Packing for Four Months in Europe

Along with my dear husband, these two pieces of luggage are going to be my traveling companions for the next five months. After taking a trip out to Oregon and Montana in late winter, we quickly realized we didn’t want to lug around any large suitcases on public transport and didn’t feel like worrying about lost luggage. Not having traveled together by plane in a long time, we didn’t have a decent, durable, rolling suitcase or laptop-suitable backpack between us.

Admittedly, that winter trip was tricky to pack for. It was during winter in the northwest which requires layers and coats. We had to have appropriate wedding attire including shoes. And we also anticipated needing hiking boots for snow. All that along with computers for working and some casual wear for work socializing. 

Our trip to Europe is mostly during summer months which greatly reduces the amount and bulkiness of what one needs. And I’m not worried about impressing anyone or trying to maintain any kind of personal style (if I even have one). I do think I ended up with my kind of “capsule wardrobe” that many vloggers talk about. A lot of solid, neutral colors with tops and bottoms that all could work together.  

Decisions, Decisions

Once the actual sizes of luggage we could take were clear, I quickly realized there were things I would not be able to take. We’ve developed a yoga habit but the yoga mat is a no go. I was hopeful my little, almost flat, tapestry loom could make it, but good walking shoes are a higher priority than the loom and any tools and yarn it requires. (You’ll see on down I managed to get a textile craft in.)

As someone who typically has a lot of baggage, pun intended, I decided to embrace this as a challenge and part of the experience. It isn’t forever, just five months, and we are staying in big cities. I love thrifting.  If I need to find a slip dress or pair of lounge pants or even a couple of extra t-shirts, what a great reason to explore thrift stores where we are going. At the end of the city-stay, I’ll donate them back into the thrift market and move on. Not sure that counts as slow fashion, but it seems like a good idea.

We did some research on the airlines we are using for this trip to five countries in Europe. Nothing is standardized, but we came up with the best size options for a carry-on suitcase that will go in overhead bins and a personal item to stuff (ahem, position) under the seat in front of us. Some of the restrictions are so tight that we upgraded our tickets to bring the suitcase, small as it is, on board instead of checking it.

In the end we decided on the Monos Carry-on Pro and Aer Flight Pack 3. (Have to give a shout-out to packhacker.com for great backpack reviews.) The carry-on suitcase has some built in structure to help with compression and a TSA-approved lock, which sounds right. After toting our laptops in shoulder-style bags on the winter trip, it was clear we wanted backpacks for the laptops that would center the weight and keep your hands and arms free.

I can say, on the other side of getting things packed, I might have been better off without the front fold-out panel on the Monos.  I think if I also had a checked bag and then just a purse, the fold out storage is handy. But since things like papers, sunglasses, headphones, etc are in our personal bag, going with the simpler carry-on with all the space inside the suitcase might have been better. Jury is out on this right now and we’ll see how it goes as we travel. We are “pot committed” as Trev would say.

So, the packing

I decided there was a lot to be gained from seeing how others have done this. There were lots of ideas for traveling smart, but we weren’t interested in buying lots of stuff. That said, a common theme became compression packing cubes so did invest in those. It was an excellent decision. Those do mean more wrinkles but in a decision between wrinkles or another shirt or pair of shorts, the extra clothing wins. The other travel item I decided to invest in was noise-canceling headphones. More on that later.

On the plane I’m wearing blue jeans, a black v-neck tee and my favorite rust linen long sleeve buttondown. Since my athletic shoes are the bulkiest, I’m wearing those no matter how geeky and also wearing a thin and light neutral scarf. In addition to these, the clothes you will see me wearing in all our photos on the trip are:

Bottoms

• Grey jeans
• Green, cotton pants
• Teal swim shorts
• Yoga/exercise leggings
• Khaki cotton shorts
• Black athletic shorts (packed with shirts)
• Pajama/yoga lounge shorts (packed with shirts)
• Grey, quick drying skort (yes, skort, that isn’t a typo)

Tops

• Burgundy cotton long sleeve
• Olive green cotton long sleeve
• Blue thin cashmere sweater (not pictured)
• Black crew-neck T-shirt
• Sleeveless navy athletic shirt
• Avocado green short sleeve tee
• Light blue printed cotton sleeveless*
• White linen short sleeve

I was amazed at what I cold fit in just two compression cubes by rolling things up and being strategic about filling the cubes.

The Rest

• Swimwear
• Sunhat
• Assorted socks
• Bras and Undies
• Casual walking shoes that don’t look athletic (my dinner-out shoes)
• Pair of supportive sandals for walking and beach (in my backpack)
• Rain jacket

It is incredible that all of this clothing rolls up, compresses, and tucks into the suitcase. As you will see in the photos, I’m also able to pack in the two adapters we need for plugs, a brush, my tension bands for exercises, and my travel jewelry case (thanks, kids).  It weighed in at under 22 pounds, which is another consideration for airline restrictions. I’m well under the limit. 

Trying to make use of that front, fold out storage since I have it, I put together a little embroidery kit for myself. As many of you know, if I don’t have a cloth-related outlet I’ll go a little bonkers. I’ve decided to use the tea towel as a kind of travel journal, stitching whatever I feel like as we go. From what I’ve read, airlines will let you bring scissors when the blades are less than 3” so I should be ok with these tiny things. I was able to wrap a few selections of embroidery thread around a cut-up card, and tuck it all back in the envelope with thimble, scissors and needles. I’ve also tucked into that fold out storage some papers we will need and a few small and thin personal items.

Moving on to my backpack, I’m able to get all that you see below in it without a problem. In fact, after a lengthy debate with myself, I did decide to add in that pair of sandals after all. We talked about buying a cheap pair of thong sandals when we need them, but because of some plantar fasciitis issues I’m working to get over, I decided a pair that has legitimate arch support is worth the space.  They fit in the bottom of the personal backpack.

The Backpack Contains

• Work laptop, charger, compact mouse/mousepad
• Tiny pocket chromebook for blogging and personal needs
• Noise-canceling headphones and work earphones
• Toiletry bag (3-1-1)
• Purse for when I don’t want to lug around a backpack*
• My two pairs of glasses
• Notebook and pencils for journaling & sketching
• Wallet, passport, sunglasses, phone
• Sandals in a shoe bag (not pictured)

About those Headphones

The irony for me is that while I like to travel, I’m not in love with flying. On long flights, I truly appreciate being able to watch movies that help the time pass and keep my thoughts off the fact that I’m tens of thousands of feet in the air. We took a short trip to Austin, Texas, in the spring and flying back I found the airplane noise made it difficult to immerse myself in the movie.

Thinking back to that research on how others have done this, I decided to buy a pair of noise-cancelling headphones. Limited real-estate meant I debated myself (again) between ear buds and an over-the-ear style. Most reviews indicated that if the goal is tuning out the world, the over-the-ear style is the best. As you can see, the grey oval-ish case is not in any way small and is a space commitment. I’ll let you know if I made the right choice.

Trial Run

Before we actually fly overseas, we have a couple of weeks in transit to visit family. This is a chance to live out of both suitcase and backpack and see how well I did. In a pinch, I can always make some quick changes though certainly I’ll find anything I need at our destinations. As I write this, we have already been a few nights away from home base. So far, so good. I’m loving the Aer backpack more and more. Bring on the adventure.

*update – Just before we left I did make two changes. 1) The purse was an inexpensive old one I had from years ago. Not all things are better with age. The outer “skin” literally started falling off of it the week before we left and I found an inexpensive sling (or in 80’s parlance, a fanny pack) on Amazon. 2) I left a printed, sleeveless, light blue linen shirt behind and added a couple of very thin, solid short sleeve tees that can go dressy or casual, pack down to almost nothing and will dry fast when hand-washing.