Travelling for two weeks, I set myself the challenge to only take carry on luggage in a medium size bag to (almost) airline specifications.

The trip was to Thailand so I wouldn’t need warm clothes and this made it feasible. Also I chose to take only a small travel camera and not a larger SLR and this helped.

Small rucksack Credit Cards x 4 £’s / $’s, Baht Passport Insurance / Photo insurance Flight Tickets & seat reservations Coach Ticket to Airport Accommodation details & maps Folder for itinery Thailand guides & maps Travel camera + charger + spare memory cards GoPro + charger cable + floatation stick Charged phones x 2 with credit + chargers Phone waterproof case (#) Headphones Adapter for Thailand Music on phone & podcasts Watch Pen Wallet Keys Money belt Address list Torch (#) Umbrella (#) Spork (#) Lock (#) Plastic bags for monsoon Copy of passport and driving licence # – Didn’t use

Clothes 1 x Cargo Pants (lots of pockets) 1 x Tracksuit bottoms (for hotel) 1 pair shorts 1 x Fleece 3 x t shirts 3 x Undies 2 x Socks 2 x Belt Waterproof Comfy Trainers Trunks Ozzy swim shorts Reef shoes Swim goggles Washing powder Bathroom Medicines & painkillers Toothpaste and brush Little big towel (#) Deodorant Razor + lead Wet wipes (#) Jungle mosquito roll on Plasters (#) Small scissors (taken at airport) Diarrhoea tablets (#) Spare specs (#) Reactalite specs

For my return as I had bought a dry bag that took up space in my rucksack, I jettisoned a t-shirt and my battered reef shoes. They are £10 on Amazon so will be cheap to replace.

I bought a 2 Gb data Thai sim card for my phone in Bangkok airport. Combined with wifi in all the hotels this was enough for 2 weeks.

I took washing powder (less than 100g) and used this for one wash. The tube broke and that was it. I had barely enough clothes as the weather was so humid and really should have bought a couple more t-shirts while there.

I bought a gel to put on mosquito bites for 7 baht.

Travelling so light made the trip much easier. I changed hotel 7 times and caught two long tail boats in Krabi. I was constantly being asked where my luggage was. I did have a few concerns about the size of my rucksack getting on planes. The pack was deeper than the allowed amount, the other dimensions were fine, but there was never a problem. I took 7 flights.

I took two small guide books. One for Chiang Mai and one for Bangkok. I photoed pages of a book on the islands so I woudn’t need to take this larger book.

If I’m doing a short haul trip such as to Europe for up to five days I may take a larger SLR instead of a travel camera. This has much better quality video and photographs are higher resolution. As the trip is shorter I need fewer clothes so I can fit the SLR in the same 30 litre bag.

There’s a page here for if I’m travelling for longer than 2 weeks. Not really that different.