Travel with Carry-On Only - Here's How You Do It

Travelling with carry-on luggage only can be a herculean task, especially if you’re the kind of person who likes to pack for every possible scenario; from your poolside chill to the chilling mountains. Okay, there is a good amount of benefits that come from travelling with your beloved belongings but then you would be missing the whole of travelling itself; tasting freedom.
You see when you travel with carry-on-only, you are less tired, and less tired means a more jovial mood. With such a mood, you are motivated to explore more, which in turn enables you to have a memorable globetrotting experience. So, as a contribution to that experience, we have listed eight tips that will help you make the best out of your carry-on-only packing list. Let’s go!

10 Tips To Travel With Carry-On-Only

Travel with carry-on only can save you time, money, and hassle. With smart planning and minimalist packing, you can streamline your trip without sacrificing essentials. Here are ten tips to master carry-on-only travel effortlessly.

1. Create a Packing List

Okay, this is the most important of all steps - crafting a carry-on-only packing list outlining the items that will be necessary for your trip. These may include your garments, gadgets, first aid kit, your preferred snacks, and so on. Services like airport pickup can make arrival smoother, but for packing, focus on essentials and avoid items you can easily buy at your destination to keep the bag’s weight manageable

Once done, we’d advise you to revise the carry-on-only packing list and then gauge the weight and size of each of these items. Doing this will help you realign your priorities and then actually come to a set of items that you’d actually need. It’s pretty easy to go overboard here, honestly.

2. Choose the Right Bag

Now, the next step is to choose carry-on luggage that is only the right size (ideally 22 x 14 x 19 inches) and has adequate space. And for this, there are plenty of brands online that’ll serve your needs perfectly. These established lifestyle brands have understood the desire of today’s youth to see the world with open arms and light shoulders

So, while opting for your carry-on luggage only, make sure you prioritise utility over style since looks might deceive, and the best bag doesn't need to ideally be the best looking. Also, check if the bag has multiple compartments or not because if it doesn’t then there’s no point; no matter how strong or affordable it might be.

3. Pack Versatile Clothing

Thirdly, we’d suggest that when you decide to pack carry-on-only, look for clothes that are versatile in nature, like plain T-shirts, Denims, Canvas shoes, and so on. The reason this works well is that it not only saves space for you but also the hassles of choosing what to wear and where to wash. The lesser the better.

Now, this doesn’t mean that you’ll be compromising your style on your travel with carry-on-only; you can choose colour palettes that look universally appealing, like white, black, beige, navy blue, brown, and so on. Also, when you pair these colours with solid pattern-free canvas shoes, you will look subtly elegant and minimal at the same time.

4. Use Packing Cubes

Okay, these cubes are a game changer when it comes to packing carry-on-only; they help you organise your belongings, making them easier to find, hence saving you time. Also, they do the more important job of helping you sort out the necessary from the unnecessary. These cubes help you compartmentalise your belongings as well.

Additionally, these cubes help you compress your clothes and any other soft items that you intend to pack, helping you fit in more in less space inside your carry-on luggage only. However, you must keep in mind that these cubes are not very cheap as they are relatively rare in the market.

5. Minimise Electronics

Coming to our fifth point, we’d say that keep the electronics to a minimum as such items occupy a lot of space and demand a lot of care during your travel with carry-on-only. Also, the need for you to unpack them at the security checkpoints drains you of energy and enthusiasm. And we would go as far as to suggest that you keep only a smartphone with you.

You can supplement it with a huge power bank but that might be it because think for a moment; everything that you’d require as a traveller is already there inside your phone. From camera to music and from GPS to the internet. And in carrying only a smartphone, you’d also be reducing the hassle from your travel with carry-on-only plan.

6. Roll Your Clothes

Next up, is a tactic that frequent travellers use to make the most out of the limited space inside their carry-on luggage only - rolling your clothes. So what this does essentially is that it reduces the amount of free space that is between the clothes which could be used for additional clothes. And because of this reason, this method has been proven to increase the ease of travel with carry-on-only.

Additionally, this method is also effective if you want to reduce the amount of ironing you want to do on your clothes. The reason is that upon rolling the creases that usually form on clothes, end up being negligible. This way you'll not only be packing carry-on-only more effectively but also save more time and effort.

7. Wear Your Bulkiest Items

Now, this might seem a bit unconventional and weird, and that’s because it is. You see when you wear your bulkiest clothes like hoodies, cargo, or heavy jackets, you save yourself a lot of space inside your carry-on luggage only, which can then be utilised to store more important items like student essentials.

Also, when you imagine yourself walking or travelling with your heavy clothes, either of two things is gonna happen - either you are gonna choose your favourite jackets, hoodies, cargo, etc. or you are going to drop the idea of taking heavy outfits with you altogether.

8. Plan for Laundry

Okay, one of the main advantages of travel with carry-on-only is that the need for you to expend time and energy at planning for and doing laundry is reduced. However, there are still going to be instances where you need to wash your clothes. And for those instances, you can either carry clothes that don’t get dirty as easily or carry a medium-sized bottle of liquid detergent.

Additionally, we’d also suggest that if you find laundry facilities at your travel destination, then you should go for it as it saves you a huge deal of time which could be used for seeing exciting places around you. And since the whole point of travel with carry-on-only is to move light, outsourcing laundry would only add to that objective.

9. Build a Travel Capsule Wardrobe

Choose versatile clothing that can be mixed and matched to create multiple outfits with minimal pieces. When flying with only a carry on, opt for neutral colors, lightweight fabrics, and wrinkle-resistant materials. This approach not only saves space but also makes dressing simpler and quicker. Aim for pieces that can be layered for different weather conditions and settings. A well-planned capsule wardrobe means you’ll always be stylish and prepared without overloading your bag.

10. Avoid Packing Gadgets

When flying with only carry on luggage, packing essential gadgets can save significant space and weight. Instead of taking multiple devices, consider combining functions—for example, use your smartphone as a camera, e-reader, and map. Limit chargers, cables, and bulky accessories. Booking flights with services that accommodate carry-on preferences can also simplify your trip. By minimising tech gear, you'll also have fewer valuables to worry about and a more streamlined travel experience, making it easier to travel with carry-on only.

While putting this blog to an end, we can say that travel with a carry-on-only is not just a very possible endeavour but also an exciting one. With such light carry-on luggage only on your shoulders, you become free to explore the full scale of what your travel destination has to offer. Believe it or not, such an experience is always going to be more memorable than moving from one place to another with sweaty palms and panting breath. And speaking of panting breath, if you too face anxiety while travelling, check out our blog on Overcoming Travel Anxiety to beat it.