The Only CarryOn Packing List You Need for Long Trips

The bag itself

• 35 to 45 litre carry-on with a proper hip belt and clamshell opening

• Tested picks: Peak Design 45L Travel Bag, Tortuga 40L, Osprey Farpoint 40

• Add a packable daypack (Matador or Sea to Summit) that squashes to a fist

Clothing: a 10-item capsule

• 2 merino T-shirts (Icebreaker or Woolly)

• 1 merino long-sleeve

• 1 button-down (linen or lightweight cotton)

• 1 packable puffy (Uniqlo Ultra Light is the cheat code)

• 1 rain shell

• 2 pairs technical trousers (Bluffworks or Outlier)

• 1 pair shorts

• 1 pair walking shoes (On Cloudmonster or Allbirds Tree Runners)

• 1 pair packable sandals or slip-ons

• 5 pairs merino socks, 4 pairs merino underwear

Wash every 3 to 4 days in a sink.

Toiletries under 100 ml

• Everything in a single quart-sized bag

• Solid shampoo and conditioner bars (Ethique, Lush) skip the liquid limit entirely

• One tube of retinol, one SPF 50 stick, one tinted lip balm

• Buy toothpaste on arrival: smaller and always available

Tech and documents

• Laptop, phone, one charging brick with adapters

• Over-ear noise-cancelling headphones (Bose QC or Sony XM)

• Kindle

• Copies of passport, insurance certificate, vaccination card on phone and cloud

• Slim wallet: 1 credit card, 1 debit card, $200 USD emergency cash

Winter version, same bag

Layer the capsule. Merino base + long-sleeve + button-down + puffy + rain shell handles about -5°C. For colder trips, wear the bulkiest layer on the plane.

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