When we spent two months in Spain back in 2019, we travelled only with carry-on luggage, which on most airlines is a small suitcase that you can heft into the overhead bin and a small backpack/handbag to fit under the seat in front of you. The reasons for this were:
Checking a bag costs extra (each bag can cost up to $75/bag/person in 2022)
Wanting to have each child (at the time of Spain, aged 10, 11, 12) manage their own luggage for plane and train travel, including negotiating stairs with their luggage
Being able to fit all our luggage into a standard car in Europe (larger cars cost more to rent and are more difficult to park)
This is how we packed for both our two-month trips to Spain in 2019 and Greece in 2022, where the weather is scorching. Everyone packed:
3 days worth of clothes, which means doing one load of laundry once every 2 days. In most cases in Spain, this meant an extra jammed washer as the washers are small. Everyone has a pair of quick-dry pants.
A rain jacket (not needed in Spain or Greece in July and August).
A light sweater
A pair of hiking/beach sandals
A pair of in-the-house sandals
Wore their running/hiking shoes
Neil’s carry-on suitcase: his work gear (USB keyboard & mouse and headset). This time around he didn’t bring his work chair as he did for Spain.LL’s carry-on suitcase: foldable yoga mat, which will no longer be coming on future trips to make room for souvenirs. Plus we can use a towel on the floor or do chair yoga. Felix’s carry-on suitcase: at the bottom right is the filter for our Grayl Compact water purifier. We brought 3 of these, spread amongst the kids’ luggage. He’s also got a compact bottle dryer and waterproof paraphernalia for his processors; and his snorkelling mask.Nolan’s carry-on suitcase: two frisbees, Neil’s yoga mat, 360 ml of contact lens solution (one of the exceptions to the 100 ml liquids rule). Bottom left is the paper map of Greece he received from GPa. Not shown is the Grayl Compact water purifier and two boxes of covid rapid test kits (5 tests per box).Lara’s carry-on suitcase: snorkelling mask and top right in the red bag is the travel first aid kit.Neil’s backpack: work laptop, KN95 masks, snacks, camera, waterbottle. The clear ziploc bag at the top right contains 100 ml liquids.LL’s backpack: personal laptop, group snacks in reusable zipper-lock bags (they were supposed to be stronger than Ziplocs but were not).The kids’ backpacks had similar items (hats, sunglasses, wetwipes, snacks, KN95 masks, Kobos, and iPads) and also toys (a deck of cards and a bag of Calico Critters in Lara’s and a bag of Siku vehicles in Felix’s).
Next stop, Greece.
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2 thoughts on “2-month trips with carry-on luggage”
Very organized!