We do our best to always travel with carry-on bags only. The exception being when we go on a scuba diving vacation and we have equipment to bring along. In that case even my dive camera has its own bag! However, we avoid checked luggage for any other type of trip including cruises or destinations with both cold and hot climates.
We recently did some trips where we stretched our carry-on allowance to the limit. We needed cold weather clothing, camera equipment, and in one case we even had our prescription dive masks and dive computers with us for a couple of days of diving. We were literally weighing each item and selecting what could be brought along to fit within the weight and size allowances of the various flights in our itinerary.
More packing tips: How and What to Pack
While some may simply say that they are ok to pay extra for additional weight, or be ok checking a bag, this can sometimes make connections problematic.
Connecting from an international flight to a local flight may force you to exit the secure area in order to retrieve your bags and recheck them after clearing security. At a busy airport this can add an hour or more to your connection time or worse yet cause you to miss your flight!
So how then can you maximize what you are allowed to bring on the plane?
How much stuff can you bring on the plane
First off: When booking your flights check carefully for the allowances. Smaller international carriers can be strict and may measure or weigh bags at the gate. Bush flights may impose a total weight allowance for all bags (including purses and camera bags). This is often 20kg but may be as little as 15kg in high season.
The carry-on
While North American airlines are often ok with 22 x 14 x 9 inch bags, other carriers may require that your carry-on be only 20 x 15 x 10 inches including the wheels and handle. Bush flights require soft bags with no wheels (or only retractable ones). Weight can vary dramatically, and we’ve had some South African airlines with a carry-on allowance of only 7kg.
In some cases, business class may allow two bags but not always. Some low-cost airlines don’t allow any bags at all and will charge you for the first one. Just like the weakest link in a chain, your smallest carry-on allowance is what will dictate how you pack.
The personal item
In most cases this means a purse or a laptop bag, but you can also maximize what you bring on board by choosing the right personal item.
Typically if it fits under the seat you will be ok but some carriers can impose weight limits (we’ve seen as little as 5kg) and size limits. These are usually listed on the carrier’s website. A good rule of thumb is 18 x 14 x 8 inches, but it can be less, so do check to avoid being forced to check your personal item which likely includes many items that you would prefer to keep with you.
What you can carry and wear
There is nothing stopping you from carrying a pillow, a water bottle, a jacket, and you can of course wear some of these as you board. Do consider that for long flights you don’t want to be stuck with a mountain of extra clothing and you definitely don’t want to forget anything on the flight!
One trick we’ve used is to have a small folding nylon bag handy to put some extra clothes into for transport. No one really checks your bags once you’ve boarded or when you are getting off, so once you are at your seat you can put that extra jacket or sweater in the folding bag and not worry about having things scattered around.
Another trick that saved us once in Johannesburg when they wanted to weigh our bags during a tight connection was to have some of our heavier items (like a clear bag of liquids, a pouch with all our battery chargers, etc.) easily accessible in an outside pocket. I remember pulling theses out and putting them in our pockets just before the bag went on the scale (and was just barely at the limit).
Final tips
We love our soft bags for travel where we can organize and compress clothes. They weigh next to nothing when empty. While we have occasionally missed having the wheels on them thus far the benefits have outweighed the shortcomings (pun intended!). We’ve also been lucky to find a cart at the airport for times when we’ve had a long connection or a long hike.
We’ve also tried to maximize our personal item to both have the most room possible as well as have it double as a daypack when at destination. This bag also acts as an organizer for papers and electronics for us and serves as a small on-board bag in the plane with what we might need on a long flight.
- Don’t wait to the last minute to pack. There is always last-minute stuff that ends up in the bag.
- Use a luggage scale. We also have a small scale we can use to weigh individual items that is small enough to bring with us.
- Keep a little extra room for souvenirs. It also seems that dirty laundry always takes more room than the clean packed clothes we initially pack.
- Check the connecting flights and choose wisely. A few dollars more for a more established carrier may get you a better carry-on allowance.
- Check the weather reports and make sure you have packed the right types of clothes for your trip. Layers are always a good strategy.
- Ask yourself if you will really need that extra pair of pants, shirt, jacket, shoes or whatever. Many hotels offer laundry services, some safari camps and lodges offer this for free. Some travel clothes can easily be washed in a sink and dry overnight.
We have often had a good laugh on our travels. Our first trip to France had a cold spell and we ended up wearing the same sweaters all week. We only brought one as we were traveling in August! Of course during a following trip there was a heat wave and we didn’t use our packed sweaters at all.
Leaving a little room in the luggage also gives you a chance to buy something you might be missing, and it can double up as a souvenir!
Consider also, when traveling to areas that are less well off than us, leaving some items behind for locals. On a recent trip to Zanzibar we were taken aback by the poverty just outside the gates of the hotel. We left many of our clothes, shoes, and toiletries behind for the locals with the hotel manager. Definitely a win-win as this left more room in our luggage for souvenirs.
Related post: How to Travel with Only a Carry-on