<i>it's never just 2 minutes. Especially not in Western Europe where I don't take cabs and my hotels often don't have elevators. </i>

I think you have never actually timed it. Lifting onto the train, for example, should take maybe 5 seconds of actual lifting time. Even assuming that you climb 10 flights of stairs at your hotel, I can't imagine that this takes much more than 2 or 3 minutes. I mean, I just walked down the stairs to my basement, coming to a full stop at each step. It took less than 20 seconds.

FWIW, I don't usually take cabs either and travel all over Western Europe. I sometimes do it with just a carry-on and sometimes with a large bag. I honestly don't find much incremental effort (if any) in taking a large bag.

Note: for Easyjet's baggage allowances and charges see www.easyjet.com/en/book/regulations.html#baggage

Well it certainly takes more than "two minutes" for me to get from...
my friends home in Switzerland, up the hill, then down the street to the train station on foot, thru the station and onto the train, (ride to Venice Italy) off at the train station, down the front steps there, buy ticket and get up on to the vaporetto, boat ride standing with luggage at your feet, off the vaporetto, long down the promonade to hotel, into hotel lobby, up the stairs to my room.

How the heck is that TWO MINUTES?

What about train connections that are very, very tight?

During our last trip, because of a delayed train, we had only 3 minutes to make our connection. We had to switch trains and get to a platform on the other side of the very large station, up and down several long flights of stairs.

We threw our backpacks on our backs and ran. Luckily we're in good physical shape. We entered the train as the doors were closing. There's no way we could have done that with heavy luggage.

That was the last train of the evening. The next one left about 12 hours later the following day.

If we hadn't packed light, we would have had to shell out money for a hotel room in a town we didn't want to be in, losing a night at a place we wanted to be in.

Not worth it to me, anyway.

<i>How the heck is that TWO MINUTES?</i>

Two minutes of actual lifting.

A minority of those that advocate carry-on only actually carry their bag. Most take a roll-aboard, which they presumably roll for most of the trip. 90% of the people I see on the train or at the airport with luggage are rolling. The extra effort to roll a 50 lb bag vs a 20 lb bag is miniscule. Heck, the engineering of the bag is more likely to impact your effort than the weight. Accordingly, I don't see why you should worry about anything beyond the actual lifting, which is almost certainly in the 1-3 minute range for most normal European trips.

I mean, are you lifting your roll-aboard while buying your ticket? Or when walking through the train station? Why?

Sorry but I don't want to ROLL a 50 pound suitcase all over Europe either.

<i>Sorry but I don't want to ROLL a 50 pound suitcase all over Europe either.</i>

And you want to ROLL a 20 pound suitcase all over Europe? The wheels do all the work for you. The incremental effort to wheel 50 pounds is minimal. This is, of course, the precise reason the wheel was invented...

And I don't take a rolling case, I take a convertible backpack. Much more useful for dubious pavement, stairs in train stations (see NanBug's post) and strange conveyances in out-of-the-way places. I actually took my Travelpro, left over from my former business travel, to Washington last year, and found it a real pain. It seemed heavy to drag around, and it was really annoying to have one hand occupied all the time.

But no-one is telling you not to take 100lbs with you if that's what you like, we're just pointing out that the OP doesn't need to if she doesn't want to. And since she's flying EasyJet it would cost her.

Apart from the actual weight of the luggage, there's also the concern about WHERE to put your suitcase if you're riding public transport. Sure, if the airport bus goes directly to your hotel entrance, great. But if you're taking subway, or regular city bus, or commuter train etc during rush hour, good luck with hauling a 30" suitcase with you.

My 19" fits underneath a regular seat on the bus, so it doesn't even take up extra space.

There's no way I can lift a 50 lb suitcase onto an overhead bin, or even onto a luggage rack at chest level (which may the only places where you can store a suitcase on a train). I'll cause some severe injuries all around if I attempt that. 50 lbs is almost half of my body weight.

Again, to each his/her own. Some people want to travel with 30" suitcases that weigh 50lbs each, great. Don't expect my husband to help you, and don't hit me with it or block my exit on the bus. (That happens a lot to me when I take the Silver Line to Logan airport - people's enormous suitcase just sits right at the exit doors because they don't even fit onto the luggage racks; so I have to climb over them just to get off the bus.)

I personally like the freedom of not being bogged down by a big & heavy suitcase.

This will not be resolved after a zillion threads ;
people who don't wish to lift, carry, or roll a lot of weight... will travel light, people who find 100 pounds easy to lift, will not.
As far as washing clothes ( undies and socks), I don't see taking 20 pairs on a trip and carrying them (dirty )around Europe as a very attractive proposition..
Either you spend 5 minutes washing, or ( if you don't have 20 pairs)you wear the same undies 5 days in a row. As someone said : YUK.
BTW, I just got back from 2 weeks in Prague, Dresden and Berlin - a small carry- on (over the shoulder )was just fine. Hilton in Dresden even had an iron and ironing board in the room !

<i>I personally like the freedom of not being bogged down by a big & heavy suitcase.</i>

I personally like the freedom of saving 10 minutes each night washing out my underwear. To each their own.

And no, I don't expect your husband to help me or my wife. But, I am happy to help others lift their suitcase off the belt. It remains the gentlemanly thing to do.

But that is WAY off topic here. We aren't dealing with theoretical scenarios. We know that the OP will be traveling with her husband. We can assume that he would never ask for help with his or his wife's bags (at least I hope). So why bring it up?

<i>But no-one is telling you not to take 100lbs with you if that's what you like, we're just pointing out that the OP doesn't need to if she doesn't want to.</i>

And I'm just pointing that she should be concerned with the reality of how she will travel, rather than concerns about your trip to Washington.

<i>And since she's flying EasyJet it would cost her.</i>

The OP stated that they had likely already prepaid for luggage on EasyJet. This is normal, as prepaying for 1 bag at 20 kg is the default setting at Easyjet.com. In other words, it has already "cost" the OP, so why worry about it now? A 25" bag will meet the 20 kg limit as readily as a 21" bag.

Again, let's focus on the reality of the OP's travel, not upon some theoretical that has no relevance.

<i>Hilton in Dresden even had an iron and ironing board in the room !</i>

I don't iron at home. I'm not going to start on vacation. I know how to iron. I just refuse to do it.

"I personally like the freedom of saving 10 minutes each night washing out my underwear. To each their own."


Boy, I would hate to be the customs officer searching your luggage after 3 weeks on the road!

<i>I would hate to be the customs officer searching your luggage after 3 weeks on the road!</i>

They get what they signed up for. If they didn't want to look through dirty underwear, then they should have found a different job.

wow, lots of replies! thanks everyone. I think the first thing I need to do is measure our suitcases because it's hard for me to picture what is what.

I hate checking bags (worrying about loss, waiting for baggage, etc) so I usually do carryon only unless dire circumstances mandate otherwise -- I am a very good packer -- but I think we should probably check at least one bag on this trip. Things like underwear (at least mine) are small enough to bring enough, but we will probably try to do laundry half-way through our trip. Not really keen on washing more than twice, but we'll see how quickly we run out of clothes

We did pre-pay for 2 bags through EasyJet - it was the default and it was cheaper than paying day of flight so we just went with the default one checked bag per person. We will be flying after about 14 days of our trip (all of Italy) with just 5 days in Paris remaining so it leaves us room to expand to a duffle for souveniers etc if needed.

I'm thinking maybe one "large" (wouldn't fit carryon) suitcase, one carryon size suitcase, and a duffle that can be used if we need it for souveniers? that way we each can maneuver one? It's all talk until we actually start packing, but I usually find that I can limit myself to my allotted amount of luggage.

Our family of 4 travelled through Asia and Europe for 11 weeks. Three of us had the largest size carry-on on wheels plus a backpack, and hubby had a larger suitcase on wheels plus a very small carry-on for books.

In our case, we tried to have an apartment with washer/dryer every other week or so.

For your trip, I would bring a large carry-on each for clothes. Possibly larger for whoever can easily manage it. I think it's better if everyone is able to handle their own luggage. Sometimes it's difficult for someone to manage 2 large suitcases, because of the bulkiness, even if they can manage the weight. So I like to know I can handle my own stuff if necessary.

You could do laundry twice, or possibly once, and have plenty to wear. You could bring extra underwear, maybe 10-11 pairs in case you only want to wash once. Some laundry places have drop-off service, which would cost you less than having the hotel do it. Not sure how common this is in Italy or Paris.

[Our 4 backpacks were loaded with books, so we ran into trouble on Virgin Atlantic when the weight limit for carryon bags was 6 kilos. I had 2 extra small bags tucked in our luggage and we got 2 plastic bags from an airport store, and we each split our books into 2 carryon bags of 6 kilos or less.)]

Every single time there is a thread about packing/luggage, travelgourmet pops in over and over and over again w/ snarky posts mocking everyone who manages to travel light. I have absolutely NO IDEA why this topic, or folks who do things differently, upset him so much.

This is just getting soooooo old. Pack light or pack heavy - your choice. But just don't ask here because the thread will go off in a ditch -- does every time . . . . .

Travelgourment,

My husband and I will be taking the train between Venice and Milan in October, I was wondering would there be a place to put our two (29" and 32") luggages in the train. I have never taken a train with luggages. I have only been on a European train three times and it was between Treviso and Venice.
My husband would like to try it but personally, I would rather pick-up a car. Thanks you for your help.
Summer08bride,

Sorry to hijack your thread.

ttt

Obviously travelgourmet doesn't travel much on trains in SW France, where connections are often as little as 5-7 minutes and you have to walk down, then up, steep staircases, HAULING your suitcase, to change platforms. I sometimes have to make 2-3 such connections after an all-night plane ride, which makes for one heck of an unpleasant, tiring day that's WAY more of a problem than handwashing a bit of underwear.