How To: Pack Only Carry-On Luggage

Currently my husband and I are traveling in Ecuador for 2.5 months, and we came down without any checked luggage. Each of us packed a small duffel bag that easily fits in the overhead compartment on the airplane, and a day pack.

Day pack and small duffel bag: my only luggage for our 2.5 month Ecuador trip.

Packing light proved advantageous several times over even on the flight down.

We did not have to pay any fees for checked baggage.
When the first flight of the day was delayed several hours due to mechanical issues, we made the next two very tight connections without worrying about checked luggage being lost in the shuffle. We simply grabbed our carry-ons and ran.
When we arrived in Guayaquil, Ecuador, we did not have to wait around for our baggage before proceeding to customs. Once we got through immigration, we were among the first to go through customs and didn’t have to wait in line at all.
When we arrived at customs and handed our sheet indicating that we were not carrying anything needing to be declared, they glanced at our tiny amount of luggage and waved us through without stopping us to check anything.
We were able to easily hop into taxis and onto buses and walk around without having to carry anything bulky or heavy, and by having so little stuff we drew less attention to ourselves.
Now that we are at our destination, we have less stuff to keep track of and we can go out and enjoy ourselves more.

As you can see, packing light has major advantages. So how do we do it? I’ll share some basic principles, followed by our specific packing list.

First, we don’t take anything we won’t definitely use or need (such as blow dryers, electric shavers and electric toothbrushes, special single-purpose clothing items, extra makeup, etc) or that can’t be obtained cheaply and easily at our destination (such as toiletries, umbrellas, more snacks than we’ll need just for the next portion of the trip, etc).

Second, we pack fast-drying clothing that is as light as possible for the weather we expect to encounter. Stuff that packs down small and can be easily hand washed and air dried when necessary is best. (Jeans would be a poor choice for this purpose.) We don’t pack more than about 1 week worth of clothing, and simply plan to do laundry at least once a week.

Third, we try to carry items that can be used in more than one way. Versatility is a beautiful thing. Examples: jacket that doubles as a pillow; magic skirt which can be worn many ways; iPod Touch or a tablet which can be used to access the internet, take notes, use as an alarm clock, provide entertainment, and much more; convertible pants; Buff which can be worn as a hat or balaclava, used as a pillow case with my jacket, among other things; clothing that can be layered; etc.

Fourth, while in transit, we wear our bulkiest clothes and footwear. I typically pack one heavier pair of shoes for hiking and one lighter pair such as sandals or flip flops. I always wear the heavier pair while in transit, along with my bulkiest pants and shirt as well as my jacket. This frees up more space in my luggage and also gives me additional pockets to cram things into if needed.

Fifth, we pack small versions of things when possible, such as regular toothbrushes and razors instead of electric ones, folding or travel-sized brushes or even just combs instead of big brushes, smaller cameras instead of ones with huge lenses (we might consider fancier cameras if we were pro photographers, but my relatively cheap little Canon PowerShot SX260 HS packs a nice 20X optical zoom into a small package and takes decent shots for a non-pro like me), and so on.

Finally, we carry light totes or day packs that can be packed down small and used for trips around town when the rest of the luggage is back at the hotel, or to carry extra items when we go shopping. Here is a video I made about a little bag I like to use:

The bag in the above video is the Sea to Summit Ultra-Sil Day Pack.

This past Christmas, my mom gave me a bag from Nepal that packs down pretty flat and can easily be clipped to the outside of my backpack. It has a lot more character than the Sea to Summit bag so I’ve been using it on this trip; it’s perfect for excursions around town:

For our 2.5 month Ecuador trip, the plan was to find a fully furnished apartment to base ourselves out of and take short trips of 1-3 days to surrounding parts of the region. The weather in this part of Ecuador is mild and would never require more than a light jacket which could be layered with a sweater and a windbreaker or rain jacket on especially chilly days at the higher elevations.

With that in mind, here is what we packed:

Clothes for about 8 days: socks, underwear (ExOfficio is Keith’s underwear of choice), light shirts (popcorn shirts are awesome for women), pants (including convertible pants, which double as shorts), and running shorts, and a magic skirt for me. Plus a light fleece sweater, Buff, light jacket, rain jacket and rain pants, sun hats and sun glasses, swimsuits.

Shoes: since we’re here for 2.5 months we brought running shoes in addition to hiking shoes so we can run more comfortably–on shorter trips I would only bring one or the other depending on the terrain we’re most likely to be on. I would also consider buying a pair of shoes at our destination if needed, but we heard they tend to be expensive in Ecuador. We also each brought a pair of sandals. We like renaissance moccasins which are very soft and comfortable and look nice enough for classier evenings (I’ll plan to wear them with my magic skirt to a symphony concert and other nice evenings out) but are also light and can be worn in the water, so they make nice beach shoes or shower shoes for public showers, etc., and are great around the house. They pack down super small and light.

Basic toiletries: travel-sized brush, toothbrushes, tooth powder (instead of tooth paste; it’s lighter and longer-lasting and doesn’t have to go into a quart-sized bag at airport security), deodorant, some flossers, a small amount of shampoo and conditioner to get us through the first couple of days, a few Q-Tips, etc. Also a few very basic first aid supplies–bandages, ointments, sunscreen, hand sanitizer, bug wipes, a few basic medications.

Electronics: Cameras, Kindles (for plenty of reading material!), iPods, and laptops, with their related cords and batteries and cases. On shorter trips I never pack my laptop–I just use my old 4th gen iPod Touch to connect to wi-fi hotspots and use an internet Cafe when I need to use a bigger computer, but since this is a longer trip and I need to work, I brought it along.

Paper stuff: Journal, a couple of books and magazines (for reading in public places where we might not want to flash our electronics around).

Miscellaneous items: travel towel; Pacsafe shoulder bag (nice for around town especially in areas where pickpockets or muggers are a concern); day packs and totes which pack down very small (such as the Sea to Summit day pack I mentioned above); a water bottle–nice for extra drinking water on flights or for hikes or runs; binoculars for birdwatching in the nearby national park; rain covers for our backpacks (this is rainy season after all); and our 2.5 month supply of vitamins and supplements which we weren’t sure we’d be able to find in Ecuador.

My Pacsafe backpack.

For short 1-3 day trips away from our apartment, we will be able to take what we need in our day packs. For this trip I’m using the Pacsafe Venturesafe backpack (with various nifty anti-theft features).

Keith is using the NorthFace Surge backpack. Both of our packs have a padded section for laptops.

Next time I need to purchase a backpack, I am seriously considering the Tortuga Backpack which is exactly the right size for carry-on luggage, opens like a suitcase for easy access to your stuff, and seems to do a great job of maximizing usable space. In my hunt for the perfect luggage item, it seems to come closest. The eBags Mother Lode looks good also, and has great reviews.

One thing new to this trip, which we are loving, is packing cubes. I read about them a few months ago and we got some for ourselves for Christmas. We love how they help us keep our luggage organized!

Packing Cubes.

How about you? Do you have a particular luggage item you like to use or a particular item you always pack? Share your packing lists, favorite gadgets, wish lists, tips and questions in the comment section below!

Happy Travels!

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