How I travel the world with just a carry on pack with me

Hello friends and welcome back to my channel. Summer is right around the corner and I know a lot of you are starting to think about your upcoming trips, things you want to bring, how you want to pack, all that.

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I've been spending a lot of my time recently traveling. I did a one-month trip around Latin America and I did two city trips around Europe and I've done all this with just a carry-on.

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So I want to dedicate this video to showing you exactly how I've learned to pack light for all kinds of trips while packing for my upcoming trips to Norway.

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Hopefully with this you can spend more time enjoying your trip and less time lugging around your stuff.

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So without further ado, let's get into it. To begin, let's talk about why you should even want to pack light in the first place.

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I think the most obvious one is the fact that it will save you money. Most airlines nowadays will have you pay extra for check-in baggage or sometimes you even have to buy a more expensive ticket so that you can bring your luggage.

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So bringing just a carry-on will save you money. But there's also the potential stress that comes with bringing a luggage.

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It can be lost either at the airport or during the flight or somewhere in between. Someone could accidentally take your luggage at baggage drop.

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Bringing big luggage and having extra stuff to carry can just bring a lot of stress to your trip.

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But obviously there's one more thing that's really really great about traveling light and it's the fact that it makes traveling so much easier.

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I just got to the airport with my luggage and I'm going straight through security and then onto the plane.

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No waiting in lines to drop off my luggage and of course also no waiting when I'm actually at my destination for my luggage.

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Once you start traveling and packing like this there is truly no going back. It is the best way to travel and it makes it so much easier and so much more enjoyable.

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Now speaking of traveling and being on the go I want to talk to you guys about listening.

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com. Listening.com is an app that turns academic texts, textbooks, pdfs and even websites into audio.

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So if you're a student or a young professional you can get your readings done or even catch up with research on the go whatever you're doing.

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Explore a new city, working out or even waiting for your plane like I am right now. It has an automatic chapter detection feature so you can jump straight to that part of your textbook or your paper that you want to read without any hassle.

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And what about all those data tables? They're laid out visually in the app for easy review.

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I just wish I knew about this app when I was still at uni because it would have saved me so much time and not to mention just wait like carrying around all those books all those heavy papers especially while I was doing trips during term time.

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If you're a student you know what I mean. You can go to listening.com/maeserly or click the link in my description box below to get a three week free trial of listening.

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com. Normally you just get two weeks but with this link you get an extra week for free so go give it a go try it out and let me know how you get on in the comments.

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Now before we get into packing it's important to choose which carry-on you'll be bringing into the plane with you.

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There's a couple of options here but today I want to talk more about carry-on suitcases and backpacks.

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I think it's important to consider where you're actually going and whether you need to carry your bag frequently or if rolling is fine.

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For example I recently went on a bit of a backpacking trip across Costa Rica and for a lot of the transport and travel days during that trip having a rolling suitcase would have simply just been impossible.

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I had to carry it on my back to be able to take it to the place I wanted it to go and if you're thinking about choosing a backpack here are some things that I think are important to consider.

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And first that you want it to open fully not just from the top but open almost like a suitcase.

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This will help you so much to keep organized and access all your belongings. My backpack is the Patagonia 45 liter black hole backpack.

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I think 45 liters is the max you can bring into an airplane. I have checked it in and I have not checked it in both were fine.

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Now in addition to the opening I think it's also really important to consider whether your backpack is actually comfortable to carry.

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You want to make sure that it has hip straps and chest straps. When I traveled with this bag to Costa Rica I actually ended up losing the waistband and transit.

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It clips on like both sides like this and basically makes the backpack much more comfortable to carry.

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I don't think you should buy a backpack if it doesn't have a waistband because it will just not be comfortable to carry.

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But my waistband is somewhere in the airport in Costa Rica. It's not with me. It's not with this backpack so I have to buy a new one.

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It's a bit annoying but yeah it did originally come with it. Now moving on to carry-on suitcases.

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Something that's really important for me is having zippers to protect your stuff from moving around in the luggage.

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I also think the ability to lock your carry-on suitcase is absolutely essential because sometimes flights are full or overbooked and you'll be asked to send your luggage as a luggage and not a carry-on.

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You also want to make sure it has four wheels and that it's comfortable to roll around with you and that the size fits the airlines you regularly travel with.

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Lots of European and budget airlines have smaller size regulations than those overseas so definitely check that before you get one.

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And with all that said, I've chosen to pack with a suitcase carry-on for this trip so let's start packing.

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When it comes to knowing what to bring, I always look at the weather forecast before I start packing anything.

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What is the weather going to be for my trip during all the days? What is the temperature going to be like? And also importantly, what is the humidity? Because I've been fooled by this before.

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Humidity can affect temperature a lot. If it's cold, it can feel even colder and if it's warm, it can feel even warmer.

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I also think it's important to consider the vibe of the place you're going. Are you going to a beach destination? Is it like a backpacking destination? Is it a city? I always do a quick Instagram and Pinterest search of what other people are wearing in that city just so that when I'm there I'm not dressing inappropriately and I also don't feel uncomfortable with what I brought.

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And finally, this is a mistake that I've done many times in the past, look at your itinerary and also look at what the other people you're traveling with have in their itinerary.

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Talk to your friends, talk to your travel partner, talk to your family about what they want to do and what you want to do so you can pack the appropriate clothes for what everyone wants to do on the trip.

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And now once you've got all that figured out, we can get into the method of how I actually pack when I'm going away.

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And you might have heard of this before, but I use the concept of a capsule wardrobe, meaning I can build several outfits out of a couple of clothes.

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So let me show you how I do it. For each day, I try to pack one top. So for four days, that's four tops.

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I pack one jumper or sweater per every other day. I pack one pair of jeans or trousers for every two to three days.

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I also pack one dressier top or a dress for every three days. And also importantly, one pair of underwear and one pair of socks per day, plus one extra one, just in case you never know.

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And also one pair of pajamas to sleep in. When it comes to accessories, I like to pack two shoes, one that I'll be wearing and one that I'm packing in my carry-on.

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I also pack two bags and two layering pieces. Again, one that I'm wearing and one that I'm packing in my bag.

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Now the key to this entire system is washing. If you're staying anywhere any longer than seven days, you don't need to bring more stuff.

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You just need to wash what you already have. This is exactly how I manage to travel for an entire month, which is to carry on.

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You just need to find a place to wash and then you're good. Now let's get into packing cubes and whether you'll actually need them for your trip.

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I have two sets of packing cubes, a gray one from Away and a colorful one from Bagu and that's the one I'll be using for this trip.

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Are packing cubes a must? I would say not always. If you're going on a short weekend trip or a shorter trip to a warm country where you're not bringing a lot of clothes, then in my opinion, you probably won't need them.

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But what packing cubes are really good for is to help you stay organized, help your different categories of clothes stay in their place and also help other things stay organized when you open and close your luggage, for example, at security.

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And if you are bringing a lot of clothes because you're going on a longer trip or you're bringing chunkier clothes like sweaters, packing cubes can really help you compress your belongings and bring a lot more stuff in a small bag.

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However, it's important that you know how to actually pack your clothes into packing cubes so you can maximize the space.

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So here's how I do it. For t-shirts and tanks, I fold them up to the exact size of the width of the packing cube and then roll them up into little rolls.

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This just makes it easier for me to know exactly what tank or t-shirt I'm grabbing in the morning because I can see it all visually laid out and also maximize the space that is available in the packing cube.

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For nicer tops and dresses, I again fold them up to the size of the packing cube, but I fold them instead of rolling them just so they'll be less creasy and wrinkly when I'll start wearing them.

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I pack my pajamas the exact same way and they're the final thing I'm putting into this packing cube because I'll be wearing them every single day.

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So I just like to keep them on my bed and remove them from my packing cube when I get to my accommodation. Now that was packing cube number one.

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Let's get into packing cube number two, which is where I'll put my bottoms. Again, to maximize the space of the packing cube, I measure the packing cube out and then fold my jeans or bottoms accordingly.

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As you can tell, this now fits perfectly into the packing cube and I'm not wasting any space on the sides.

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Chunkier sweaters and cardigans are definitely a little bit more difficult because they take up quite a bit of space, but I try my best to again fold them to the width and the height of the packing cube.

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And you can see when I add these sweaters that the packing cube may look a little bit overfilled. That's the great thing about them.

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You can easily compress everything down with the zipper. So now I have all my clothes and accessories and shoes laid out in each of their own little packing cubes.

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So let's actually start packing. I always put in my air tag, even though this bag isn't technically supposed to be checked in.

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It's always nice to do it either way. I also always make sure to bring a reusable shopping bag. This has so many purposes.

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It's great to have with you. Here's my packing cube for tanks and pajamas, for underwear and socks, for trousers and jumpers, and my packing cube for shoes.

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Now, as you can tell, I still have a little bit of space left here and this is where I'm going to put my accessories.

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So my blazers going in here, my extra bag is going in here, and also some other bits I don't want to bring in my handbag, like my hairbrush, my chargers, things that weigh a lot, et cetera.

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When it comes to packing toiletries like makeup, skincare, and haircare, I always use one of these clear toiletry bags.

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I actually have it in two sizes. For my liquids, I use these Caden containers. I have them in a couple of different sizes, all with the names of the products on the lid.

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And I basically just fill each container up with whatever product I'm putting inside, like shampoo, conditioner, sunscreen, moisturizer.

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I think this one has my cleanser and this final one has my moisturizer. When it comes to packing makeup, I don't use a lot, so I'm probably not the best person to look to for inspiration here, but I always prefer creams and solids just because they're easier to get through security and all.

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I also packed my Summer Fridays jet lag mask, my deodorant, and my toothbrush.

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And that is pretty much everything I'm bringing on this four-day trip. Whenever I go on bigger trips, I'll have one bigger toiletry bag to put in my carry-on luggage and a smaller one for my handbag.

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But as I'm only bringing one, I'm just carrying this in my handbag, so it's easy to grab things when I'm on the plane.

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Now, speaking of handbags, let's finally pack my personal item. I like to keep either a medium-sized bag or a tiny bag or both as my personal item.

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This one has a little attachable pouch, so I'm putting in my wallet, my portable phone charger essential, and my passport, and then I'm clipping that into the bag.

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I also will never, ever go on a plane without my noise-cancelling headphones. These are genius because they block out all the noise around you, so crying babies, people arguing, whatever happens.

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You won't be hearing any of it. It's amazing. I put that into my bag along with my toiletries, my water bottle, and my book, and that is it for the bag.

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But if you're wondering where my computer goes, I actually like to keep that in my carry-on suitcase instead.

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And the reason is my computer is heavy. I don't want to be carrying it under my arm all around the airport.

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And as long as I put it in the middle of my carry-on suitcase, it's super easy to take out when you're at security, along with all your other items that need to go out.

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And yeah, that is pretty much it. I really hope you enjoyed this video. It's definitely a little bit of a first for me, creating an entire video, which is tips and tricks, but it was really fun.

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So let me know what you thought in the comments, and maybe I'll do more. And yeah, I'll see you in the next one.

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Bye guys.