#cabinmax

So, like I explained in my last packing post, we got our bags from CabinMax to make sure we fit within the discount airlines’ baggage size requirements.

One problem, though. We had checked the dimensions for RyanAir, but after getting our bags, we realized each airline had different policies. RyanAir’s max weight is 10kg (22 lbs) but some airlines are as low as 7kg (15.4 lbs). D’oh! Plus, all the stuff in my bag is like 25 lbs anyway. Over 10kg. Holly's bag was super light of course, although somehow by this point in the trip I think we’re both around 10kg.

So, I went through all the airlines we were traveling on and made a spreadsheet of all the dimensions for carry-ons and, importantly, personal items. I couldn’t find all the information for each airline, and this is but a handful of all the discount carriers out there, but this was very helpful info for us and I hope it’s helpful for someone else out there!

Comparing the numbers was kind of tough brain-twisting, since there was the three volume dimensions, plus weight, for each bag to consider. One airline, Transavia, even makes it clear that you get ONLY ONE bag onboard. Backpack plus laptop bag, or even backpack plus  a ladies’ purse, is still two bags.

Luckily Transavia’s weight limit is 10kg, so wearing my jeans and blazer and maybe putting a few things in my pockets (like the headphones), and maybe giving Holly my iPad (or tucking my iPad under my shirt?), should get my bag itself within the required weight. And I don’t seem to have it in my notes, but I remember seeing that one airline with a 7kg limit allows you to bring heavier bags for a fee, but the fee is something absurd like $1 per kilo, so I bought a collapsible shopping bag for $2 at Safeway. and we considered the matter closed.

Now, after all that work, here’s the kicker:

Our. Bags. Have. Not. Been. Weighed. Or. Measured. NOT ONCE!!!!

RyanAir to London. Vueling to Santorini. Olympic Air to Thessaloniki. Aegean to Athens. Pegasus in Turkey. Thai Airways and Air Asia in Thailand. No one has weighed or measured our bags one little bit. So, while it’s nice to have learned from this that I might as well bring my small personal bag to my plane seat with, perhaps, my computer and my book and my water bottle, and stow everything else in the overhead luggage compartment, so far the stress of baggage measurements has been for naught.

Okay, now for my packing info. It’s considerably more complex, or at least verbose, than Holly’s.

My week of clothes is 7 pairs of socks, underwear, and t-shirts. Plus an extra set of all those for laundry day, so 8 sets. And for socks, short socks and long socks. We designed this trip to avoid really cold weather, but we knew it wouldn’t be all warm t-shirt weather the whole time. Indeed, we’ve so far only worn shorts for maybe, I dunno, 10 days total? Probably less. I’m finicky and don’t like wearing long socks with shorts, and I really hate wearing short socks with pants, so 15 pairs of socks it is!

Beyond those everyday basics, I’ve got a pair of jeans, a pair of khakis, two pairs of shorts, one bathing suit, two button-down shirts, one sweater, one cozy long-sleeved undershirt one zip-hoodie, and a blazer. And a pair of PJs. Phew! I think that’s it.

I’ve since bought a puffy jacket similar to Holly’s, and another sweater, having grown sick of my old one with its hole in the armpit. I still keep it around, it’s warmer than the new one – which is coming in handy in Turkey, where I’m often wearing all the layers I have.

I came on the trip with one pair of sneakers. The heels are pretty worn, which is totally fine for normal walking, but when it’s wet out, rain gets in, gets my socks wet, and that’s AWFUL. So I finally bought another light pair of sneakers in Barcelona. 16€. They weren’t as perfect as I’d hoped, and I'm horrible at throwing things away, so I carried around the old ones for a while, which were more comfortable but bad for the rain. Then in Greece I got another pair for 10€. We haven’t had to deal with too much walking in the rain since then, but they’ve been pretty great, and comfy enough, so I left the other two pairs in our Athens Airbnb with a sign saying “Please donate!”

To help fit all those clothes and stay under the carry-on weight requirements, I generally wear the heaviest stuff on the plane: jeans, blazer, hoodie, sweater, coat. It’s been getting chillier as the trip goes on, but once we’re in Thailand, this will probably become much less pleasant. The rest of the clothes, amazingly, fit into an awesome packing cube I got for like $12 at Marshalls. There are compartments in it, too: the main one for clean clothes, one for PJs and another for dirty clothes, which is expandable. The PJ’s pocket tore near the zipper a few weeks ago, which is sad, but it’s still useable. 

I read a number of blogs (like this one) on how to fold clothes for travel, and for a few days I practiced rolling my t-shirts into a tight ball that also contained a pair of underwear and socks. It seemed pretty cool, but after one or two stops on the trip I realized that folding clothes normally, though as tightly and smoothly as possible, took up the same amount of room, if not less. I do have to make sure to fold my dirty clothes just as well as I do my clean clothes though.

Besides clothes, I could probably be accused of bringing too much stuff. I’ll do it in list form this time:

Fold-up travel toothbrush (I love this thing! Especially because I brush my teeth after every single meal if possible, so this allows me to very easily bring my toothbrush with me when we go out for the day, in a coin purse with a travel-sized toothpaste)

Fold-up travel hairbrush

Loofah, which I keep in its own toiletry bag, the smallest of the 3

Floss and mouthwash

Medication - two pill bottles, plus two extra bottles to last me the whole trip without refill

Deodorant

Single-day pill case filled with Advil

Shaving stuff – here’s where it starts to get silly. I left with two, yes two, travel-size bottles of Harry’s shaving foam. I used to use their cream but the foam was better for traveling and I only started using it at the start of the trip. The first bottle finished up two months after we left, which told me that my supply would only last me until the new year. Oh no! We had planned to meet Holly’s family in Crete in the middle of November, so I ordered two more bottles to her sister’s house, and she brought them to me in Crete. So now I’m carrying (sigh…) 3 bottles of shaving foam, which should last me through my brother’s wedding in San Fran, where I’ll have my mom bring me more. I also brought 8 extra razors, to change once a month, but they’re light and small and less absurd than 3 bottles of foam. Also a small bottle of aftershave lotion that should hopefully last me the whole trip, or at least until the wedding.

I think that’s it? My bag for extra toiletries also has a spray-bottle of screen-cleaner for phones and stuff, and a little cloth that goes with it. I think there’s a pack or two of gum in there

Okay, deep breath, let’s move on.

A pencil, a pen, and a Tide pen

My favorite folder-hardback thingie, used mainly to have something to write on or to form a hard back for my backpack

A notebook – primarily (if not exclusively) for taking notes while playing Myst or Obduction

More ridiculous excess, mainly gadgets:

iPad, in a pretty light case

MacBook (the “new macbook”, the lightest)

Bluetooth iPad keyboard

Kindle (broke in Paris, and I actually threw it away! Now I’ve been reading books I pick up at hotels along the way. The way a big trip should be!)

iPhone

Very light bluetooth mouse

airTurn PED page-turn pedal for when I read music from my iPad. (at home I prefer the bulkier and sturdier Pageflip Firefly) This is for gigging, which hasn’t happened yet. And, the first time I used it on the trip (sitting in for free at a piano bar in Paris), I dropped it as soon as I took it out of my bag and it broke apart. I put it back together but haven’t gotten it to work, but haven’t really tried too hard either.

Three, yes three, pairs of headphones. The ones that came with my iPhone (only ones with a reliable mic), some pretty good Bluetooth headphones (thanks for the birthday present Mom!), and my Westone UM2 in-ear monitors with custom ear-molds (thanks, life as a gigging musician!)

Portable battery - lost and replaced in Barcelona

This great travel accessories organizer

It’s got my chargers for the above devices, plus accessories (tiny USB hub, tiny external hard drive), plus a pack of tissues, and some extra Splenda packets, which have since been replaced by a store-brand version of this super-portable pack of Sucralose capsules from Paris, for like 3-4€, which is pretty much the greatest thing I’ve ever discovered.

Universal travel power adapter, with two USB charging ports. Bulkier than I’d like but the best option basically.

Kite! Holly thinks this is ridiculous and she’s probably right, but I bought this kite  earlier in the year and haven’t gotten a chance to fly it, and it packs up so small and light! We haven’t found a good place with good wind, but hopefully soon…

Last but not least (until I realize I forgot something, which is sure to happen): Keyboard! For doing little bits of music work (like arranging “Helpless” from Hamilton for a string quartet for my friend’s wedding recessional) and fiddling with synths on my iPad, or writing music which I wish I did more of. Or for accompanying this girl we met at an expat hangout who had just started learning clarinet and played “The Entertainer” (which she thought I might know from Tom and Jerry). Oh yeah, I use a sock as a case for the keyboard.

Oh my god. That’s a lot of stuff! How do I ever fit this stuff? 

I found a great shoulder bag in Athens for 18€, which I now basically use as a day bag. When we go into town or whatever for the day, I put my computer and iPad and whatever I might want for leisure, in here and I don’t have to unload and reorganize my backpack, which is really great. When we travel, I also put in the accessories bag and some other things, and I can even check my big backpack when we fly if I want to, and just bring this small bag with me!

My bag is pretty damn big but it’s nice for it to not be such a tight fit anymore. Before the shoulder bag, I’d sometimes have to put the kite and the keyboard in the sides (in the straps generally used for tightening the size of the bag). But now it’s easier to pack up the clothes and other things without wondering how it’s all going to fit.