Flying With Only a Personal Item

Travel

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All of this fits in a small backpack. Really.

Our trips are usually longer than 2-3 days, so we don’t usually fly with just a “personal item.” But, on occasion, we do have those sorts of trips. And if the flight is relatively short, and we don’t mind where we’re sitting on the plane, we have opted on rare occasions for the no-frills basic economy fares made popular by airlines like Spirit, Sun Country, Frontier, and Ryanair (in Europe.) Even the “big three” of Delta, United, and American offer “basic economy” fares these days.

But all those super cheap fares are predicated on you not taking anything that won’t fit under the seat in front of you.

So, if you really don’t mind not having seat selection, or not taking several changes of clothes, you can skip the “carry-on” that goes in the overhead compartment and save hundreds of dollars on the cheap airlines and basic economy fares. If you’re willing to take those fares to places like Europe, and do a lot of clothes washing in your hotel sink, you can really save a bundle.

Personal item packing list

For a two night, three-day trip, or longer if you don’t mind doing some wash:

Clothing
3 sets underwear and merino wool socks
2 Merino wool t-shirts
2 shirts
1 pair of pants
1 pair shorts/bathing suit
1 rain jacket (can be worn on the plane)
1 extra pair shoes (if needed for hiking)
1 pair shorts

Minimal Toiletries
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Deodorant
Medicine (various meds reduced into one bottle)

Other stuff
Laptop
Kindle
Spare glasses
Charger and cables (see our favorite travel accessories here)
Notebook and pencil

Packing cubes are optional, but some people find them helpful. While I use them for our “carry-on” bag, I don’t think the organization packing cubes provide for this minimal list is essential.

personal item backpack — The small backpack I once got as a gift. It measures 17 x 11 x 6 in. and fully loaded with the above weighs 11 lbs. or 5 kg.

The bag itself

Honestly, we have so many random backpacks in our basement closet I didn’t feel it necessary to buy one for this purpose. But if I were buying one today, I’d definitely get the Osprey Daylite™ Expandable Travel Pack 26+6 It’s 17 X 13 X 6 inches (43 x 33 x 15 cm.) and can expand another inch or so if the airline allows and you need the room. I looked at it in a shop, and it would make a great personal item. I especially like all the pockets to keep things organized.

Another option is the Patagonia Refugio 26L Pack, which measures 18 x 12 x 6.5 inches (45 x 30 x 17 cm.) We love the Patagonia brand in general. This one doesn’t organize as well as the Osprey, in my opinion. But, it would work.