LJ

3 weeks-as adults, to Italy, with visits to the opera, good restaurants and attendance at our daughter's college graduation

Trick? lots of black, silk scarves, ziplock plastic bags, frequent hotel-room laundry and imagination..

Therese

The reluctance to wash clothes en route (if necessary---I typically don't need to if the trip is a week or less, not even underwear) is something that puzzles me. Not that one wouldn't want to spend time and/or money to do it, but that I simply don't have enough clothes to last for an entire three weeks. Well, okay, if I start wearing the stuff that's not really quite right for the season, or for the setting (like when you show up at work and people ask if you're going out that night and you have to admit that you just didn't have any clean work clothes and are now delving into your stash of dressy stuff) I might manage.

And even if I did have 21 days worth of outfits would I really want to schlep them around with me?

karens

I'm not a carry-on person, either.

We move around a lot on some trips - I dont' want to carry around wet clothing. I do wear jeans, sometimes one pair 2-3x on a trip - they are hard to wash in a hotel sink!

We went to Europe the past 2 years with 3 suitcases (for the 4 of us) and it wasnt' a big deal dragging them with us. This past trip, we had a car, but we dealt with our suitcases on public transit in London without a problem.

I tried to find hotels in England with laundry facilities, but couldn't locate any. I did not want to have to find a laundromat and wait for my clothes to wash and everything in London was expensive enough without paying the hotel to launder our clothes.

LJ

I am also puzzled by the reluctance to spend 10 minutes to wash stuff out. Even at the end of a busy travel day, it doesn't seem like a hardship to fill a sink with sudsy water (and, frankly, handsoap or shampoo will do just fine-what exactly do we think the chemical composition of detergent is?) swish your T shirt, silk blouse or undies around, rinse in cold and drape them artistically and creatively to dry.

My favourite drying gimmick is a package of kids party balloons; T-shirts and men's Y-fronts dry fast enough for the earliest morning departure when you hang them over a balloon full of air. You may chuckle if you haven't run across this before but, believe me, you will become a convert if you try it.

I am not so much obsessed with the carry-on as obsessed with not facing a vacation where I spend ANY time fretting over lost or even just delayed baggage. Been there, done that and I ain't EVER doing it again!

scdreamer

LJ, I am intrigued by the balloon drying idea ... how, exactly, do you do that? Do you somehow hang the balloon up and then place the gament over it?

I usually bring along a bit of twine and a couple clothespins ... I have even been known to use paper clips instead of pins in the event that I am really crushed for space in my carry-on. The balloon idea sounds great ...

And, as far as shoes go, I do bring along a couple pairs in addition to whatever I have on in the plane ... I always stuff them with underwear or other small items, so no space is wasted.

For me, carry-on is the only way to go. I can manage for however long my trip is. I bring small individual packets of detergent, as well as individual "Shout" stain remover sheets, so washing my stuff is easy.

I pack basic colors that can mix and match, so any top can go with any pant. I always bring along a light print skirt with the colors of all the tops I have. Also - I bring along my really old ratty underwear and throw it away when I have worn it.

suze

For the person who asked "how do you do it?"..

You have to be willing to wear the same clothes over and over again. That's true. You can bring 2-3 pair of shoes (remember 1's on your feet). To me it's no big deal to wash out a top and underthings in the hotel sink every couple evenings.

That said, I don't get the joy going carry-on only, and am willing to take my chances checking luggage to have a more comfortable amount of things along with me.

LJ

Scdreamer: love the old undies idea...its so freeing to throw out lingering lingerie!

The balloons are an enhancemt to hanger or line drying...the item goes on the hanger or gets hung up first. Then you blow up the balloon and insert is to keep the sides of the garment apart and improve air flow. (The long narrow ones are really useful if you trying to dry something with long sleeves).

Please note: if you are staying in a hotel with chambermaids, you will get sideways looks in the corridor!

caroline_edinburgh

The main reason I don't do carry-on only for trips of >2 days is the liquids rule. I just can't get enough toiletries for longer than that into 100ml bottles in a 1 ltr bag. I do have such a bag containing sample sizes of cleanser, toner, moisturiser, toothpaste, etc which I use for weekends and take on longer trips in my hand luggage just in case my checked-in bag doesn't turn up straightaway; but those sizes won't last longer than a few days.

On our recent month-long trip we took our standard summer hol packing (2 medium size suitcases) and we still needed to wash & recycle clothes several times. I washed out my undies in the hotel washbasins but anything bigger is too much hassle, so we had laundry done by hotels - at a total cost of about £100, I think... gulp.

Our clothes actually seem to take up the least room in our cases - before I put clothes in they are already quite full with shoes, books, toiletries & other bits & pieces. On this last trip I'm not sure we could have fitted even just our books into a carry-on bag - 4 very thick & 1 slimmish novel, at least 4 guidebooks, 'Art For Travellers', the Cambridge Companion to Giotto', about 6 maps - need I go on ?

LJ

As far as shoes are concerned, I wear one pair, of course, and pack a second. Two in rotation have always been okay...if I am in Italy, I would treat myself to a new pair of Ferragamo pumps when we are close to departure.

For the toiletries, I love to shop. So I bring sample packs of 'my' brands, Clarins and Mary Kay to get me through the first couple of days. Then I visit the nearest Clarins' source (any major city in Europe has one) and buy a new moisurizer, night cream and eye gel. I don't wear foundation on a vacation. For the rest, toothpaste and shampoo, conditioner, thats pretty standard stuff and purchasable anywhere and local brands of cosmetics are fun to shop for and cheap to replenish.

This has worked for me for about 10 years now and, along with ditching my handbag round about the same time I retired the 'power suit" has been very liberating.

DH and I are inveterate travelers and go to high-end restaurants, the theatre and opera and even the odd great hotel. But traveling carry-on only has become a pleasure. If its not for you, don't bother, I agree.

Fodorite018

Three weeks, three countries, and in the winter. I hate checking a bag and will do almost anything to avoid it.

Dukey

Please ask these "multi-week" people how OFTEN they did laundry.

The lower the number in their reply, the higher the chance you DON'T want to get close to them.

LJ

Now, Dukey, we did meet and I freely acknowledge you are a man of style. However, with my self-disclosed addiction to Clarins, do I seem like the sort of person who would "cause offense" as the old deoderant ads used to say?

All the Tilley's floaty, linen stuff is made to wash in a sink and dry in a flash and it can be very stylish...

Don't be a skeptic if you haven't tried it.

slangevar

3 days

My favorite system of packing was the "disposable clothing" method. Sure, you have to bring a suitcase, but it gets lighter and lighter (and has more room for souvenirs) as you go along.

janisj

&quot;<i>You have to be willing to wear the same clothes over and over again. </i>&quot;

Not really - a few garments maybe, but most things only need to be worn a couple of times over a 2 or 3 week trip. In my packing classes I use a wardrobe that creates more than 40 outfits out of garments that easily fit in a 21 inch rollaboard. It includes 1 pair of jeans, 2 other slacks, a dress, 2 skirts, a sweater coat, two pullovers, a suede jacket, a short denim jacket, and LOTS of mix/match tops. Plus a full 3-1-1 baggie w/ more than enough product for the average 3 week trip. That is much more than I'd normally take myself - but I want those attending to see how much they CAN take if they want to and not be doing laundry every night.

And for a very good reason why to carry-on - just read GreenDragon's terrific report about their June trip around Scotland. At least two of them did not get their luggage and GreenDragon didn't get hers until 5 or 6 days into the trip.

Ackislander

There is a lot of one bag snobbery out there, but the ability to get it all in one bag depends on 7 factors:

1. Gender: Most women are smaller than most men, especially when it comes to shoes, and can get more changes of clothing in a given bag. Toiletries are a different issue.
2. Size: the XXL person needs more baggage than the Size 2, all other things being equal.
3. Purpose of trip: business trips usually require more clothes than pleasure trips, combined trips require the most.
4. Velocity (how often you change locations): if you change hotels every night, no one knows you are wearing the same outfit to dinner every day. Otherwise you get the &quot;She's wearing that again but with a new scarf.&quot;
5. Climate: extreme heat and cold make the most demands, temperate climates allow fewer clothes.
6. Place: US, Europe, Asia, beach, city, small town, hiking, etc. Multiple destinations mean additional items.
7. Days between laundry: if N equals the number of days you are willing to go without doing laundry, N+1 equals the number of outfits you need.

Some people also have special needs like CPAPs, medication, business hardware, etc that impact their ability to do one bag.

On our first family trip to England, my wife, myself and two children each had an small daypack, and we shared a common simple hanging bag with a dress outfit for each of us. We dressed for dinner every night, but we always moved every night so no one knew we were wearing the same thing every evening!

tcreath

I've traveled with carry-ons only, but unless I'm just traveling for a short period of time I would just assume bring a full sized suitcase. We travel during off-peak season, which usually means sweaters, pants and heavier clothes in general, in addition to sweaters, gloves, coats. It's too difficult to try to get enough clothes to fit in a carry-on, and I'm not one to overpack.

And I'll be honest. I don't like doing laundry at home, much less do it on vacation. No, it doesn't take long to wash clothes in the sink, but we tend to travel around every 3-4 days and it can take awhile for a sweater or jeans to dry. I definitely have no interest in carrying wet clothes with me.

I think it just depends on travel styles. If someone is happy bringing carry-ons only, so be it. I have no problem waiting around a luggage carousel for 30 minutes, and we usually rent cars, so for me regular-sized luggage is fine.

Tracy

tcreath

I'm curious about the disposable clothing method. What kinds of clothes do you bring that are considered disposable?

I personally donate any/all clothing that I no longer want/need to charities or Goodwill, so I think it seems kind of wasteful to do this.

Tracy

Therese

&quot;What kinds of clothes do you bring that are considered disposable?&quot;

Most people do this with underwear.

I donate most of our clothing, but not underwear, and not socks unless they're practically new.

I also exclude things from donation that are damaged or stained, so, for instance, you might take a shirt with a stain on the front to wear under a sweater and then pitch it after you'd worn it rather than wash it or bring it home with you.

adrienne

Tracy - you don't donate underware, do you? That would be a disposible item when the elastic becomes worn or there may be small holes or bras don't quite fit properly but could be worn a few more times.

I've taken tee shirts that I wouldn't wear to work since the blacks might have faded a bit or they may have stretched out with washing. One time I took a turtleneck with a couple of small holes in the arm (not very noticible but could not be worn for work), wore it 2 or 3 times and then threw it out. I save old tees for sleeping at night, use them a few times on vacation and dispose of them. These are the types of things I deem disposible. I've been doing this for years.

I would not donate any of these items to charity shops, etc. as I don't believe they were in good enough shape to donate (I'm very picky about what I donate). I do donate clean garments in good shape that I no longer want or may not fit properly.

adrienne

I forgot about socks. When I replaced my socks rather than using the old ones for dusting I saved them for traveling.