Like many, I googled what to pack and what not to pack, to attempt to minimise what I carried for 6 months of a European Autumn & Winter.
Of course, what you carry is very personal, only you can really judge.
So here is what I discovered I got right, and wrong.
I decided early in the process to mix up Hotel bookings with AirBnB, and so wherever it suited, I made an AirBnB booking somewhere once every week or 2, filtering to ensure they had a washing machine where possible to wash every 7 to 10 days.
Toiletries you can buy along the way, personal items and electronics are by choice and with you the whole time, so the majority will be clothing, and to minimise that, you have to make some tough decisions.
How many days will I be in one place ?
Am I travelling with other people, and do I care if they see me in the same clothes a few days ?
What do I Need, vs what would I Like to wear ?
What will I wear all the time ?
For winter travel, or being near zero most of the time, a set of wicking lightweight thermals will serve you well for numerous reasons. Foremost, they are a barrier to your normal clothes, so your normal clothes will last much longer before need of a wash (unless you spill pasta on yourself, yeah, it happens)
So by this stage, aside from your smalls, most outer layers will last 3 to 5 days or more. Now reconsider what you are packing.
I chose an inexpensive Rodd & Gunn Moleskin Suit to wear most of the time. One suit jacket, 2 sets of the pants. Warm & wrinkle resistant, presentable for day or night. I stuck to a blue/black colour palate (no white or red) so everything could be washed together. And carried a Scrubba portable washing bag and some liquid all purpose laundry soap for backup.
I chose a High Sierra wheeled duffel, as the flexible compartments made day to day access far easier, and carried a High Sierra backpack that fitted my soft laptop case. Airlines tend to let you bring a carryon with a laptop case separate, so this gave me flexibiity for added storage when an airline restricted checked in to 20kg.
So here was list, what was packed and what was used. 23kg + 7kg carry-on. Would have been lighter without ski gear or car accessories 🙂
| Clothes – Roll don’t fold | Packed | Discovered |
| Shirts – Long Sleeve | 3 | 1 would have done, sent 2 back home |
| Shirts – Short Sleeve | 1 | used minimally |
| Shirts – T Shirts / Polo | 2 | only 1 used, sent 1 home |
| Shirts – Ski Skivvy | 2 | used almost daily |
| Pants – Jeans | 1 | handy on the warmer days |
| Pants – Black Moleskins | 2 | used daily, 1 worn when 1 washed |
| Pants – Shorts | 0 | should have packed 1 set for unexpected warm days |
| Moleskin R&G Suit Jacket | 1 | Used almost daily until ski jacket needed |
| Jumper Hard Rock | 1 | Used for mostly around the apartments |
| Neck Scarf | 0 | should have bought one in Edinburgh |
| Light merino wool pullover | 2 | never used, sent 1 back home |
| Ski Pants | 1 | used for skiing only (rented skis & boots) |
| Ski Jacket – neutral colours | 1 | used when under 0 degrees Celsius |
| Ski Glove Liners – touchscreen able | 2 | used when below 5 deg |
| Ski Gloves | 1 | used when under 0 degrees Celsius |
| Ski Beany | 1 | used when below 5 deg |
| Ski Face mask | 1 | used for skiing only |
| Ski Googles | 1 | used for skiing only |
| Ski Helmet | 1 | used for skiing only |
| Ski Fleecy layer | 1 | used for skiing only |
| Ski Thermals Top | 1 | used when below 5 deg |
| Ski Thermals Bottom 200 weight | 1 | used when below 5 deg |
| Ski Thermals Bottom 260 weight | 1 | used when below 0 deg |
| Ski Socks – Foxriver long | 7 | should have carried 10 |
| Cotton mid length black socks | 3 | used in warmer areas |
| Underwear | 2 wks | seemed about right |
| Aquapants/swim shorts | 1 | swam whenever possible |
| Belt | 1 | daily |
| Handkerchiefs | 5 | 3 would have done |
| Hat | 1 | used daily |
| Kathmandu Compact Raincoat | 1 | Umbrella was far more useful |
| Walking Shoes – Black leather | 1 | used until icy surfaces |
| Walking Shoes – Waterproof hiking | 1 | used in snow and rougher terrain |
| Electronics & Carry | Packed | Discovered |
| S7 Phone & charger | 1 | All itinerary & e-tickets saved |
| S5 Phone w/travelsim | 1 | Cloud replicated backup phone |
| Laptop, sleave & charger | 1 | used daily, blogging, comms, etc |
| TomTom GPS w/International maps | 1 | used for all driving |
| Car Jabra Bluetooth for music | 1 | hardly used, most rentals had Bluetooth |
| Olympus Tough camera & charger | 1 | Samsung phone did a better job, sent it home |
| USB Power Bank | 1 | used almost daily, get biggest mAh you want to carry |
| Headset – Bluetooth | 1 | used daily while walking |
| Headset – Bose QC Noise Cancelling | 1 | used on every flight |
| Headset – lightweight cable backup | 1 | unused, but happy to have the backup |
| Watch waterproof | 1 | |
| Passport & colour copies | 1 | copies kept separate in luggage |
| Passport Wallet RFID | 1 | compact Samsonite cash wallet that fit the Passport |
| Normal Wallet RFID | 1 | used daily |
| Money Wallet / Shoulder Sling | 1 | |
| Glasses | 1 | |
| Glasses – backup pair | 1 | unused, but happy to have the backup |
| Glasses – Sun | 1 | |
| Glasses Lens cloth | 1 | |
| Travel bag weigher | 1 | could not have done without this |
| Small collapsable Umbrella | 1 | used much more than I thought |
| International Power plug adapters | 4 | 1 for each country to connect my powerboard |
| AU USB 4way powerboard on 1m lead | 1 | 2 usb w/2a with 2 power outlets would have done |
| 1tb portable usb backup | 1 | used often to backup photos, also to the cloud |
| Dashboard phone holder | 1 | used when driving |
| Notepad & Pen x 2 | 1 | used often |
| Vacuum Spacebags & Plastic ziploc bags | 7 | can’t have enough plastic bags to segregate |
| TSA padlocks | 8 | enough for every zip |
| Bag strap & identifiers | 2 | still handy to identify at baggage claim |
| Retractable bag lock for trains | 1 | used a couple of times, moreso if 2nd class |
| AAA Batteries | 4 | backups used for headphones and mouse |
| Leatherman/Gerber multitool | 1 | used often, glad I had the small version |
| Toiletries | Packed | Discovered |
| Shaver/Trimmer & Adapter | 1 | |
| Shaver – blade & refills | 1 | |
| Roll compression Bandage | 1 | unused, but happy to have the backup |
| Bandaids | pk | |
| Scissors | 1 | small, handy at times |
| Clippers/Tweezers/etc | 1 | handy for splinters etc |
| Small Soap & holder | 2 | backup. Most accom provided |
| Small Shampoo bottle | 2 | backup. Most accom provided |
| Toothbrush | 3 | carried 3 of my favourites |
| Toothpaste & holder | 1 | bought more along the way |
| Underarm deodorant | 1 | bought more along the way |
| Sunscreen – gel non sticky | 1 | rarely used |
| Gel Hand Sanitisor <100ml | 1 | used often |
| Travel sewing repair kit | 1 | used more than once |
| Lip Balm / Chapstik | 1 | mostly for skiing |
| Travel Clothes line & 4 pegs | 2 | Used often, pegs for the heavy clothes/jeans |
| Liquid Laundry Soap | 1 | used half a 240ml bottle in 6 mths |
| Towel microfiber travel | 1 | sent it home, waste of space |
| Glasses cleaner solution | 1 | |
| Scrubba washing bag | 1 | handy and used a few times |
| Ziplock bags | 6 | handy and used a few times |
| Microfiber towel to wipe windscreens | 1 | used while driving |
| Flexible 1L water bottle/silicon | 1 | used frequently, slipped in side of backpack |
| Suitcase | ||
| Backpack for carry on | ||
| Toiletries bag | ||
| Compact laptop shoulder bag | ||
| Travel medication | ||
| Drivers License | ||
| International Drivers License | demanded by some rentals | |
| Credit & Debit Cards | Only used Visa Debit card at ATM | |
| Various Cash for small money changing | Handy for non-euro countries |
I welcome any personal experiences and packing tips you have found most useful.