A post on packing a travel bag, written in full detail because we get asked about it so often.. It hasn't even been 1 year since we started writing as Berna & Anıl, but we've been travelling together since 2012. We've done many of our trips with just a backpack. We love the life energy, happiness and freedom travel gives us, and that's truly connected to the travel bag you take with you and how you prepare beforehand.
Throwing our things into the bag in 20-30 minutes, being able to get around easily with our luggage, and getting through the airport on flights without ever queuing for check-in and bag drop is a very special pleasure! Let's look together at what you need to pay attention to when packing. :)
- Travelling with huge suitcases isn't really for us; we usually prefer a cabin-size suitcase, or a backpack if it's a short or activity-packed trip. :)
- It's also important not to have problems boarding the plane with your travel bags.
- On our trips, apart from our phones, the electronic device we usually take is our camera. If you're taking a laptop or iPad, you should also have practical cases and sleeves designed for them, and of course chargers. And they should be in an easy-to-reach place in the bag, so you have no trouble taking them out and putting them back at every security gate. This is where choosing the right travel bag matters.
- On weekend or 1-week getaways you don't really think about laundry, but if the trip is a bit longer, you inevitably can't take a different outfit for every day. Doing laundry when needed is one of the best ways to lighten the bag! Then laundry bags and mini detergents get added to the bag too.
- And if most of the load is clothes, you need to know the right folding techniques to use your travel bag efficiently. With the life-saving roll trick you can fold everything, from T-shirts to socks, really small. We always fold things really small to keep the bag organised and tidy.
- Liquids are very important too: you should keep to the limits on flights and also check your gear so nothing leaks into the bag. There are really nice mini travel bags for this.
- Finally, you should make room for shoes and slippers too, and use covers if you have them.
A 16-day adventure awaits us on the Scandinavia tour, which will be our longest holiday in a while. On this trip we decided to give up the cabin-size suitcase and travel with two 50-litre backpacks. For 16 days the bags are neither too big nor too small; ideal, we think.
On this trip, when we set off from Istanbul my bag weighed 13 kg and Berna's weighed 10 kg. Since we took our first flight with Air France, there was no limit to worry about. But since we'd bought an economy ticket from LOT for our return flight, it only gave us 8 kg for a cabin-size bag. Don't worry, what makes the bags heavy is usually food and drink supplies! :)
Here I suggest reading the Skyscanner site's post on this. It has detailed information on how many kilos each airline allows for each ticket type.
Travel Bag Categories
- Luggage & bags & suitcases
- Anıl's clothes
- Berna's clothes
- Personal care products
- Cleaning products
- Medical supplies
- Electronics
- Miscellaneous items
- Documents, credit cards and cash
With this whole list behind you, let's start now with the most important!
1. Choosing a Travel Bag
We don't have any sponsorship deal on this. We'll talk about products we bought entirely by personal choice.
The North Face Borealis backpack
The bags we've been using for about 2 years are our saviours on short trips. With a 29-litre volume, they take quite a lot of our things, and if you're taking a computer, thanks to the extra compartment they're comfortable on business trips too. The bag is waterproof; we've never yet seen water get inside. With adjustable straps and waist support, it distributes the load really well on long walks. In case you'd like to look at the bag, I'm leaving the link here.
Tergan cabin-size suitcase
We bought our cabin-size bags when we got married. But even then, thinking we'd travel a lot, I'd chosen the bags with great care. After long research, our choice in terms of both technical support and quality was a bag like this one.
If we're taking a long trip, this bag is usually our choice. Unfortunately the wheels break very easily on cobbled streets, and Tergan replaces or repairs them without charging anything. Since they come back quickly, we've never had a problem with this.
Which bag should you take for Interrail?
The bags we'll use on the Scandinavia tour are exactly the huge backpacks you're imagining, and setting off on a tour like this, I couldn't help saying: A BACKPACK IS FREEDOM!
We didn't already have these huge bags. Thanks to friends and family, we found 2 bags of 50 litres. On my Interrail trip in 2012 I'd also borrowed a bag from someone else, but since that trip was 29 days, the bag had a 65+10 litre capacity, and I can fairly say it was only just enough for me. :)
If you're saying you need to buy a bag, you could go for Decathlon. They mostly have bags for trekking, but we think the bags can be used on an Interrail trip too. Another option is to go to Eminönü and buy the bag you like by haggling.
So what matters in a big backpack?
- Back and waist support is a must for distributing the load
- There should be access points that let you take something out of the middle of the bag
- If the cabin-size baggage rule matters for your trip, you'd better not go above 50 litres. Otherwise you may not be able to take your bag on the plane.
- Since you can't walk around with this backpack all the time, taking a small extra bag with you will make things easier. On sightseeing days you can leave the backpack at a station or hotel and get around with this little bag.
2. What Should Be in My Travel Bag, What Should I Take?
We've read countless posts on this. On top of that, we have our own experience. So definitely don't put anything in your bag that you doubt will be useful. Because the items you're not sure about usually end up travelling with you and come back without ever being used.
Our motto: The lighter the travel bag, the more comfortable and lovely the trip
The first thing to do is take out the unnecessary things. :) So what are the must-haves in a travel bag?
Personal Care Products
Even though personal care needs differ from person to person, we wanted to list the basics.
A small zipped bag that's waterproof both ways
It's a useful solution so you don't have to throw away liquids when flying. We usually gather all liquids in one bag. It's important that it's waterproof both outside and in:)
Sunscreen
A must for those travelling in both winter and summer. Even a small one for the face is enough!
Shampoo
To avoid problems on flights, you can choose small shampoos or split your shampoo into mini travel bottles. You can use the small tubes used in hotels, or buy travel kits that you can now easily find at places like Miniso, Gratis and Watsons. They're not single-use; instead of throwing them away after use, you can refill these tubes and take them with you when you travel.
Toothbrush + case + toothpaste
We use small foldable travel toothbrushes. For toothpaste we take 50 ml tubes. You can easily find these anywhere that sells the personal care products I listed above.
Deodorant
For this we usually prefer 75 ml liquid deodorants. Even though it's in a glass bottle, it's no problem in terms of volume.
Lip balm
A must, especially for those travelling in winter; a product near the top of the list, the choice is yours.
Hand sanitiser gel
These gels, which are very handy on bus and train journeys, are among the things you should take both for instant relief and to feel good.
Razor + shaving foam + lotion
Since we don't usually go on very long trips, one blade is enough. Travel-size shaving foam and lotion are a big help with this.
Hair dryer
Never mind hostels, recently we haven't even come across a hair dryer at most of the Booking hotels we've been to. That's why, setting off on such a long tour, we took a travel one with us. It's worth checking when you book!
Nail clippers + tweezers
These are must-haves anyway for trips of 1 week or more; we wrote them down so they don't get forgotten :)
Towel
In some hostels and hotels towels can cost extra. It's worth taking a thin one rather than none at all. Our suggestion here is the thin towels you can find at Decathlon and the thin, soft peshtemals that are now easy to find everywhere; since they dry quickly you can throw them straight into the bag. If there's no time for that, you should also get a cover/bag for the towel.
Slippers
They'll help you both in the shower and when you get hot while travelling. We also throw in towelling slippers we bought from the metro; if there are none at the house or hotel we're staying in, or even on the night train, they give a cosy comfort.
Cleaning Products
Just in case on the road, we always take the following with us too. Keep them on your list:
Wet wipes
We change the number depending on the type of trip. We'd suggest putting small packs in your bag and moving a new one from the suitcase to the bag as they run out:)
Tissues
When setting off on our Interrail journey, we even took paper towels. Of course we didn't take a roll so it wouldn't take up space. We tore off as much as we wanted from the roll and folded it up. ;)
Freezer bags + rubbish bags
On this we leave home prepared, both to put dirty laundry in and to deal with rubbish on the road. You need freezer bags in every size.
Medical Supplies
We wouldn't want anyone to use the following on a trip, but you never know what the road will bring. It's worth being prepared so that things you could get through with a small pill don't come back to you later as a big problem. Our little precautionary suggestions are:
Painkillers
It's important to take medicine that can help with both headaches and muscle pain. You never know what the road will bring. We'd even suggest taking one or two medicines for stomach problems.
Vitamins
We won't be able to look after our diet the way we do in everyday life. Your resistance and energy may drop. Different weather conditions will affect your body too.
With all this in mind, small vitamin supplements will help us stay fit and get the most out of the trip. We can recommend a multivitamin and vitamin C.
Plasters
It's worth having 5-6 different kinds of plasters just in case. Don't forget you can use them even for shoe blisters:)
Burn cream
This is a must too. You never know what will happen, and a burn needs immediate care. If you're taking one cream, make it this one! And Bepanthen :) It's good for everything, what can we say.
Electronics
Another must-have part of travel is electronics. Having gone to so many places, everyone has the right to want some souvenirs left. :) We almost never ever take a computer with us. We haven't got that professional yet. Let's see what we keep in our bag on this front.
Portable charger
These days a big part of travel is spent taking photos and catching great shots. And naturally, in many places it can be hard to find electricity. So it's very hard to travel without the device called a power bank. The Xiaomi 10400 power bank I bought about 2 years ago can easily charge an iPhone 6 3 times.
Especially for those planning an Interrail trip, considering you'll sometimes be out on the street or on a train, it's worth having this device with you as a must-have.
Spare memory card
In case anything happens to the memory card we use in the camera, so we can carry on where we left off, we always take a memory card with 64 GB of space. If you like, you can also use the apps we mention in the next item to be on the safe side.
Dropbox & Google Drive
Our first step against the phone memory filling up is to free up space on our phones by uploading the photos to Dropbox and Google Drive. Of course, to do this you need to find internet. When we can't find internet, we move on to the step below.
USB stick
Against the memory card or phone memory filling up, when there's no internet, our saviour for freeing up enough space is a USB stick. Usually 2 sticks with 16 GB of space each do the job.
Camera
Work & Travel days were when I bought the Nikon D90, and it's fair to call it the architect of our awesome photos.
Phones
Anıl has an iPhone 6 and Berna has an iPhone 6S. We take most of our photos with the 6S; my phone usually helps with maps and routes.
Tripod
On long trips we can't take the tripod we use for the D90. But on trips of no more than 1 week it's a must for us. For the Scandinavia tour we chose a nice product from Xiaomi that's both a phone tripod and a selfie stick.
Miscellaneous Items
This part moves a bit away from necessity into a list you can shape as you like, but here are the things we take, which vary with where we're going and the type of journey:
Umbrella
A must for winter trips, but even on our Scandinavia trip we couldn't help taking 1 umbrella with us. You inevitably can't take the risk!
By the way, speaking of umbrellas, if you're going on a long trip with a backpack, don't forget a rain cover for the bag too. The higher the chance of getting caught in heavy rain, the more you should consider taking one.
Sleep mask
We bought eye masks before setting off on the Scandinavia trip. After the trip I realised it's a must. :) Apart from that, depending on your type of journey, you can take an inflatable neck pillow. It's a lifesaver on short journeys.
Notebook
A must for travellers like us. A notebook with both the route we prepared before going and information about the places to visit, and where we can jot down little notes after sightseeing, wouldn't be bad at all.
Documents and Money
Travel insurance
Most people usually neglect it, but just in case we get it when we travel. It's usually an amount between €5-8 per person. There's no site we particularly prefer; we go with whichever gives the best price at the time.
Passport
A must for going abroad; we use a passport cover to protect the passport while travelling.
Cash
If we're travelling to Europe, although it depends on how many days we're staying, we've never yet taken more than €200 with us. Our solution is in the next step!
Credit card
Abroad, especially in Europe, one of our must-haves is a credit card. You may ask "Is it accepted everywhere?", but we ask before going in, and credit cards are generally accepted in popular places. By the way, always use a virtual card for online shopping so you don't get a headache later!
Driving licence
The new licence I switched to before travelling to Europe by car is accepted everywhere in Europe. So there's no need for any equivalence or anything like that. In some places we can rent a car, so naturally it's a must for us to have with us.
Photocopies of passport, visa, flight & train & bus tickets
Just in case something happens to us, to be on the safe side, we take photocopies of everything with us.