Travel Light: The Ultimate Guide to Traveling with Carry-On Only
Table of Contents
Recently, my mother called me asking if she should check one or two bags for a trip to Paris. I replied: travel only with what you can carry on your own. She didn't listen and ended up checking a large suitcase, which never arrived. The hassle with the airline, travel insurance, and the expense of new clothes (very expensive in Paris) became a nightmare for her. At the end of the trip, the insurance reimbursed the money spent on purchases, but the lost time was irretrievable.
In 2024, 33 million bags were lost worldwide (66% were returned within 48 hours), generating a loss of 5 billion dollars.
Source: SITA “Baggage IT Insights 2025” report
I've always admired people who travel with only carry-on luggage, making the most of their trip than those who take their entire wardrobe. I used to travel with practically all my clothes in my suitcase, packing new clothes, old ones, and even pieces I didn't even wear, and half of them would come back intact. Three years ago, I decided to change: I learned to travel with only the essentials in my carry-on luggage. This transformed my travel experience.
Benefits of traveling with only hand luggage
Economy: Many airlines charge a lot to check bags, especially on domestic flights. On some fares, checking a bag costs more than the ticket itself. On my last trip, I would have spent an extra R$1.500 just on checked baggage.
Practicality: Ease of travel is essential, especially if you have short connections between flights or need to travel through ports, airports, train stations, taxis, and hotels.
Tranquility: avoids the stress of losing luggage abroad and the need to buy items in a hurry, as happened to my mother.
Sustainability and freedom: Traveling with what you can carry is not only a great luxury, but also sustainable and liberating. But how can you pack compactly without sacrificing comfort? How can you make the little you need be enough?
In a post in this column, I talked about how to plan your trip to make dreams come true. In this post, I share some tips (personal and others based on traveler research) on how to afford the luxury of traveling with just carry-on luggage.
General Tips
– Traveling with carry-on luggage doesn't mean just taking a suitcase. You can carry a backpack or a handbag to better distribute your clothes.
– Choose versatile, coordinating clothes that you will actually wear.
– Avoid taking one toilet bag (case with personal items) huge. Choose to carry liquids in small containers (like the free sample ones). Shampoos and soaps are usually already available at hotels. Remember that liquids in carry-on luggage are limited to 100 ml per container.
– Underwear and socks can be washed in the hotel shower. Carry them inside sneakers or shoes to save space.
– If you are staying in Airbnb, check if there is a washing machine — this can be very helpful, especially on long trips.
Tips for men
– Wear a coat or sweatshirt during your trip to save space in your suitcase and protect yourself from the cold on the plane and at the airport.
– Roll up t-shirts and shorts in your suitcase to optimize space.
– Dress shirts can be folded in pairs (one inside the other) to avoid wrinkles.
– Lay your pants out at the bottom of your suitcase and fold them into a “U” shape, with the clothes in the middle, to avoid creases.
Tips for women
– Define the formal and casual looks (visuals) in advance, choosing the clothes you'll wear each day. Use tools like a notepad or your phone's camera to help you plan.
– Choose a neutral color palette to make combinations easier. Black, brown, and other basic tones are easiest to combine.
– Use layers and accessories to multiply your looks.
– Outfits can be repeated as you travel to different locations.
– Wear your heaviest shoes during the flight to save space in your suitcase.
– Avoid items that wrinkle a lot, unless the place has an iron.
Traveling for work
– Invest in versatile pieces and accessories to vary formal and casual looks: blazers (jackets), dress shirts and different accessories create different looks with just a few pieces.
– Choose clothes that can be worn both day and night.
– Wear a cotton t-shirt under your dress shirt so you can use the shirt again and again.
– A neutral sneaker can be used for a variety of occasions, from flying to informal meetings.
– Store suits and blazers turned inside out to reduce wrinkles.
Accessories worth their weight in gold
- Clothes non-iron (which use special resins to protect the fabric and prevent wrinkling) can be washed and used without ironing. They come in a variety of fabrics, both natural and synthetic. Choose cotton fabrics for greater comfort.
– Vacuum bags are special plastic packaging used to compact clothes (using a manual or electric pump), significantly reducing the volume of the items and protecting the fabrics.
Where to buy clothes non-iron female and male in Brazil:
Dafiti shirt Banana Republic non Iron
Vacuum bags for clothes, with manual or electric pumps:
Discover more about Showmetech
Sign up to receive our latest news via email.
