European travel - hand luggage only??

oh fuck yeah-i'm thinking bout doing that as well at some point...it'd make life so much more bearable if you didn't have to lug shit around.

i look forward to reading your posts come october

there was an article in last saturday's SMH about this, had lots of good tips - I think the lady did about 3 months in europe with hand luggage.

wouldn't customs be suspicous you wouldn't be leaving?

thanks redlips, will check it out.

charles, i'm not sure how the minds of customs officers work! but i'd hope not...

oh and yep loveparade, last time i went to europe i packed a backpack and used about a third of the bag...i don't think i sweat.

Can you get by with no liquids at all over 100ml?
All liquids need to be ziplocked in clear plastic bags in containers of less than 100ml if carried on
If you don't have sunscreen, contact lens fluid, emollients, a large toothpaste tube, etc, you should be OK

As for where to stay in London - there's been numerous other threads
Also depends on what you mean by nightlife
Me? I avoid the West End except where it's unavoidable

YHou'll end up buying a bunch of shit. I've travelled with nothing and come back with a house full of crap. There's better stuff overseas.

here's the article

Worth the carry-on

July 4, 2009

Six weeks, nine countries, one bag: Alice Russell reveals her packing regime.

IS it possible to travel for six weeks with 7 kilograms of luggage in one small bag? I'm a person who takes a bootload of gear for a weekend away but on a recent 40-day trip to nine European countries I achieved the light traveller's Holy Grail.

It took lots of planning but it was worth it. I was smugly self-congratulatory as my bag measuring 45cm x 30cm x 18cm and I fitted unobtrusively into crowded trains and buses; as I effortlessly tossed it onto luggage racks; as I bypassed taxi queues to stride easily through city streets; as I unpacked and repacked in five minutes flat. Not once did I wish I had brought more stuff.

Why 7 kg? Because that's how much most airlines allow you to carry on board. But uplifting though it is to whizz through airports without so much as a glance at the luggage carousel, that's just a bonus: the real reward is getting around easily for the rest of your holiday.

Travelling light makes you feel independent, liberated and, well, superior. But it takes a stern approach and a willingness to accept strict limitations in your attire. Here are 10 steps to success.

Find the right bag

The lighter the bag, the more scope for the stuff that goes in it. Be wary of wheeled bags: compared with carry bags of the same dimensions, the wheels and mechanism weigh more and the bags hold less. On any kind of roughish terrain, including cobblestones, you will end up carrying the wheeled bag anyway. An online search yields better bags than any I found in Australia: my ''Western Flyer'', a compact carry-on that converts to a backpack (tombihn.com) weighs about 1.1kilograms. Try redoxx.com as well.

Plan

Research your destination's climate, think about what you'll be doing and take what you need, not what you might need. A credit card weighs less than the sweater you take ''just in case''.

Be ruthless

It's a holiday, it's not for life. So leave behind the crisp white shirts, which will be neither after a week, and forgo drop-dead glamour, even if it's your accustomed style. Think versatile, practical and acceptable. Make each garment work for its passage. Find, for example, a jacket that's at ease on a country walk but will get you through the door of a swish restaurant; a shirt that looks smart but will also serve as a warm layer. Which takes us to ...

Layering

A T-shirt, a shirt and a jumper can be worn one at a time, two at a time, or all together for maximum warmth under a jacket. Make sure each layer can be teamed with all the others.

Embrace wool

In fact, buy as many fine merino wool garments as you can afford. Almost miraculous in their ability to keep you comfortable on warm or cool days, they are compact, light and quick-drying, even when wrung out by hand. They don't even need ironing.

Pare back toiletries

Decant fluids into small plastic bottles; streamline make-up; take shaving lotion that requires no brush. For maximum packing flexibility, don't use a single large toiletries bag but divide things among several small bags that will tuck into nooks and crannies.

Be wary of paper

Don't pack guidebooks: tear out and take only the relevant pages (or photocopies) and discard as you go. Or email information to yourself.

Laundry matters

Taking so few garments means you have to hand-wash the inner layers often. Wash the outer layers as little as you can get away with. Stick to dark tones that don't show the dirt and allow you to toss everything in together if you get near a washing machine. Useful additions: blow-up hangers, elastic washing line, concentrated detergent and a small microfibre high-absorbency towel: roll washed clothes in it to absorb moisture.

Don't accumulate

Factor into your budget the cost of periodically mailing home anything you buy, as well as all those tickets and brochures you collect.

Test drive

All is not lost if you end up taking 8 kg (although you may not be allowed to carry your bag onboard with you); the strong-armed might even be tempted to take 10. But before deciding that you need the extra weight, load a bag and carry it for an hour preferably up a hill on a hot day after a 24-hour flight.

PACKING LIST

1 jacket, mid-weight
1 sweater or cardigan
2 long-sleeved tops (one warmer)
3 short-sleeved tops (ideally fine wool)
2 pairs trousers (one dressier)
Super lightweight T-shirt and track pants (for sleeping or lolling about)
2 pairs of shoes (one very comfortable)
3-4 sets of socks and underwear
1 belt

As required: toiletries; laundry aids; camera; mobile phone; battery chargers; conversion plugs; scarves and jewellery; cap or hat; a collapsible day pack or shoulder bag; travel information and documents; the lightest umbrella and raincoat you can find.

• You will always be wearing one set of clothes, so extract them from what has to fit in your bag.

• This list is for spring-autumn weather in Europe.

I reckon it can be done but you've got to accept that you'll be having to do a load of washing a couple of times a week (or handwash stuff every evening).

The best tip someone gave me for fitting lots of stuff into a small bag is to roll up your clothes really tightly rather than fold them. It's amazing how much extra space you get as a result and it's also much easier to fish out the things you need from your back without having to unpack everything.

So any suggestions on where to get nice, or at least not ugly, carry on luggage? I think I want a backpack so I can carry it easily. Are backpacks always ugly?

How nice is nice? I've got a pretty spacious Caribee one you could borrow.

This looks like the kinda thing you would be into.

That's not as bad as some I've been looking at. I'd love a backpack that didn't make me look like a part-time wannabe gortex mountaineer. If you know what I mean.

What about something like this? Can't go wrong with black.

Whoops

Also, which is a better area to stay in London in terms of nightlife. Covent Garden or Camden?

good english nightlife = head to bondi beach. its cheaper and the arseholes are in abundence.

Thanks for that Liamsnice.

Yes pops, I think I'm going to have to go for something like that. It'd be great if there was something a bit less sporty more pretty. Catherine Manuell has some pretty luggage, but nothing in a backpack style.

Having just recently returned from Europe - for 3 weeks - I reckon you can get away with carry on and adopting most of the suggestions in the SMH article.

We had to encompass and pack for these situations: festival camping (icy cold at night and pretty warm during the days plus tent, sleeping bag/mats), professional photographic equipment for shoots and live coverage at festivals, as well as visiting/staying with friends/family - so our bags were bloody heavy and cumbersome! Unfortunately there was no alternative this time. Next year we're thinking we'll either base ourselves somewhere (probably Berlin) for the summer festival season or plan better/earlier and organise campervans to stay on-site.

We also found taking our laptops, external hard drives, phones & small cameras with the accompanying equipment (chargers, conversion plugs, good quality power-board, locks, etc) took up a bit of room but necessary. The majority of the hotels we stayed in had free & fast wireless in the rooms or hotel lounge which allowed us to get the work part quickly over with and spend more time holidaying. A laptop was an integral tool - because we didn't have a locked-in itinerary, we could research and then book the next city/hotel we wanted to visit, along with downloading maps and the sections of guidebooks.

Second clothes shops & the weekend flea markets are in most towns and cities and you can pick up what you need (and a lot of what you desire but not necessarily need) for not much Euros. We washed our clothes once, and hand-washed only a few times.

I couldn't resist bringing back a couple of nice bottles of French wine which added to the load, as did the t-shirts, shoes, papers, magazines! I reckon the less you leave with allows you to buy another bigger bag over there fill it with the purchased-in-Europe goodies and check-it-in on your way back.

We also found buying grog duty free cheaper back here when before coming back into customs, taking into mind you're pretty tired and woozy from the air travel, and its very easy to be enticed by the deals the shops have going - who needs 2x1.25 litre bottles of Baileys (original and mint), plus Jamesons, Capt. Morgan Old Spiced Rum and Makers Mark, I ask you?

If you have 4+ hour stopovers in Asia, take advantage of the free or cheap lounges (approx. USD 20) available - some have very comfy lounges/beds, as well as complimentary wireless or PCs, food (breakfast/lunch/dinner), drinks incl. booze and showers.

Also it seemed that customs/quarantine were very focussed on the possibility of you spreading Swine flu than what you were bringing in or out of the country. In Germany and France you have to pay for the plastic bags for your liquid items, not much - I think it was 1-2 Euros but still... so it may be worthwhile to pack some.

I heard a horror story about a lady travelling to Europe with carry on only luggage - customs officers couldn't cope with the idea.

But re luggage options - make you own?! It's quite easy to sew a bag and you can add in lots of pockets etc as needed. You'd be surprised at how easy it is and be confident they're hardy. Alternately, there's a guy at Vic markets who sells black wolf wheeled backpacks cheap. You could buy something there and then 'customise' it to your taste, for instance, you could sew on patches of fancy fabric. I got some 'Australian flowers' fabric from Spotlight and sewed on a 30-40cm pocket to my backpack with some bias binding. Looked good, was easily identifiable and stuck on there for years of hard use. My current luggage (red mendoza hardcase) has shag and flaming heart stickers all over it.

Buy/make something cheap then apply a personal touch befitting your own style....

couple of other sites:
http://www.travelite.org/
http://www.onebag.com/

And I recommend packing a few ziploc bags and waterless handwash

Oh and take note:

Vibrating sex doll sparks bomb alert
Reuters March 18, 2005 BERLIN: A blow-up sex doll sparked a bomb alert in a German post office after it started to vibrate inside a package awaiting delivery, police said.''Workers were unsettled when it began vibrating and made strange noises,'' a spokesman for police in the eastern city of Chemnitz said. ''They were worried the package might be a bomb.'' Officers brought the sender to the scene and discovered the source of alarm was an electrical device inside a life-size female sex doll. The man told police he had wanted to return the doll because it kept turning itself on at the wrong moment. Order was restored after the sender removed the doll's batteries so the defective product could be returned.

the above article is if you plan on mailing items back as per the SMH article.....

Thanks MissAus. Customising luggage could be the answer, although I'm still holding out hope in finding something shop bought pretty.

PACKING LIST

1 jacket, mid-weight
1 sweater or cardigan
2 long-sleeved tops (one warmer)
3 short-sleeved tops (ideally fine wool)
2 pairs trousers (one dressier)
Super lightweight T-shirt and track pants (for sleeping or lolling about)
2 pairs of shoes (one very comfortable)
3-4 sets of socks and underwear
1 belt

As required: toiletries; laundry aids; camera; mobile phone; battery chargers; conversion plugs; scarves and jewellery; cap or hat; a collapsible day pack or shoulder bag; travel information and documents; the lightest umbrella and raincoat you can find.

•You will always be wearing one set of clothes, so extract them from what has to fit in your bag.

•This list is for spring-autumn weather in Europe.

HMMMMMMMMMMMM?

Luggage dilemma. Cant do a backpack as i have permanent dodgy shoulder.
(I remember the first time i went to Europe with 50 outfits. hahaha! oh dear! that was a daft move.)

Stupid quote sux!