Quick answer: A week in hand luggage works with five tops, two bottoms, one layer, five days of underwear, one spare pair of shoes and a 100ml wash kit. Wear the bulkiest layer and the heaviest shoes to the airport, and leave slack for the journey home.
What this guide covers
Advice about travelling light is easy to give in the abstract. This is an actual list from a seven-night trip, including the part where two items came home unworn.
What went in the bag
- Five t-shirts and long-sleeved tops, one colour family
- Two pairs of trousers, both navy
- One shirt for evenings
- Five days of underwear and socks
- Nightwear
- One spare pair of shoes, flat
- A wash bag, and a clear liquids bag
- Chargers in a tech case
Two cubes held all of it: a medium compression cube for clothes and a small one for underwear and nightwear.
What was worn to the airport
The heaviest items, deliberately: boots, jeans and a jacket. That is easily three or four kilos and a third of a small cabin bag, and none of it counts against any allowance.
It is the least sophisticated trick in packing and by far the most effective. The only cost is being slightly warm in the terminal.
Five days of underwear for seven nights
This is the part people baulk at. The answer is one sink wash, midway, taking about ten minutes. Socks and underwear dry overnight on a radiator or a towel rail.
Doing that once removes two days of packing from the bag, which on a cabin-only trip is a meaningful proportion. It is the same principle as travelling light generally: laundry is what converts a week's capacity into any length of trip.
What came home unworn
The shirt, and one of the five tops. That is a good outcome – one or two unworn items means the list was about right rather than heroically tight.
The bag also came home fuller than it went out, which is normal and worth planning for. A compression cube with slack left in it on the way out is what absorbs that. The carry-on guide has the method behind this list, and the city break list is the shorter version.
The short version
- Five tops, two bottoms, one shirt and five days of underwear covered seven nights comfortably.
- The whole lot fitted two cubes: a medium compression cube and a small one.
- Boots, jeans and a jacket were worn to the airport – three or four kilos that count against nothing.
- One ten-minute sink wash midway removed two days of packing from the bag.
- Two items came home unworn, which is the sign of a list that was about right.
Frequently asked questions
Can you really do a week in hand luggage?
Yes, comfortably, provided the clothes combine and you are willing to do one small sink wash midway. The usual failure is not the outbound packing but leaving no slack for what you bring back.
How much underwear for a week in hand luggage?
Five days' worth, plus one wash. Socks and underwear dry overnight on a radiator or towel rail, and one ten-minute wash midway removes two days of packing from a bag that has no room to spare.
What should I wear on the plane to save space?
The heaviest and bulkiest things you are taking: boots, jeans and a jacket. That is often three or four kilos and a third of a small cabin bag, and worn items count against no allowance at all.
How many packing cubes for a week of hand luggage?
Two. One medium compression cube for clothes and one small cube for underwear and nightwear. A third cube on a cabin-only trip usually just means carrying a third cube.
What is the hardest part of hand luggage only for a week?
The return journey. Everything fits perfectly on the way out and then you have laundry and whatever you bought. Leaving genuine slack in a compression cube on the outbound leg is the fix.
