Traveling Light: The Perfect Piece of Luggage

With Jenny on her way home from Africa today I have air travel on the mind. This summer Patrick and I spent three fabulous weeks traipsing around Europe before making the move from Dublin back to Seattle. We booked a lot of our travel on RyanAir and were therefore confined to one extremely small piece of carry-on luggage each (10kg with maximum dimensions of 55cm x 40cm x 20cm). I challenge you to measure how small this is!! RyanAir measures and weighs your bag before you get on the flight and if it doesn't fit their regulations they charge you 40 euros to check it. 


It was sort of miserable trying to pack three weeks worth of travel items into one tiny piece of luggage, but guess what? I LOVED traveling light!  It was so convenient to have such a small bag while traveling on train, plane and automobile. I never had to struggle to get the bag up stairs or through a small door (okay, okay, who am I kidding? Patrick carried my bag most of the trip, as evidenced by the photo below). 


The tiny suitcase that I bought is one of my favorite things now. It's perfect for weekend or even week-long travel and it forces me to be very strategic about what I pack (lots of accessories to jazz up the same outfit!) 

This is P carrying all of our luggage in Amsterdam: his backpack and my mini-roller. 

Sharing earphones on the plane. 

Here is an adorable suitcase combo with packing list from Apartment Therapy. Also, their choices for best pieces of luggage. 


How to avoid luggage check in fees. 


This expensive collapsible Lipault orange bag is to die for. O Magazine even voted it the Best Soft Wheelie.


Great tips we used on how to pack for RyanAir.


Also, a hilarious must-read for frequent travelers, 12 of the Most Baffling Airplane Passengers.


PS. How I feel about seeing Jenny tonight: