I have not flown much since the pandemic began, and have even cut back significantly on ground travel. Recently, I went on my first longer trip post pandemic. A 10 day two city hop. And I packed like I was going on a world tour for six months. It was actually tragic.

I used to have a very thrifty packing philosophy. I could go to London/Paris for two weeks with nothing more than a small carry on duffel bag and a laptop case. I had truly adopted the principle of the late Antoine de Saint-Exupery - "He Who Must Travel Happily Must Travel Light". That was me. I don't know what happened during the pandemic, but it is like I emerged a new person, devoid not only of my past travel skills, but of any reasonable aptitude for packing whatsoever.

I went from a spartan carry on duffel bag and laptop case to carrying an entire storage facility with me. I brought a wheeled duffel so large you could pack for an entire family of four. Easily. But that was not enough. I also had a large wheeled garment bag, plus a large wheeled accessory bag for electronics, snacks, sundries, and whatever else I could think of. And speaking of electronics, I brought loads of electronics. Bluetooth speakers, headsets, earbuds, cords, adapters, a streaming stick, wall chargers, extension cords, multi-plug adapters, a large battery solar charger and plenty of other electronic items. I could have provisioned my entire floor of the hotel with electronic accessories. Of course I also brought a carry on bag stuffed with clothing and accessores as well as a laptop bag for my laptop, phone, tablet, Kindle, and who knows what else I jamed in there.

No joke. When I got to the first hotel, and the Bellman helped me with my luggage (believe me I absoulutely needed help), he asked me when the rest of my party was arriving. Yes indeed. If that wasn't sadly accurate, it would be comical. I certainly looked like I had packed for a party of six or seven. And with that extreme packing and high luggage volume comes other issues. Let's not even get into the amount of stress (both mental and monetary) that this amount of luggage can put on your mobility in an airport or limo or taxi or rental car. That's another discussion on its own. We'll just talk hotel logistics here since that's your home away from home.

First, all that luggage takes up a lot of space in your hotel room. Unless you have booked a large suite, a normal room is going to be cramped if you try and squeeze in a high volume of luggage. Second, it makes life difficult with regard to finding the things you actually need. It's easy to find a particular item when you have a small bag or two. It's not easy finding a particular item when it's among 250 other items that are stashed away somewhere in four or five large bags. Finally, if you dare unpack everything in your room, where are you going to put it all in a standard hotel room? You don't have the closet or drawer or shelf space for that kind of packing. And when it's time to move to another hotel or return home, you are faced with a laborious re-packing attempt.

I have to press the reset button very firmly with regard to travel packing. I need to get back to my roots of traveling light. I don't travel as much as I used to pre-pandemic, but what travel I am going to do needs to be manageable, especially with regard to packing. I might not be able to get back to a small carry on duffel, but one sensibly sized carry on and a laptop case should be plenty. I seem to have forgotten how to pack like that.

Uh, good luck.

David

During the pandemic, I was able to take many two-night trips with a single backpack, but boy, was that sucker heavy. Now that my weekly trips have expanded to 3-4 nights, I have adjusted to a single carry-on roller bag (measured to the maximum carry-on size) and a smaller laptop bag. I've even been able to do 10-night trips with that setup, at least in the summer (winter coats and long pants are such a space hog).

I don't take it to an extreme - I am often traveling for work, and if I need to take a larger suitcase, I will, but my suitcases are ultralight and 4 wheel spinners so I don't have to carry them much. One thing I did do after the pandemic, though, was really pare down my electronics and my dopp kit. Only the smallest and lightest of what I really need. A lot of stuff for contingencies I no longer take.

A very good point. My first two week trip abroad many moons ago with just a small wheeled duffel (gym bag sized) and a small laptop case proved this point. I traveled with a spartan dopp kit, and one EU power adapter that had a single USB output. If I ran out of something, then I bought a replacement. As I found out, Europeans use toothpaste and deodorant too,

I did a backpack trip to Vegas, LA and Seattle about 15 years ago. The backpack was pretty chock-full. That's when I decided a small wheeled duffel was the way to go. But I managed. I washed clothing in hotel sinks with shower gel and then did a "towel-ringer" drying method and then hung to dry. On my recent over-packed trip, I brought a different clothing outfit for each day, as if laundry cleaning services had not been invented outside of my home. Shorts, shirts, long pants, and enough underwear and socks for two weeks without doing laundry.

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Another thing I found out from my ridiculous over-packing escapade, I didn't use 90 percent of what I brought. As I posted, finding what I did want among all that luggage was a chore. About 1/2 way through the trip, I contemplated having a taxi take me to a UPS store to ship home about 3/4 of my luggage, just to get out from under the bulk of all that packing, but I decided to suffer through the rest of my trip with my luggage burden.

This thread reminds me so much of how many bandages and extraneous medications I took on my first solo trip to Boston in early 2020 - I had to be prepared! Of course, that was also the first and last trip where I traveled with cash in a plastic bag rather than just use a credit card. I don't know why I was acting like establishments in Boston don't take credit cards - oh, how I have grown!

I spent the past 2 years planning for the day when I could fly again and have successfully been flying with carry on only. For my last trip I even overpacked and still had room to spare. Compressible packing cubes have been a game changer for me. My biggest problem was toiletries which would usually take up a sizeable chunk of space in my bag. I have now streamlined down to a single small pouch of nostrums and unguents in smaller containers. Being able to manage a week long business trip with a 21" spinner and a laptop bag is huge for me.
Granted I have been making other, frustrating mistakes due to being out of practice flying. Like forgetting to enter my KT# on my reservation when booking my flight (sigh)...

One of the traveling light gurus said in a presentation I attended; "Don't pack for the worst case scenario. Pack for the best possible scenario, and then buy things locally during your trip if you run out of something or find you need something else." A decent philosophy IMO. I also remember another snippet of traveling light wisdom that said you should look at every single item you are packing and ask yourself if you will use it enough to justify carrying through your entire trip. Not, "Will I use this?", but rather "Will I use this ENOUGH to justify carrying it in my luggage for the entire trip?" Words to the wise for me.

This last trip, I carried swim goggles and swim fins for use in the pool. I'm not talking scuba diving giant fins, but lap-pool swim-fins. Still, they are bulky for luggage. I used them ONCE in 10 days of travel. The goggles? Yes, they always go with me. They are small and I use them every time I get into a pool. I don't want chlorine in my eyes, and swimming laps, for me, is my preferred cardio when traveling. Less chance of pulling a muscle or straining/spraining something. But fins? I should have left them at home.

Or just buy fins in the resort pool shop like the inflatable turtle :-)

thankfully OP knows what to do for the next trip. Indeed, every place has stuff to buy. Before I rediscovered the joy of hotel pool, I bought a pair of swim trunks in the crown plaza rosemont IL gift shop. I probably bought a dress belt there as well. Worked out fine.

i know enough FTers who bring carryon only for long trips. It’s not my style and I know it’s mega possible to do.

I said in another thread that many, many people seemed to have lost their travel skills during the shutdown. I found packing for my last trip more confusing than usual, even though I was packing exactly the same things that I always pack. And at airport security checks, it looked like most people had never flown before, not because they hadn't, but because of having forgotten how to organize things and what to do.

In a couple of weeks I'll be flying for the first time in nearly 5 years (!), wasn't planning for such a long delay, but Covid happened. As I'll be travelling with my 7-year old son (who will be flying for the first time since he was drinking milk out of a bottle), this will be the most well-planned trip ever, right down to researching which airports have which style of security check (shoes off? tablets in/out of cases? etc.). I even have a printed packing list and found a little case which is just the right thing for holding passports and other flight documentation.

My problem went in the other direction. After years of careful packing for air travel those habits stayed with me during pandemic road travel. When I was making my calculations on how to pack for a trip it dawned on my that I no longer had to worry about an extra pair of boots or a jacket because I had an entire car trunk at my disposal.

I appear to have gotten over that 😂 We drove MSY-PHL and back for our wedding a couple of months ago and I seemed to have brought half the things in my closet. This would have been a very heavy-pack trip under any circumstances (wedding dress, several boxes full of necessary crap, wedding weekend clothes plus traveling clothes plus hiking clothes) but I went totally wild and brought probably 7 tops and 3 bottoms that I never used. Luckily, the station wagon had plenty of room!

Thank god it�s not just me then! I just did a week in Japan and filled my big case with a ton of stuff I didn�t need. I suddenly realised I could dress in fresh clothes every day in any season if I wanted to without having to launder anything.

I took a deep breath and forced myself to pack hand luggage only. Glad I did. I am still coming home with unused clothing.

Leaving on another 2.5-week road trip in the station wagon tomorrow. I packed my bag(s) yesterday and was wavering between “I can bring enough clothes to not have to do laundry!” and “What the hell am I doing, I am a famously light packer!” I decided I would do laundry, but only once. So I still have a boatload of clothes 😂