longest trip with the least luggage

[daisy]

As long as a trip doesn't cross into huge changes in season or weather, once you pack up for a week-long trip, you can use the same stuff for weeks on end.

Our "longest trips" are usually only a couple of weeks long due to the number of vacation days we can take, but it's very easy.

...
Your real challenge is going to be meeting the weight restriction, to be honest. Many European airlines have more stringent size restrictions, but it's the WEIGHT limit that makes it really hard.

We're lucky to work for ourselves so can take an extended trip. Haven't done it for years due mainly to having dogs we weren't willing to kennel for such a long time. Sadly the dogs have gone to god so now we can travel.. (have to explain to the fostered dog lying behind my chair that he IS NOT STAYING)

Lani, I agree that there's no difference between packing for a week and packing for months, so long as you are planning for consistent weather and activities. (Obviously, if your plans include a week of business meetings followed by a month of mountain hiking, it's more of a challenge...) My Tristar is my go-to bag for long trips (supplemented with an Imago or large cafe bag as my personal-item which turns into my daybag-briefcase once on the ground). If I'm planning to travel on a 'one means one' airline like RyanAir or EasyJet, I substitute a Packing Cube shoulder bag for the Imago and tuck it into the Tristar. I've traveled for six weeks that way, sinkwashing as I go.

mainly urban tourism followed by a conference for the beloved while I amuse myself solo for a few days. NO hiking :-)
We'll be as far north as Brussels and as far south as Madrid. I need to research weather.

I agree with the previous posts, especially regarding weather and activities. I did 19 days out of an Aeronaut, but I wasn't doing much other than visiting friends and going to nice restaurants once in a while. I also left out my workout clothes and shoes because the tiny village I was staying in had no workout facilities and I'm too wimpy to run outdoors in Jan/Feb in the U.K.!

Also, winter weather meant some bulkier, heavier clothes. If I had traveled during the summer, I think I could have packed more items, and therefore accommodated more variety in activities, or put in my workout gear.

My packing list for this trip is in the packing list section on this forum if you want to have an idea of what the Aeronaut will hold.

Useful list! - my weight limit will probably be 7kg also, although I can have two pieces if we go business class (been saving those flyer points for years).

The aeronaut is too big for economy on Qantas but probably ok for business.

Looking at the packed(stuffed) TriStar at Jefmac's blog I'm thinking the rumoured smaller aeronaut would be the go..

[Lani]

Lani, I agree that there's no difference between packing for a week and packing for months, so long as you are planning for consistent weather and activities. (Obviously, if your plans include a week of business meetings followed by a month of mountain hiking, it's more of a challenge...) My Tristar is my go-to bag for long trips (supplemented with an Imago or large cafe bag as my personal-item which turns into my daybag-briefcase once on the ground). If I'm planning to travel on a 'one means one' airline like RyanAir or EasyJet, I substitute a Packing Cube shoulder bag for the Imago and tuck it into the Tristar. I've traveled for six weeks that way, sinkwashing as I go.

Wow, I really like your method. Well, I kind of do something similar, using the Packing Cube shoulder bag as my purse, but I don't have an Imago. Now that I have an iPad, though, the Packing Cube shoulder bag is no longer my #1 option. I have a cover for the iPad and I'm really not worried about banging it up, but it's a very snug fit and I can't fit near as much in the shoulder bag. What I would love is a "double-wide" Packing Cube shoulder bag, or a deeper version that's in-between that, and the TS/WF Packing Cube backpack (think "long enough to slide an iPad into vertically).

I did just buy a Dyneema Co-Pilot in steel (right after they announced the one in red! Can't decide if I want to trade colors yet since I know for sure hubby isn't going to want to carry "a red purse"); got a weeklong cruise to Alaska next month for which I'll probably be taking the Co-Pilot and well... haven't decided whether it'll be the Western Flyer or the Tri-Star. A lot will depend on...

Shoes. Whether you need to carry a spare pair of shoes will often determine which bag you wind up packing. Do I want to wear my running shoes on the plane? Do I want to forego that altogether? I haven't decided.

And, by the way, your Travelite blog is terrific! I highly recommend it to anyone thinking about lightening their travel load, especially women!

Thank you for your kind words, flitcraft. I've been posting about traveling light since the '90s, with varying degrees of activity on my website over the years--it depends a lot on how busy I am. I finally switched over to a blog format because I just couldn't maintain a full site anymore, although I wish I had more time even for that. I figure at least this way people could just add the site to a newsfeed reader so they can just take a gander when I make a new post.

[sevendog]

I agree with the previous posts, especially regarding weather and activities. I did 19 days out of an Aeronaut, but I wasn't doing much other than visiting friends and going to nice restaurants once in a while. I also left out my workout clothes and shoes because the tiny village I was staying in had no workout facilities and I'm too wimpy to run outdoors in Jan/Feb in the U.K.!

Also, winter weather meant some bulkier, heavier clothes. If I had traveled during the summer, I think I could have packed more items, and therefore accommodated more variety in activities, or put in my workout gear.

My packing list for this trip is in the packing list section on this forum if you want to have an idea of what the Aeronaut will hold.

[flitcraft]

Lani, I agree that there's no difference between packing for a week and packing for months, so long as you are planning for consistent weather and activities. (Obviously, if your plans include a week of business meetings followed by a month of mountain hiking, it's more of a challenge...) My Tristar is my go-to bag for long trips (supplemented with an Imago or large cafe bag as my personal-item which turns into my daybag-briefcase once on the ground). If I'm planning to travel on a 'one means one' airline like RyanAir or EasyJet, I substitute a Packing Cube shoulder bag for the Imago and tuck it into the Tristar. I've traveled for six weeks that way, sinkwashing as I go.

If my trip is shorter--say five days or less, then it's Western Flyer time, unless the trip is in the winter, in which case the need for bulkier items like gloves, scarf, and heavier clothing push me towards the Tristar. I did once take an 8 day winter trip to New Zealand with just the Western Flyer and a large cafe bag, but honestly, I had to maximize every inch of space to do it, and if Air New Zealand wasn't so stingy with baggage weight limits, I'd have preferred the more convenient packing possibilities of the Tristar.

And, by the way, your Travelite blog is terrific! I highly recommend it to anyone thinking about lightening their travel load, especially women!

[Lani]

As long as a trip doesn't cross into huge changes in season or weather, once you pack up for a week-long trip, you can use the same stuff for weeks on end.

Our "longest trips" are usually only a couple of weeks long due to the number of vacation days we can take, but it's very easy.

If you're staying in hotels, you can find out in advance if any of them have laundry facilities or you can have them launder something for you. You will want to hand wash your underwear and whatnot, but if you take a pair of jeans or something with you that you want washed, you can just splurge and have them clean it for you maybe once a week or so. Trust me, you don't want to be sink-washing jeans. You can always just go without jeans, but some people really love wearing them, including on travels.

Your real challenge is going to be meeting the weight restriction, to be honest. Many European airlines have more stringent size restrictions, but it's the WEIGHT limit that makes it really hard.

I posted a pretty lengthy article about my experience going ultralight for a Europe trip a few years ago (http://www.travelite.org/?p=90), and it's all about weighing your stuff.

One option we didn't try but that we probably would on our next weight-restricted trip: Look at getting yourself a ScottEVest (http://www.scottevest.com/). They make them for both men and women, and in a variety of models. You can basically use all of the jacket pockets to stuff them with whatever you want, to lighten up your load. Stuff like cell phone, Kindle/iPad... as well as AC adapter... just stuff them all in your jacket. That will probably take a good couple of pounds out of your carry-on.

When we flew on Virgin Atlantic, the lady at the counter took one look at our bags and never even asked us to check their weight.

[daisy]

What's the longest time you've traveled with carry on luggage? (preferably Tom Bihn of course)

I'm figuring if you can pack carry on for 5(?) days then wash, the clock resets right?

We're looking to travel in Europe for around 6 weeks Oct/Nov this year.

If we travel Qantas (f/flyer points yay!) - the limit is 19" x 13" x 9" 7kg

ONE piece in economy, two in business.

We'll be staying in hotels, traveling on trains all over, eating in nice restaurants reasonably often. I'm hoping my carryon will be TB which can ride on the Beloved's wheelie when needed.

Last european trip we overpacked ... dragging a wheels-on-short-side suitcase from Lyon station to the canal boat .... not so great.