Your Guide for One Bag Travelling

How many items do you really need to bring with you when you’re travelling? Most people often end up overpacking, with extra shirts and pants sitting unused inside their suitcases. One-bag traveling helps travellers like you to rethink your packing habits and adopt a minimalist approach. Plus, it provides more freedom, efficiency and a stress-free way to explore.

We’ve provided the ultimate guide to one-bag travelling. Read on to learn more about it.

What Should Your Travel Bag Contain?

The first step to successfully packing a single bag for travel is to choose which essentials you’ll take with you. The limited space emphasises the importance of packing light and bringing only the most important items.

Clothing

Obviously, travelling will require you to change clothes often. The important thing to remember is that, in one-bag packing, you have to minimise the number of clothes you’re carrying. Since this is where most people tend to overpack, you’ll have to plan your outfits carefully. Bring clothes that are layerable and interchangeable.

You’ll need at least two pairs of pants, three to four shirts and one overcoat or jacket. Remember that versatility is key. Choose clothes that are versatile in both function and style with a neutral color palette. This will allow you to easily mix and match outfits. For footwear, try carrying a maximum of two pairs – one for dressier occasions and another for more physical activities.

The material of your clothing matters, too. Lightweight, quick-drying fabrics are less bulkier and more convenient if you plan to do laundry during your trip. Shorts that can double as casual wear and swimwear are also good choices. Depending on the weather and terrain of your destination, you might want to go for breathable and waterproof fabrics as well.

Toiletries

Travelling is already taxing on your body, so try not to rely too much on hotel-provided soaps and lotions that can dry up and irritate your skin. Bring travel-sized amounts of the products you already use in refillable travel bottles. Shampoo, conditioners, facial washes and liquid body soaps can fit into smaller bottles that won’t take up too much space.

Electronics

In this day and age, electronics are more of a need than a want. Some travellers also prefer to work during idle hours. That’s fine, as long as you make sure to keep laptops, cameras, tablets and phones in protective cases. It will let you slip them into your bag without worrying about scratches, bumps and any other damage.

On that note, try not to bring every piece of tech you own since they can take up valuable space. Remember, it’s not just the gadget you’re bringing. You’ll also need to take chargers and other accessories, which will lessen your bag’s free space even more. 

Medication

Travelling to places where you’re unfamiliar with the local cuisine or unaccustomed to the climate may require you to bring medication. Vitamins, anti-allergens and other medications should go in a small pouch that’s easy to find and identify. That way, you’ll be able to take them quickly during emergencies.

Important Travel Documents

Passports, tickets, visas, travel insurance, IDs and other essential travel documents can be tucked safely into a, preferably, waterproof pouch. Be sure they’re secure because these are the items you wouldn’t want to lose while out and about.

How to Pack Just One Bag for Travel

Now that you know which items you need to bring, it’s time you find out how to fit all of them inside a single bag efficiently. These packing techniques work for short getaways, long trips and everything in between.  Here’s how to pack only one bag for travel:

Choose the Right Bag

The first thing you need to do is choose the right bag. For your needs, the best choice would most likely be a travel backpack. While a suitcase may seem less taxing on the back, it’ll only be beneficial when pulling it on hard, flat surfaces. Backpacks allow easier navigation and manoeuvrability, especially if you’re traveling through rough pavements, footpaths and stairs. Plus, they’ll let you weave between crowds when you’re going through busy cities.

The ideal backpack for travel would be between 30-45 litres and should be spacious enough without being too bulky. For this, clamshell openings are your friend, since it’ll let you access your belongings without having to rifle through them. Look for bags with dedicated storage spaces for your electronics as well.

Another important thing you can do is to get a bag made with durable materials that can withstand the wear and tear of your travels. The last thing you want to happen is for a strap to snap off or a bottom to rip open while you’re out sightseeing. Alternatively, you can also get yourself a small, compact cross-body sling bag so you can leave your main backpack in your hotel room while you’re out exploring.

Lay Out All Your Essentials

Once you’ve chosen the perfect bag for your journey, it’s time to lay out all your items on a flat surface. Limit it to all the items you think you’ll be carrying and avoid adding unnecessary stuff. Use your bed, a table or the floor—whatever you think suits you the best.

Doing this will give you a better idea of what you’re going to need for your trip. Remove the items that you feel you won’t be needing, then organise the rest into smaller categories based on your preferences. Again, try to avoid adding unnecessary stuff, since it’ll quickly take up space in your bag.

Separate Your Items Into Compartments

Now that everything’s been laid out and organised, start sizing up your categories. Determine how they’ll be separated within the bag. Use packing cubes and other types of pouches to separate your categorised items. Ziploc bags and rubber bands will work, too, if you lack pouches. If you’re the type to use built-in bag separators and nothing else, then that’s fine, too.

Pack Up Your Items

It’s time to pack everything up. Since clothes will take up the most space, you should start off with them. Whether you’re using packing cubes or not, it’s better to roll your clothes instead of folding them. This will not only make them more packable, but it will also compress the clothes in a way that will avoid wrinkles. You can utilise stuffing techniques too, like placing rolled-up socks and underwear into shoes to conserve space.

If your chosen clothes don’t fit, try reorganising them. Or better yet, decide which clothes you can already wear while you’re heading to your first destination. Don’t forget that the more clothes you can wear while traveling, the less you'll be worrying about them taking up space in your bag.

Now, onto toiletries. Compartmentalising toiletries is the easiest part, since you can just shove them into one small pouch. Still, it’s important to remember to keep your toiletries as small and as compact as possible, because the full-sized ones can cause more bulk. For example, a full-sized toothpaste tube and shampoo bottle is significantly bigger than travel-sized ones.

For tech and electronics, you might have a more challenging time, since charger and accessory cords will also take up plenty of space. Roll up cords neatly and place them in a separate pouch from your primary electronics to avoid scratches. You should also consider investing in protective cases or lining for all your tech-related necessities. You wouldn’t want to find out one of your electronics or chargers got broken in the middle of your trip.

Test Your Bag Out 

Everything’s packed and ready to go, but don’t stop there yet. You should still test out whether or not the bag you’ve packed is good for travel. Try living out of your bag for a couple of days and use only the items you’ve packed. This will give you a great idea of what you need, what you can leave behind, and what you’ve missed. Treat this as a test run of sorts, and the results you’ve gained from it will help you make better decisions during the actual trip.

You should also prioritise your own comfort. Try carrying your packed belongings with you during your day-to-day errands. Is the bag too heavy? Are the straps digging into your shoulders? Is it causing your back pain to worsen? If so, then you probably need to lighten the load or get a better, buy a more versatile backpack.

Enjoy an Organised Getaway by Traveling With Just One Bag

The essence of one-bag travel is focusing only on the essentials, which is a smart and practical way to travel. And who knows? It may also teach you how to travel light and rely less on unnecessary items. But learning how to travel with one bag isn’t an overnight process. You’ll have to keep on doing it until you eventually learn to reduce your load and stick to essentials.

We at Urban Traveller & Co. are the perfect partners for minimalist travelers like you. Check out our store and you’ll find everything you’ll need!