5 months in Europe - 24" or 28" suitcase?
 

Hi! I'm a student headed to Germany for an overseas semester lasting 5 months. I've never traveled for this long and would like some advice on luggage size.

The longest I've been away was 2 months in a fellow Asian country and it was for work. So that was 1) familiar warm climate, and 2) fairly restricted formalwear wardrobe I packed.

Right now I have a filled 60L backpack (8kg), and a fully packed and expanded 24" suitcase (19kg). I'm not completely confident about my choice of luggage size... seeing how it's already full, I fear being unable to pack in new purchases (clothes/food) when I return.

Would a 28" suitcase be more advisable? I won't be packing more stuff than I have now, but would like to have more space. But I'm also worried about handling the bigger-sized suitcase in train stations or to my accommodation while I'm there. I'm not sure if there are other concerns with a 28" suitcase as well? Btw I definitely will NOT lug this suitcase when I take short trips around Europe during the semester.

Thanks!

A 28" suitcase will be a big liability on trains, for sure. You cannot imagine how quickly European trains board and deboard, and how impatient people can be, and how getting your luggage up and down stairs and into the luggage racks very soon becomes an enormous PITA, no matter how young and strong you are.

If you're only planning to use this suitcase for your trip over to Germany and your trip back, I don't see any reason for a monster 28". Surely you'll have access to laundry facilities while there, and if you're a student won't need much of anything that's fancy. If you end up buying extra stuff while thre, ship it home.

Hi
5 months in one place + some sidetravel ?
Then I'd take the monster one + a small backpack to be used for the sidetrips.

Don't forget that on top of having clothes for several seasons, you may buy things and want to get those back -> travel with a uggage half full on the way in and full on the way back.

Being a student, you're supposedly young, so you can manage with a big case

Based on the info provided, I am inclined to agree with whathello's advice.

I think a lot depends on where you will be going and the climate. If you are going somewhere that will require you to have both a summer and a real winter wardrobe than I think you will need the larger suitcase - IF you can maneuver it around when full. Your other option is to take your summer wardrobe with you and to ship your winter wardrobe directly to where you will be living - and you can then ship it home at the end of winter. (The issue is packing winter coats, winter boots, heavy sweaters, cords, etc - which can take up a lot of room and you don't want to wear on the plane in August.)

I have done numerous business trips combined with vacation time, which is also 2 different wardrobes - but not with winter clothes - so I was still able to stuff it all in a 24" (easily manageable on trains).

If you are only using it the day you arrive and and another day you depart, bite the bullet and take the big one. Ok, maybe it could be a bit of a struggle on a train a couple of times (and yes it will be because you most likely won't be able to roll it in the aisles, but as long as you can carry it you'll be ok). Don't know your budget or how far you'll be traveling, but you could maybe take a taxi to avoid the train. If not, just get up a few minutes before your stop to gather your belongings and get to the door without rushing. You'll be fine.

The payoff is that you will have more room for souvenirs for you and family and friends. 5 months gives a lot of time for shopping. You need the bigger one.

Most airlines restrict bags by weight now, so you pay an extraordinary amount extra to have a big suitcase that's filled to the brim. The weight limit is going to be between 50 and 70 pounds (and most European carriers prohibit bags over 70 pounds because of union restrictions on baggage handlers). Choose based on what your bag weighs now. If it's too heavy, it may not be to your advantage to have yet another huge bag. Instead, it might be better to take another more reasonably sized suitcase or buy a cheap one in Europe to carry your purchases back, even if you have to pay extra to check a second bag.

Hmm, 5 months is a long span. But a 28" piece will be packed to well over 50 lbs and is cumbersome to lift and load and steer. Unless it is of high quality, its wheels or spinning handle may not withstand the trip. Consider packing a nylon fold-into-itself duffel (the likes of which are sold at TJMaxx for about $12). You deploy it as necessary: to the laundromat, keep all souvenirs in it, it will come back on the plane with you along with your backpack, one overhead, one undersea. It will sit atop your 24" in train stations, you can also buy a bungee (also TJMaxx for about $8) to keep it atop your suitcase. Worked for me. Much easier to wear a backpack and have a smaller piece atop the 24" than maneuver a 28" IMO. Have a blast!

supershim--Our son just returned last month from a 5 month study abroad in Denmark. He took a 25" suitcase, his climbing pack (smaller than backpacking pack) and a typical school size backpack. His 25" bag came in just under the 50" airline weight limit, so he did not incur any extra charges. When he arrived, he he to take the metro and then the bus to get to his campus, and then walk quite a ways, and he said he was glad he had the bags that he did instead of something larger. As for purchases, is there a chance any family/friends will come visit and if so maybe they can bring some things back at that time? We visited our son part way through, but at that point he did not have anything to bring back. So instead we put my pack inside a 21" rolling back and then left him with the rolling bag. He still managed fine with all that coming home. He had purchases, but also what took up a lot of room were his books that he definitely wanted to keep, so those took up a fair amount of room/weight. We only travel with 21" rolling bags or backpacks, so had to purchase the 25" bag. We found it at TJMaxx for $49. All it had to do was make it there and back, and won't get used again until he goes back for his masters. So take a look at stores like that to save some money.

'A 28" suitcase will be a big liability on trains, for sure. You cannot imagine how quickly European trains board and deboard, and how impatient people can be, and how getting your luggage up and down stairs and into the luggage racks very soon becomes an enormous PITA, no matter how young and strong you are.'

This should be a sticky pinned on every luggage thread.

Pounds, inches - when are you going to be civilized ?
I quit ;-)

If it was me - I'd take the smaller one. Then IF you need more space for your return flight, buy a small duffel bag and pay to check it if necessary. OR mail some things home during your 5 months -- or a combo of the two.

But do not burden yourself with that huge bag.

Thanks all for your input - I'll stick to my 24" and ship back my winter wardrobe!

@kwren: Unfortunately I cannot avoid the train as the airport and my university are in different cities. I'll definitely consider taking the taxi from the train station to the accommodation!

@aliced: "Much easier to wear a backpack and have a smaller piece atop the 24" than maneuver a 28" IMO." - This is actually my current situation but I'd never traveled with this much baggage and thought I'd look crazy! Thanks for weighing in that this is likely easier to handle.

@mms: Thanks a lot for sharing your son's experience. It was particularly helpful! My family is the same - we usually travel with <24", hence my second thoughts on getting a 28" that would potentially go unused after my trip.

Take the smaller bag, you won't be sorry. Nearly the same garments work for summer & winter, just wear more of them in winter.

<i>A 28" suitcase will be a big liability on trains, for sure. You cannot imagine how quickly European trains board and deboard, and how impatient people can be, and how getting your luggage up and down stairs and into the luggage racks very soon becomes an enormous PITA, no matter how young and strong you are.</i>

I think this is the most overstated advice on the board. As long as one can manage 50 pounds for short times and distances, I don't think there is any real difference in taking a 28" bag on and off a train than a 24" bag. In reality, you are talking about maybe 3 minutes of lifting/carrying every day of travel. If you are reasonably fit, it simply isn't an issue.

<i>But a 28" piece will be packed to well over 50 lbs and is cumbersome to lift and load and steer.</i>

As long as you get one of the light, hard-sided pieces, a 28" bag will come in right around 50 pounds. You will want to make sure that you weigh it before heading to the airport to avoid any fees, but it will come in right around 50 pounds as long as you aren't carrying things other than clothes, toiletries, etc.

<i>Consider packing a nylon fold-into-itself duffel (the likes of which are sold at TJMaxx for about $12).</i>

Regardless of whether the OP gets the bigger bad, I think this is good advice. We have several and always bring at least one when we travel.

Another couple of ideas, based on our experiences in getting our son to uni in Scotland, from the U.S.

When he first started (he's there for four years), we bought a very cheap large, at least 28", suitcase from Goodwill (a used items store in the U.S.), with the thought that if he had no place to store it, that he could just discard it. It was large and heavy, but was a rolling bag. He did discard that, in the end.

For weekend travels, he uses his old very large school backpack (he now uses a messenger bag at uni).

At the beginning of his second year, he had some additional items to take back, so we bought a cheap large nylon bag. That didn't work as well, because it didn't have any structure, so it was difficult to pull / carry. But very easy to fold up and store.

Note that in the UK, and I believe elsewhere in Europe, there are services (I think we used sendmybag.com) that will, relatively economically, ship your bags for you, so you don't have to take them on the train. It sounds like students use that service to take their stuff etc. to university. Before school started, we flew first to London for a few days of fun. The service picked up our son's large bag and his desktop computer from the hotel and delivered it to our B&B in Edinburgh. Then when his dorm opened, he took his belongings to the dorm by cab.

"Consider packing a nylon fold-into-itself duffel..."

I prefer to buy an additional bag at my destination when I've needed one. I have a number of them now and enjoy remembering where they came from, a very practical souvenir. You can buy them as inexpensively anywhere as you can at home, if you don't want to spend much. The best, most durable ones in my "collection" are the cheap woven plastic type with handles and a zipper on top. They make great storage bags at home. Cheap duffles work well too and be gotten anywhere.

@travelgourmet, @MmePerdu: Do you check in the duffel bag or bring it as a carry on when you depart?

Mine have often been bigger or heavier than I care to bother carrying on and I prefer checking bags, in any case. I think of it as the airline helping to make my journey easier and take advantage of the offer.

I'm also have, in the past, preferred mailing purchases home and things I no longer need, such as seasonal clothes I'm done with. I find post offices remarkably reliable and, if sent surface mail (by sea), the cost is reasonable. There are some exceptions, I've heard, countries where packages go astray, but I haven't had that experience yet, having mailed dozens of boxes over the years.

When bringing back an acquired duffel bag, I carry it on with my purchases inside and check my dirty laundry in my suitcase. I figure it's easy to replace clothing if it goes missing, but I would have to go all the way back to X to replace my souvenirs.