Horizon Homestead

I love carry on only travel! I’m not uber fit or skinny, so it isn’t an easy ‘challenge’ to fit my clothes and kit into one cabin-approved bag under 7kgs. I think that’s part of why I love it – it’s about striking a balance.

I still pay for checked baggage, so it’s not about saving money. Especially on trips I might buy souvenirs or items that put me over the 7kg, I’ll always at least pay for checked on the return leg, but I typically haven’t needed it. I love the freedom of walking off a plane knowing I don’t have to wait around and hope my checked bag made the trip the same time I did.

So what do I pack?

I’ll start with the bag: I have a Burton Traverse (that’s no longer available, as it’s now over 10 years old) that opens fully like a clamshell. My Burton has inner mesh pockets, making it a breeze for customs checks as you can fully open the bag to be viewed but nothing falls out! I found the OGIO Alpha Venture backpack similarly featured, which is available now in 2025. The OGIO looks like this, and has a few colour options:

I did a lot of backpack research before choosing the Traverse – I wanted a bag that fit cabin measurement requirements, that had multiple compartments, opened flat for easy use and packing, and that had solid shoulder and hip straps so I could walk all day with it if needed. Below is the ‘newer’ version of my old Traverse, but I think even it is no longer stocked! If anyone knows what bag replaced the Traverse model, please let me know. I’ve loved mine for well over a decade now, but I know one day it’ll be worn out.

Next, is my travel day outfit. First, the jacket.

I saved up over the years and built a little collection of Scottevest jackets- I have a windcheater, a vest, and a trench coat. They are coats of a squillion pockets! Almost always, one of these is my travel coat – depending on what climate I’m going to and what I’ll be doing. Outside of winter, it’s mostly the windcheater or vest. In it, I store my wallet, passport, earbuds, phone, power bank, charging cable, lip balm, a snack, hand/screen wipes (single use alcohol ones). Sometimes even my Camelbak LifeStraw bottle goes in a pocket! I’ve even managed to tuck my SLR camera in the other!

On to my actual outfit – I wear my comfy but heaviest shoes (usually hiking/walking shoes or joggers). Comfy pants that have a stretchy waist, a singlet top and light weight long sleeve shirt over the top. Sunnies, and sometimes my sunshawl. Nothing that’s hard to take off for security clearing time, and nothing that will be uncomfortable on long transits. It might look a little like this:

What goes in the bag?

• 2 bottoms or 1 bottom and 1 lightweight dress
• 2-3 tops
• pyjamas
• 2-3 underwear
• 1 bra
• a microfibre towel
• a compact daypack or bag (under 100gm)
• a power plug & second charging cable
• thongs or super light sandals, sometimes my Keen sandals
• toiletries and medicines – minimal
• laundry sheets (usually enough for my trip, but not always)
• sleep music headband
• water bottle (empty, of course)

Optional:

• SLR (and usually 1 lens only and either a spare battery or my USB friendly compact charger – I used to take a super lightweight travel tripod, but haven’t used it a lot)
• swimmers
• silk pillowcase (I have curly hair)
• Scrubba wash bag – particularly handy if you don’t have your own bathroom, and don’t want to pay for a machine wash just for your little bits and bobs. The full set even has a microfibre towel to help pull out more moisture from your clothes. Bonus, the bag doubles as a dry bag if needed!
• Efchlor tablets or similar water purifying tabs- these are great if where you’re travelling the water quality isn’t good. I take these and a plastic 2L roll up water container (super light). These places I’m usually staying in a hotel or similar, so can boil a kettle of water. I leave it to cool, pour it in my water bag, drop an efchlor tab in and let it sit (at least 30mins). Then, after at least 30 mins, I pour my boiled and sanitised water into my LifeStraw bottle. The bottle filters out anything left and the chlorine taste, and I’m left with safe, clean water! If I can’t boil the water, I still do the efchlor and then my bottle.

A note on toiletries: in this, I have my small serum moisturiser, a small tinted suncreen, usually an insect repellant cream, a cream deodorant stick, travel sized bar shampoo/conditioner, my vitamins in a travel pack, effervescent probiotics. I spoil myself and take a face mask with me to relax one night. Sometimes I might include eyeliner or mascara, but very rarely much makeup. I make sure my nails are short before I leave, and sometimes even go fancy and paint my toes in case I take a dress and sandals. Minimal liquids, I’ve found, mean my toiletry bag is nice and small. Medicines: I have a little travel kit from a travel doctor that usually has a couple antibiotics, travel sickness/bugs medicine. I add in paracetamol and ibuprofen, a couple bandaids and antiseptic powder, a couple alcohol wipes. I just look at the risks of the location, and make sure I have enough to get me over the worst or out of there, really. If I was super sick I’d want to go home, but luckily I’ve not been really sick like that anywhere yet.

Outfit wise, I wind up with 3-4 tops total, 2-3 bottoms. If I tale a dress, I might take one less of the top and bottoms. They all mix and match so I can make multiple outfits from this mini capsule wardrobe. Sometimes I might take a very light cardigan, but full facts: I tend to prefer to be cool over too hot, and I cook in most layered outfits as I run warm.

I loosely follow the 4-3-2-1 method or the three by three method, depending on the trip. E.g. 4 tops, 3 bottoms, 2 shoes, 1 hat/cardigan/sunnies type deal. I’m not big on jewellery, but sometimes on I’ll bring a change of earrings or a necklace. Never anything I’d be heartbroken to lose.

I happily wash and hang up my clothes of an evening as needed (tops more than bottoms, typically). I might add thin leggings in case I need extra warmth. Sometimes I take real pjs and sometimes I take comfy clothing that I could run out of a hotel room in and not look like I was in pyjamas. I’ve got my eye on a merino set for my next purchase. Lightweight, quick enough to dry, comfy and practical, and natural fibres where possible. I focus on what’s practical for my trip and comfortable for me. Sometimes my travel pants are jeans, but I always have at least one full outfit that is quick to dry no matter the climate. That’s it!

What kind of traveller am I? I like to explore cities and towns, museums and such, sure, but I love going walking – whether I drive or take a bus or train, I love finding hikes to do when I’m away. I’m not a super fit hiker, either – I’m a ‘slowly dies climbing up hills but loves it’ kind of hiker. I come from mostly plainlands, so every time I go away to place with steep hills, I relish in my almost certain demise getting to the top of a hike. I’m never super sore the next day, I’m just not match fit, haha. I love to stop and take photos of little things I notice along the way, too. I’ll never be a bushwalker or hiker whose only mission is ‘do the hike’ in the least amount of time possible. To me, the point is to enjoy the view, see something different from your normal home. All in all, on my travels, I’m likely to do anything, I’m almost never careful about not getting my clothes dirty. So I know I’ll wash them, and I’m happy with the minimal effort that takes.

Tip: if you’re like me and love jeans, and ever need to wash them while travelling, wash them at the end of your day (hopefully in a machine, as they’ll spin more water out than you can wring out yourself), and hang them up in front of a fan or in the path of the AC if there is one, or an open window if not. I’ve found mine take anywhere from a night to a full day to dry if I can’t put them outside. Decent jeans wear pretty well though, and you’re not meant to wash them every wear, so you may not need to wash them on a trip.

I think that’s it for now! What travel wisdom do you have?