap commuter train trip to Paris, spending the better part of a week in Paris, and then activated our two week pass for the remainder of the trip.

To give you an idea about the expense of car travel, a train ticket from Naples to Rome is the same cost as the highway tolls and fuel is about $5/gallon, plus the rental. Driving habits in Southern Italy are very different than the US and I don't recommend it if you aren't "acclimated." Public transportation in the large cities is so good that driving (and parking) is worthless, not to mention the environmental impact of private transportation.
 
I went to Thailand and Hong Kong for 11 days with a couple of friends a couple of years ago. I had a backpack and a small carry on bag, and I thought I was travelling awfully light. That was until one of the guys showed up at the airport with a small backpack that was half full. Put a whole new perspective on travelling light. He took a few changes of clothes of old clothes and trashed them or gave them to Goodwill type places when they were dirty. If he needed a new shirt, he bought one on the street for $2. Any halfway decent hotel will have any toiletry items you need, so he didn't pack any of those. If it was something they didn't have, it was easily purchased at a local store. I thought he was crazy until I realized how easy it was to do what he did and saw how little hassle he had to go through on the trip. I don't pack quite that light, but I try to come close.

If you insist on packing tons of crap, then ship it to the hotel you are staying at if you are on a trip in the US. Call them in advance, and it will be waiting for you when you get there. Ship it back to yourself when you leave. Give yourself a couple of days leeway since the shipping companies are occasionally late (all three of the big ones run around 95-98% on time). I trust shipping companies about 500 times more than I do baggage handlers. When was the last time you heard a story about Fedex stealing a bag full of Ken Onion's knives?

Another tip is DON'T buy a giant suitcase to leave room for stuff you are going to buy. Ground shipping in the US is really cheap, and international shipping via a country's official post office is not expensive, unless you are shipping something big and heavy that would probably not fit in a suitcase anyway. You can send the package via registered mail for a little extra if you are worried about it making it to you.
 
A couple things that may help clothing wise. Get a pair ofe the convertable shorts/pants that are polyester or nylon. The material doesn't hold odors, and can be quickly rinsed out and dried. Get a couple shirts that are also poly/nylon. From T-shirts to button downs, you'll have several options, and can get by with a lot less.
 
If you pack too much, don't forget you can mail some of it back home while you're still on your trip.
 
My wife always says I pack to light, but that leaves more room in the bags for more of her stuff, so she is okay with it :D
 
First off 2 weeks in Europe will be fun, so enjoy that. As far as packing, like everyone says, go casual and bring one nice set of clothes for going out. one recommendation would be to bring a duffel bag packed away for your souvenirs and extra clothes. Oh and since this is a blade forum and not a travel forum, pick up a nice SAK in switzerland.
 
Here I was looking forward to someone getting advice on how & what to pack for a week long hiking trip, using a 1500ci bag..............;)
 
I have a friend that takes Motorcyle vacations. To pack Light he starts with the oldest underwear and Socks that he has and a couple of shirts. Throwing the underwear and Socks away as he uses them. No need to clean them buy a couple new shirts on the trip and good to go.

Badge54
 
How about not taking your GF lol................ well i someone had to mention that

Sasha
 
longbow50 said:
Here I was looking forward to someone getting advice on how & what to pack for a week long hiking trip, using a 1500ci bag..............;)
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Working on it. New convert to UL hiking. In some ways it meshes well with traditional WS stuff.
 
I try to always travel as light as I can, and have gone to Europe for about two weeks and traveled pretty light on that trip too (I also got married with my wife while there, and had to go to some business meetings, so I had a bit more stuff than I would on a regular--that is, casual--trip). Another clothing tip: make sure every piece of clothing can work, style wise, with everything else. Also, don't bring jeans: on a technical level they suck as outdoor clothes, and they are often not appropriate socially (ie: at the churches and important cultural places) either.
 
There is some good lightweight/quick-drying travel gear made nowadays that doesn't make you look like a safari dork.

3 shirts, 2 sets of trousers, one pair of shorts can be rotated and hand washed. I always take a sports coat for that extra bit of class when dealing with officialdom or dinner at a restaurant. I pack this in a normal duffel by rolling it up carefuly - no wrinkles yet.
 
This is kind of the wrong place to ask this question. W&S isn't really about Euorpean vacations though I'm glad to see some ideas posted for you.
 
when 19 of my friends and i went to vietnam on a tall ship as a school trip, all of us were carrying big bags full of our stuff. one of the guys carried all his stuff in a back pack all of us were surprise and when asked he said there was no need for alot of things just a few clothes that all.

for my advice just bring a few clothes and you can buy some more at Europe. after you pack what you think is needed, pour everything out and look through them again think if you really need that stuff. chances are you would remove a few more items
 
I think the wilderness and survival forum is a great place for this post. European urban survival is after all, still survival.

I think the difference between a 10lb load and a 40lb load is comfort and options. I've gone on several week+ trips on my lowrider with nothing more than what fit in the saddle bags and a backpack strapped to the sissy bar. The only toiletries I packed were a tooth brush, small tube of toothpaste, and deodorant. Since we stayed in Holiday inns they had the rest. 2 sets of riding clothes, 1 set of dress clothes, and 1 set of comfortable clothes (shorts etc). Attractive boots that could be ridden in as well as worn formally and sandals for kicking around in. One of the saddlebags had my bike stuff (oil, lock, rain gear, spark plugs, tools). For some people this would have been too little to be comfortable and still have a good time. My riding partner (my 65 year old aunt) rode a dresser and pulled a trailer full of more clothes than she could wear during the whole trip in addition to just about everything a woman would need at home. This includes hair curlers, acrylic nail kit, and a samsonite case full of girlie stuff. That is the minimum she would have been comfortable with carrying and still had a good time.

Short version. Take as little as you can while still feeling well prepared.

I'm the low rider, saddlebags, no fairing type...My aunt is the full faring dresser, fm/cassette/cb radio, tour pack, and trailer type. Different strokes...
 
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