How To Use Only A Carry On For Trips

Japan, my first but not last carry on only trip

     Well it's that time again, my favorite holiday to travel, New Year's eve is around the corner and I will be celebrating the holiday in Colombia for 2016. I'm looking forward to exploring nature there, visiting some museums and historical sites, hiking, seeing some old friends in Bogota, and of course partying in Medellin for the turn to 2016. And now of course it's time to pack, also a good time to give my tips on how I travel with only a carry on. My last multiple continent/country trip, I used only a carry on and traveled for 30 days through 4 countries in Europe and Asia, and that was a winter trip which makes it even more challenging. I am a guy, not sure how this would work for a female... So....

• Anytime during the year if I have clothes that are tweeners, I am not quite sure if I want to donate them or keep them, they become the travel clothes, these are shirts or whatever that you will be getting rid of soon, so pack them for your trip, and plan on leaving them in the country you visit. That will give you room in your bag for clothes you buy there or souvenirs.
• Speaking of buying clothes, plan on it, maybe you don't need 3 dress shirts because you want to buy some when you are down there anyway.
• Buy socks and underwear as you go. An option thats not always necessary, but if laundry is gonna be an issue as your under garments get dirty, toss them and buy new ones. Speaking of laundry..
• Try to book your place to stay with laundry facilities there or near by, if not you can always go old school  bath tub wash and hang dry. Even when I am checking a back pack I never pack more than 7 days of clothes.
• Two pairs of pants, one pair of shorts, that's the max you will need, one pair of nice pants, one pair not nice.
• It is especially important to try to do this on trips where you will be flying a lot or doing a layover vacation, I can't begin to tell you the freedom you feel when you don't have to wait for bags and can just get off a plane and start touring a city. 
• Don't bother bringing a laptop or ipad, you probably can do it with a smart phone, or find an internet cafe, and who wants to be on a computer while traveling anyway?
• Shoes are my worst enemy, I have a big foot, so two options, one is stuffing things into the shoes so they are not taking up as much space, or two is buying a pair when I get to the country if that's an option. In Greece I actually did this, I went to Israel but was coming back to Greece and hid the shoes in an apartment stairwell for when I got back. i also pack my socks into the shoes to save space.
• A summer carry on only is gonna be real easy, less layers, less clothes to pack, winter you need more clothes but your coat has pockets you can take advantage of.
• I clip my flip flops (if applicable) in to my locker which hangs out on the strap of the bag, 1 inch more of space for the inside of the bag.
• Don't forget you will be wearing an outfit on the plane. So one of your shorts, or one of the pants you don't need to pack.
• Make sure your carry on is a backpack rather than a luggage or shoulder bag, much easier to carry, and easy to clip things onto.

    This is my clothes formula for my smallest carry on, of course adjust to your needs:

-3 day time shirts (bonus if its a shirt that doubles as a night shirt

-2 night time shirts

-one or two pair of jeans (depends on destination/duration)

-one pair or two shorts (or convertible shorts/pants)
-one pair of gym/pajama shorts

-one swim suit

-one pair of slim shoes (socks stuffed in for more room)

-one pair of sneakers (worn in transit)

-one pair of flip flops (clipped to outside of the bag)

-7 pairs of underwear plus wear 1

-as many socks as I can fit, usually about 10

   And that's it! Just choose a good carry on and practice makes perfect, my recommended bag for carry on only:

    Now it's time for me to continue packing my backpack for this trip, from USA right now, and Colombia in only a few days, Happy New Years!

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