One Bag

There was a time when DW and I would travel with a couple of suitcases. On flights, we'd have one checked bag, one carry-on, and a personal item.

And we'd convince ourselves that we were still packing light.

The exception, of course, was when we moved to South Korea, in 1997, and we each had one huge suitcase, a sizable carry-on (back when airlines didn't insist in tiny suitcases), and a personal item that was almost as large as the carry-on bags are now.

Of course, back then, we needed things that would sustain us for the two years that we had planned to stay in that East Asian country. We weren't just vacationing: we needed things that would help us live.

First family flight, 2005

When we started travelling with our kids, we began economizing on travel items. On the kids' first flight, to Winnipeg, they each had their own backpack, full of necessities to keep them occupied. DW had a mid-sized suitcase, which was checked, that held her things plus the girls' clothes. We also had a small, collapsible stroller, as Kid 2 was pretty small and couldn't walk for long distances without getting tired, and that was secured to the checked bag.

My carry-on was actually a suitcase-styled backpack, which came in handy because I could strap it to my back and have hands free for the kids. I also had a fanny pack.

In addition to the clothes and personal items that I needed in my carry-on backpack, it also contained some essentials that the kids might need, should the checked bag become waylaid.

It didn't.

The last time that we ever brought baggage that had to be checked was in 2014, when we all headed to France. Each kid had her own carry-on suitcase, as did DW and me. But we also brought a large duffel bag, which contained camping gear.

For part of that vacation, we camped. (It was the camping trip that made me not want to camp again.)

From that point, going forward, our family has only travelled with one carry-on and one personal item. That's it.

In 2019, Kid 2 travelled with her friends to Greece, and she was nearly mocked for having only one small suitcase and a backpack, when all the others were lugging around massive suitcases and carry-ons. But she had the last laugh when they were struggling up hills and uneven streets.

She even managed to add more clothes, that she purchased on her trip, into that carry-on.

That's my girl.

In May, the four of us are travelling again, and we've all equipped ourselves with backpack-styled carry-on bags. Where we're going, there are lots of uneven surfaces. Sometimes, there aren't even roads. We need to be light on our feet, without small wheels on roller suitcases slowing us down.

DW and the girls will have these carry-on bags and a small backpack that they can use as day packs. And they expect to be boarding the flights with the one carry-on and one personal item.

For me, I'm challenging myself.

My travel M.O.

Usually, I have my trusty, hard-shell roller suitcase and a backpack. That's what I took when I went to Arizona, back to South Korea (in 2019), to Portugal, Costa Rica, and several times to Mexico.

This time, I'm planning on boarding the planes only with my fully-laden backpack suitcase, but no added personal item.

(Actually, that's not quite true: my D-SLR with a 24–70mm lens will be clipped onto a shoulder strap. If questioned, I'll unclip it and declare it as my personal item.)

In this bag, I'll have my clothes, personal items, camera gear, tripod, video gear, drone, and my day pack—empty and pressed flat. For day trips, I'll pull out the smaller backpack and load it up with my gear.

I don't know if this will work yet. I did do a practice pack and was able to get everything in, but that was before I bought my drone and a hard case to hold it, the remote control, extra batteries, cables, and spare propellers.

I may have to sacrifice some clothes for my gear.

But I really should try packing this bag and test out my ability to carry it on my back. Stay tuned.