My Adventures in Bundle Wrapping and Carry-On Travel

In March 2012 I set out on an 18 day, 6 country solo trip to Europe, my 1st ‘real’ solo trip. Yes I had travelled numerous times on business, to see friends around the globe and even once to Cuba to sit at a resort for 1 week by myself, but this was different. The first 8 days were going to be busy as I was going to travel 4 countries in that time. The beautiful thing about Europe especially when you are time limited like I am as a mom who travels solo, is that the cities and countries are so close together. If I wanted to go to Innsbruck, Austria for an afternoon/evening jaunt from Munich, Germany, I could and I did.

I was going to be travelling by train and bus and I really didn’t want to be carrying a large suitcase. So I started to google things like “packing light” and  “carry on travel”. I came across One Bag. It was there that I discovered the bundle wrap packing method. Back in 1998 I went backpacking around Scotland with a friend and had one of those large backpacks. I’m not gonna lie, I did not like that pack on my back; it was bulky and it was heavy. This time around I  wanted to be free of a heavy pack. I decided that I was going to be a carry-on traveler and was going to limit myself to a carry on backpack.

Off I went to Mountain Equipment Coop in search of a pack. My only real criteria was that it had to be carry on. With all that travelling, I didn’t want to take a chance at the airlines possibly losing my luggage. I came across the MEC Pangea 40 and was sold.

It fit well and it was carry on. After I decided on what clothes to bring I attempted to pack it all. Although I managed to fit everything inside it was bulky and packed to the brim. I wanted to see if there really was a difference between the way I normally pack and the bundle wrap. Amazingly the bundle wrap really does work and make a difference. It took me about 10 minutes to do the first trial wrap and I got it down to about 3-4 minutes on my travels. It’s a little intimidating at first, but if you follow the diagram at One Bag it’s pretty simple – for how to pack using the bundle wrap method, visit here.

Here’s my clothes all wrapped up with space left over! It’s really freeing to be able to travel with just a carry on.

My clothes packing list:

• 1 black dress pant
• 2 jeans
• 2 turtlenecks
• 1 long sleeve shirt (dressier)
• 1 sweater (dressy)
• 2 tshirts
• 2 tank tops
• 1 pajama pant
• a small case which is the ‘core’ that contained 2 bras and 5 underwear and 4 socks
• 1 trench coat (I figured by layering I’d be warm enough, I was right. Had great weather in March too)

The toiletries were in a clear case and I laid it flat on top. I also
brought a clothesline, sink stopper and woolite for hand washing. Ya I kick it old school. My Gran used to always do her clothes by hand, I learned from the best. I also carried a small make up case and some scarves for when I needed to dress up for the opera or ballet.

On my solo travels I always travel with a Pacsafe and wear it cross-body. It is said that people that pickpocket go for the easy grab. The packsafe is slash proof, cross-body eliminates the grab and it has locks so it can’t be unzipped easily in a rush.

I started off with one of the smaller pacsafe bags but now carry the pacsafe metro 200 and LOVE it. I feel more confident and safe walking around with one. I have the one shown below but in grey.

• ipad
• iphone
• notebook, pen, passport, 4 currencies (british pounds, euros, korona and forint), europe adapters, iPhone/iPad chargers & cables, 1 wallet, 1 neck wallet (I never wore it but I kept money separated and in different areas of my Pacsafe).
• miscellenous items like mints, accessories for my iPhone etc.

While I did love travelling carry on, the backpack gets to you after a while and I really wanted something light, carry on and more stylish. I did some research (I’m such a researcher) and came across the Travelite luggage company in the forums, I believe it was the Flyertalk forum and the One Bag forum. They are from Germany and from what I could tell at the time aren’t sold in Canada or at least not directly. I happened to be going to Munich and found out where I could buy one there so that was my mission for my arrival in Munich at the end of the 8 day whirlwind to 4 countries. On my first night of 3 nights in Munich I picked up a red Travelite StarLITE carry on rolling suitcase, I bought it at Maria Buscher. If you go to Maria Buscher, say hello to Peter.

Oh how I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this suitcase. It’s so light, weighing in at about 4.5lbs. It’s a hybrid of a suitcase, the back is hard and the front is light soft material and it opens up like a book. The roller part of the suitcase does not sit inside where you lose space. On my travels, flight attendants have asked where I got it. It’s THAT good! 🙂

So after Munich I put my souvenirs in my backpack and my clothes in the starLITE. My next stop was Paris where I was to be for 5 days. I then went to London for 3 and left my backpack in the lockers at Gare Du Nord for the weekend as I was going back to Paris for one night before I flew back home to Canada. It was a great plan and now anytime I travel solo, this is what I take as well as I pack using the bundle wrap if I need the space.

Until next time,

Andrea… and my wandering iPhone