We are going to France / Italy / Greece / Turkey / Austria / Switzerland / London / New York between September and October and would like to travel as light as possible, preferably only with carry on luggage as there will be a lot of travelling involved.
Any advice on what to pack (how many changes etc), what to pack it in and other useful information would be appreciated.
Thank you
Melissa

Layers and layers and layers.

Will you have access to washing machine and/or laundromat?

If you go to the Europe forum, do a search for What to Pack. There are many threads discussing how to travel and pack light.

Are you traveling for 2 months? I suggest finding a lightweight suitcase and using a large tote or backpack as your personal item.

I've done carry on only for trips over 2 weeks and I believe it is possible for longer periods as well; you just have to do laundry. Pick a base color and work with that and dress in layers. A raincoat with a liner and hood works well for me.

As yk mentioned, there are lots of packing threads on the Europe forum.

I've traveled as long as ten months with one convertible backpack/suitcase and a day bag. My packing list is at www.wilhelmswords.com/faq/index.html

Go to this web site http://www.onebag.com/
find the checklist and use it as the basis to pack your one bag which you will always carry on. I have used this for trips up to six weeks in length and all over Europe. If you do a little bit of light hand washing each night or two and use a laundry or self-laundry occasionally, it will work very well. You'll be so glad to learn how to travel light and never have lost luggage!

I can't quite do carry-on only myself, but do pack in only a single 24" rolling suitcase regardless of the length of the trip.

Simply lay out the shoes, clothing, toiletries you're thinking of taking on the bed. Start folding and packing with the most versatile pieces and essentials first. Stop when the suitcase is full.

If you want to carry it on, check with your airlines for their size and weight limits.

I'm with Suze.

Pack one 22-25" suitcase, per person, carefully.

What I've done in the past is to practice packing and seeing what I have. If I can lighten the load, I will do so.

My SO seems to think that 5 kinds of facial cream is OK for a 2 week trip. This translates to 5 of everything else also.

I make her practice packing, and when she she realizes it can't be done, she pares things down.

Then we start all over, and pack what might be needed, less the things packed on previous trips that were never needed.

It's an iterative process, but a bit of patience and her yelling at me finally comes to a compromise that will work out; meaning that I give up some of my suitcase space).

If I have anything heavy, such as a guide book, I carry it on. Reading it also helps me pass the time.

Rastaguytoday, your post made me laugh. My husband and I decided after several very stressful times of packing at the same time, or even at different times but with each other in near proximity, that it would be best for him to be out of the apartment completely when I am packing. This decision has granted us much peace!

And I am actually pretty good about packing light. It's just my process of getting there (very slow!) is one he finds very stressful, and then his stress level would annoy the heck out of me (since I see nothing wrong with being slow and am a little proud about being pretty good at packing light!).

I think in my first marriage we would have worked and worked at getting better at it, never thinking of just having him go do some errands or get a beer somewhere. And we would have gotten a little better at it, at the price of much stress. I like this way much better

Three bottoms, five tops - all mix and match. Two pairs of shoes (a walking shoe and maybe a lightweight sandal that can be dressed up or down). One bathing suit. five underwear and socks. Two lightweight sweaters or fleece that can be layered if needed and an unlined rain coat.

Wear the heaviest stuff on the plane and pack the lighter stuff in your one carry-on.

Limit your bath stuff to two one quart bags one dry stuff and one travel size containers of liquids.

I cheat and use Rick Steve's traveling bag. When I went to Europe for 3 wks, I took 3 pairs of pants~one jeans, one back pair, one khaki, and shirts I could layer. We did the tacky tourist thing and washed our clothes in the bathtub....

I try to pack 8 days of underwear. I will pick when to wash the clothes at a place that we stay at for more than one night. I get the small Woolite soap packets and wash that way.

I will actually 'kill' a shirt by wearing it 3-5 days in a row, until it's really tired, and then either pack it away or take it to a dry cleaners.

Two pairs of pants, one to two pairs of shoes. Always one sport coat.

Wear the heaviest stuff on board.

I'm a bare bones packer, too. I fit everything into an 17" LL Bean backpack and carry on only.

Layers, interchangeable clothing, wearing a base layer that can easily be washed underneath other shirts, etc etc.

A very good sample packing list is on this website: www.inspiredhobo.com. He shows you how to really pack sparingly.

I don't mind doing laundry halfway through the trip. Or handwashing items.

You can do it!

For your significant other. Here is what I pack for trips from a week to over a month. I usually travel in Spring or Fall. i adjust some for activities and expected weather.

http://www.polyvore.com/mens_travel_...set?id=1440268

I am like Suze in that I use a 24" bag and check it regardless of the length. My camera gear is my carry on, so this is the lightest I'm willing to travel.

Having said that, I do pack light. I bring 3 pairs of pants and 4-5 tops. Add 2 overshirts/sweaters and 1 jacket. I bring 2-3 pairs of shoes depending on the variety of activities I'll be doing. Note: I wear one of everything on the plane, so am packing one less of each item. My only splurge is with undies and socks. I bring as many as I need for the length of the trip.

I have tried packing my stuff in a carry-on size bag and it all fits (undies and all), but I go with the 24" bag so I have a bit of room to spare for bringing things back.

This is my newest packing option:

Before you go on vacation...visit the Thrift Store....buy
t-shirts, sweaters, whatever..an entire week's worth of clothings may cost you $25.00 (some even with the tags still on them)...then when you get to your destination....leave them there, and you have a empty suitcase to bring back many other wonderful items!!! I just did this on my Cruise, and it was great, and I plan on doing this when I go to India.

Gizmo - I've heard others talk about doing that (or wearing old clothes that you're going to get rid of anyway).

My biggest issue with this is that I know folks who can't afford to buy clothes anywhere BUT the thrift store - if I go in and buy up the nicer pieces to wear once and dump, I'd feel like I was taking away their best chances of having nice clothes for nothing more than so I can buy even more stuff.

If you want to pack as light as possible, consider getting this luggage -
http://www.llbean.com/webapp/wcs/sto...796-ppxs&dds=y

I have a gazillion pieces of luggage (only a slight exaggeration) but this luggage is amazing. 40% lighter than comparable luggage but it holds so much and so well. I gave a set for a Christmas present too. Read the reviews on the website to get an idea of why people like it so much.

What I pack for a weekend trip is almost the same as what I pack for a two week trip. I tend to overpack because I want lots of options. This carryon is the only one I've used that holds it all. I did take the big suitcase for a business trip where a lot of changes of clothes were needed. The little bag has tons of pockets that makes packing easy. I use it mostly as a camera bag with other stuff stuck in it.

As others have said before, lots of layers but take clothes you are comfortable in. My favorite piece for that time of year is a lightweight cashmere sweater. For a May trip to Paris, I packed three and wore one every day. Dresses up nicely and keeps you warm (but not too warm) when temps are cool.

I have done the 3 bottoms/5 tops plan on one two-week solo trip and it really can work. On the next trip I added a couple more tops. Target had t-shirts with short and long-sleeves, v-neck and regular, so I could have some variety, and layering possibilities with low-impact on my suitcase!

you should go on VirginAmerics airlines. They have the best plane and it allows you a limit of 70 pounds for each suitcase. It has a mini touchscreen TV in front of each chair! I loved it! I would recommend this plane to anyone!