Fodor’s is full of packing lists for women whose gossamer garments and strappy sandals allow them to travel for weeks at a time with only a 21 inch carryon.

I am 6’3”, weigh 233 pounds, wear size 14 shoes, and have some medical issues that make carryon only travel for more than a weekend impossible.

So here is a highly individual packing list from an experienced male business and leisure traveler, with notes. It is not meant to be definitive. I hope other men will post similar lists. I always learn something from other people’s givens and druthers.

Packing List for two week or longer trip to Europe Spring and Fall

Wear on plane
Trousers: Dark grey heather Dockers
Shirt: Blue/black tattersall LL Bean no iron long sleeve
Jacket: Black microfiber travel blazer with multiple zippered pockets
Underwear: cotton boxers
Socks: Black Smartwool
Shoes: Mephisto Runoff walking shoes
Outerwear: Charcoal LL Bean Stowaway Gore-Tex hooded jacket (in winter, a Barbour Border long waxed jacket with multiple handy pockets)
Handkerchief: black bandanna

Pack
The Trousers: two pairs, one charcoal gray, one medium gray, tropical weight wool or wool and polyester
The Shirts: three long sleeve checked or Tattersall no iron shirts. One polo shirt, black. Three T shirts: one each black, white, gray
The Underwear: enough cotton boxers for half the trip (Laundromat half way through)
The Socks: two more pairs of black Smartwool
The Handkerchiefs: red bandanna, blue bandanna
The Sweater: sleeveless or long sleeve cashmere V-neck, depending on the month
The Necktie: maroon silk foulard
The Toiletries: deodorant, razor, shaving brush and cream, toothbrush, floss, toothpaste, nail clippers
The Additions: In the winter, I would add a cashmere scarf, leather gloves and glove liners. I have a dress shirt that I would take if likely to go to a concert or opera.
The Medications: an enormous bag of them on which my life sadly depends.

The Tragedy: by rolling or using a folder and packing cubes, I can actually get all this into a 21 Hartmann rollaboard. But it weighs far more than anyone’s limit for carryon luggage because Big Guys’ clothing is H-E-A-V-Y. So it has to be checked. So I usually wind up taking and checking a 26” Hartmann rollaboard so I can add an extra pair of shoes and a couple of extra amenities. The shoes weigh 4 pounds EACH, by the way.

The Personal Item: a Hartmann briefcase which holds my CPAP, a netbook or iPad, my digital audio player and headphones, one extra pair of boxers, a toothbrush and floss, three days of medicines, crossword puzzles.

What do you pack?

Oh, my, all that black and gray!

You obviously don't shop at Jack Wills or Murray's.

Thin

Summer business
1 jacket linen
2 trews linen
1 small iron
4 cotton shirts
2 pairs of shoes (one for work, one for play)
no tie, no belt,
1 tidy(!)fleece to sleep on and to battle night time chills
Underwear; no details. but loads of socks (i hate running out of socks)
runnning gear.
box of tissues

In the winter change the linen for wool. Take one overcoat and multilayer with vests, fleece etc plus walking boots and more socks.

It's a good idea to help out the men in the crowd with packing suggestions. I do wonder why it's almost always women who stress over what goes in the suitcase.

I'm never again commenting on what I pack after being beaten up for not wearing khakis and polo shirts in Europe. I only see 1 polo and no khakis on your list so prepare yourself for a beating!

I can't wait to read cold's packing list suggestions. I do know it starts with white shorts and purple bum pack! Every time I see a post from cold I have that image in my mind.

If you hate running out of sock why don't you just wash them out in the sink and hang them up on the heated towel rack to dry? Or blow them dry with the hairdryer?

It really is not that difficult, sweetie darling.

Why do hetero men find it so difficult to rinse things out in he sink?

Ladies, can you imagine bringing 14 pairs of pantyhose with you on your holiday?

I got by in Venice for two weeks with just three pairs of socks.

Thin

<< Ladies, can you imagine bringing 14 pairs of pantyhose with you on your holiday? >>

I can't imagine even owning any pantyhose!!

I wear my socks twice on vacation - my feet don't sweat so I feel I can get away with that.

bilbo - thank you for leaving out the underware details! What's holding up your trousers if you don't bring a belt? (sorry for being nosy!!!)

You know, those little shampoos in hotel rooms are actually for washing your stuff in the sink...

I never ever check luggage outbound. On the flight I need to worry about getting the bus or metro from the airport, whether my hotel does indeed have my reservation, how to use Sie and Du and Vous and Tu correctly, should I have learned Vosotros, etc, rather than worrying about whether my luggage will show up. I also don't like waiting around the luggage caroussel for an hour. I like to get off the plane and get going.

I check luggage coming home, sure, because I am tired of schlepping bags around by then and don't care if my bags show up at home a week later. Also, I usually bring more stuff home than I brought over with me. I usually pack an extra bag inside my real bag for purchases. The purchases, and meds and the like, are carry-on.

There's the washing in the sink. There's also Laundry Day. Most often, midway through a 2 week trip, I will have the hotel do my laundry or find a laundromat where they will do my clothes for me. I have never done my own laundry at a foreign laundromat but very much like the idea in theory. It could be an interesting cultural experience.

There's also buying new clothes and getting rid of your old clothes as you go. I know, I know, Europe's ecosystem may collapse if I throw away an old t shirt there. But it hasn't so far.

Packing is just common sense. Wear a lot of stuff - t shirt, shirt, sweatwer, jacket - on the plane, along with slip on shoes and no belt for TSA. Pack socks and underwear into the other pairs of shoes. Mostly mix and match clothes, mostly dark colors. Versatility means you don't have to pack too much.

No khakis or polo shirts. For me at least, khakis get too dirty too fast. A long sleeve shirt easily converts into a short sleeve shirt by rolling up the sleeves.

Extra pair of glasses. Copies of passport and bank cards. Electricity converter thing.

No shorts, flipflops, etc. No tie.

I always pack a tie (currently a deep purple, silk, skinny one) because the way I look at it, for the amount of space it's going to take - usually balled up in one of my shoes - compared to the hassle it would be to actually go out and buy a half-decent one wherever I might be, is worth it.

Otherwise, the contents of my case depends on where I'm going, when and what mood I'm in. I never take less than three pairs of shoes (two in the case, size 11, stuffed with my underwear to save space, and one pair on my feet).

I travel a fair amount both for business and pleasure and I always, check my luggage. I couldn't even tell you what size my suitcase is, although my hand luggage was only three kilos lighter than my suitcase on my last trip to the U.S. if that gives you any idea.

I only pack flip-flops if I'm going to spend time actually on a beach and shorts if I'm going to be playing sport or going to the Caribbean, where wearing trousers is some form of masochism.

adrienne, thank you for asking, I am naturally svelte and my clothes cling to me as if they grew there. Belts and suspenders are not required.

Mrs Bilbo and I have a most unfortunate term of endearment for those men who use a belt to keep their front half escaping from their back half. We call such men, sotto voce, "a fine figure of a man".

Washing in the sink is retained for bicycling holidays and I have done a lot of that (often in some very odd countries) but I also use the "save up old socks to throw away principle" which saves on the wrist.

"You obviously don't shop at Jack Wills or Murray's."

Thin

I do have Nantucket Reds and have worn them in Scotland and on the coast of Sussex after a friend told me they were very popular among yachting men before the Last War (that would be the 1939-45 War, the last worth mentioning.

Jack Wills? about the same time I wear hip hop shorts.

<< Belts and suspenders are not required >>

Got it. One further question...you're not British?

Of course not, it would be BRACES.

I do the hairdryer - sock drying thing too......

Obviously none of these people has any IDEA what it is like to pack a pair of 14's (mine are 12's) much less all the other issues you end up having to deal with.

Congratulations on having it all figured out and knowing what works for you. Apparently not needing help with the packing is some sort of "manstuff" thing and guess what, even some of us GAY guys enjoy it, too.

Whining about packing is for wimps.

I translated for our cousins.