20 Travel Packing Hacks That Fit 3 Weeks Into a Carry-On

Most suitcases aren’t too small. They’re just full of things that never get worn. We know, because we used to pack exactly like that. Every scenario got its own outfit, our shampoo leaked over everything, and we still forgot the charger.

Twenty years, 50+ countries and 100+ carry-on-only flights later, packing is the easiest part of any trip for us. We even managed three weeks in Japan with just a carry-on each.

And no, we didn’t wear the same clothes for three weeks.

These are the 20 travel packing hacks that got us there. Each one fixes a problem we’ve had ourselves.

We left out anything that sounded clever online but didn’t survive a real carry-on. What’s left includes a cotton pad that saves your make-up and a towel trick that dries laundry overnight.

If you’d rather skip checked baggage (and its fees), these are for you.

Hack 1: Make every bottle lid leak-proof

No matter how carefully we packed, leaking bottles have caught us out more than once. It happened in both our carry-on and checked luggage.

The worst mess was in Florence, when Viola’s eye make-up remover emptied itself over our clothes… everything was full of oil. We were SO frustrated!

Only later did we learn why. The lower air pressure during a flight makes the air trapped inside bottles expand, pushing liquid past the lid.

A friend who’s a frequent flyer shared her workaround: she cuts the neck off a balloon, then stretches what’s left tightly over the bottle cap. We tried it, and it really did work.

The balloons are fiddly though, and you run through quite a few. So we eventually invested in silicone bottle covers we found on Amazon.

They’re easier to handle, reusable and even washable. And if a bottle ever does leak, it stays inside the sleeve instead of soaking everything. Most carry-on packing hacks save space, but this one saves your clothes.

Hack 2: Roll soft clothes, fold anything structured

Roll or fold? When we started travelling together twenty years ago, we folded EVERYTHING. Then rolling became the trend, so we rolled everything instead.

Now we roll anything thin and soft, like T-shirts, pyjamas and summer dresses. They squeeze into the gaps between bigger items.

Jeans, blazers and chunky jumpers get folded. Rolling them turns them into bulky sausages that take up more space, not less.

The fix is as simple as it is genius. Put a cotton pad inside your compact, blush or bronzer before closing it. It fills the gap, so the powder can’t shift.

Of all our packing techniques, it’s the cheapest, and Viola hasn’t unpacked a broken compact since.

Hack 4: Use compression cubes (not plain packing cubes)

There are two types of travellers. Some chuck everything into their suitcase and hope for the best. If you’re reading this, you’re probably more like us and prefer things organised.

That’s why we LOVE packing cubes. The regular ones keep things tidy, sure, but with compression cubes we also save space. Their second zip squeezes out trapped air and flattens the whole cube.

That matters more than you might think. Flying carry-on only is one of the best methods to find cheap flights. Without compression, clothes for a long trip would never fit into our carry-ons.

And when we took our compression cubes on a five-month trip to Asia, each cube held one category. Instead of digging through the entire suitcase, we simply lifted out the one we needed, which kept our hotel rooms so much tidier.

So if you’re eyeing regular packing cubes, we’d say go straight for the compression cubes.

Hack 5: Always pack laundry sheets

By now, you know how rolling clothes and compression cubes fit more into the same space. This hack goes one step further… you pack fewer clothes and wash them along the way 😲.

We call that smart packing for travel, taken to the extreme. It’s how we travel for weeks with only our carry-ons.

When we know our hotels have washing machines, we bring laundry detergent sheets. They’re like normal detergent pressed paper-thin, and they weigh next to nothing.

Even without laundry plans, one or two sheets now come on every trip. You never know when red wine will land on a shirt. When it does, we wash it in the hotel sink with one sheet.

The only catch with sink washing is that clothes come out dripping wet. Our fix is the towel burrito: lay the wet clothes flat on a towel, roll it up tightly, then step on it.

The towel soaks up most of the water, and everything is dry by morning. It’s also gentler than wringing clothes in the shower.

Hack 6: Bring a toiletry bag you can hang up

Hotel bathrooms are never built for two people’s toiletries. In our experience, 90% don’t have enough counter space, and the little there is always ends up wet.

That’s why we pack a hanging fold-out toiletry bag. It goes straight on the door hook (or one of our suction hooks from Hack 15).

Even in hotels with more space, only our toothbrushes and toothpaste go on the counter. Everything else stays in the bag.

It opens out like a little shelf, so we don’t have to unpack it at each hotel. Before check-out, we simply zip it up, and we’re ready to go.

We honestly thought every traveller had one, until our newsletter readers kept telling us they don’t! If that’s you, put one on your packing list before your next trip.

Our shoes go into a simple grocery bag or shoe bags. Even a free hotel shower cap works when pulled over the soles.

We’ve read plenty of packing tips ourselves. To our surprise, some recommend stuffing clean underwear and socks into your shoes to save space. That seems rather odd to us (feet sweat!).

Instead, we stack our trainers yin-yang style, squeeze them together and then bag them.

Hack 8: Pack your heaviest things by the wheels

We learned this tip the hard way at an airport gate. Our iPad was propped on our Away suitcase for a film, with our jackets over the handle. Then the whole thing toppled over… iPad and all!

The jackets weren’t really the problem. We’d packed all the heavy things at the top, so the case was too top-heavy before we hung anything on it.

Now the heavy stuff (like shoes or our toiletry bag) goes right by the wheels. The case stands firmly on its own, and it’s much easier to pull. And nothing heavy squashes the lighter things either.

That’s exactly what we packed for three weeks in Japan, and it was plenty. With the laundry sheets from Hack 5, nothing ran out.

This is the one hack on our list that needs some planning upfront. We’ve slowly bought clothes that combine well, so now everything in our wardrobe works together.

Hack 10: Give all your tech its own pouch

Throw loose cables into a suitcase, and they’ll knot themselves together. Germans call that Kabelsalat (cable salad), and we haven’t had to untangle one in years 😊.

That’s because everything lives in one tech organiser pouch.

When we reach our destination, the pouch comes out and everything’s there. On long flights in economy, our pouch sits in the seat pocket, with every cable within reach.

A small packing cube does the job too, if you have one spare.

Then we saw a simple trick on social media and tried it instantly… You take a drinking straw, thread one end of the chain through, and then fasten the clasp.

The chain can’t loop around itself, so it arrives just as it left. It’s the best packing advice Viola has ever taken, and Sebastian hasn’t had to untangle a single necklace since.

Hack 12: Leave the full-size bottles at home

Our full-size shampoo has never been on holiday. Everything we need lives in travel-sized toiletry bottles and jars, all packed in one clear bag.

The moment we get home, we refill every bottle. That way, the bag is always ready for the next trip, and packing essential toiletries literally takes no time at all.

You might think the 100 ml (3.4 oz) limit forces you to pack small anyway. Luckily, that’s slowly changing.

In the US, the TSA liquids rule still caps every bottle at 100 ml (3.4 fl oz).

But that’s not the point for us. We’d pack travel-size bottles anyway, simply to travel light.

They’re especially handy in humid places like Singapore, where clothes never feel quite dry. In a closed suitcase, they keep that dampness from settling into everything.

It’s one of the smaller packing luggage tips, but your suitcase still smells fresh after two weeks 💡.

Shoes make the biggest difference. Our heaviest pair goes on our feet, and the lighter pair goes in the case (bagged, of course).

We’re not telling you to board in five layers, though. Comfort matters, and you still have to survive the flight without melting!

Two years ago, we bought a pack of suction cup hooks, and they now come on every trip. We stick them to the shower glass or tiles.

And suddenly there’s room for that second towel, the hanging toiletry bag from Hack 6, and our sink-washed laundry.

They weigh almost nothing, and the problem has completely disappeared. Few things in our suitcase cost so little and get used so much.

Hack 16: Charge everything from just one plug

Years ago, we carried a small collection of plug adapters, one for each device. The laptop needed its own, and so did the phones and tablets.

Now we each carry a travel adapter, and that’s it. It has fast-charging USB-C ports, normal USB-A ports and, of course, built-in plugs that fit sockets in more than 200 countries.

Just one adapter can charge multiple devices like phone, tablet, smartwatch and camera at once. Ours even has enough power (70W) for the laptop, which older adapters couldn’t manage.

Plugging them in by the bedside table is the first thing we do in every hotel room. After a long travel day, everything’s charging before we’ve even unpacked.

It’s so useful that the travel adapter also makes one of the best travel gift ideas.

Hack 17: Swap insoles when you can’t swap shoes

On a city trip, we easily walk 20,000 to 30,000 steps a day. By day three, our feet are tired and begging for different shoes.

When we work out how to pack for a trip, we use a simple rule of thumb. Up to three full days means one pair of shoes. From four days on, we take two.

So for a long weekend in Warsaw or Florence, there’s no second pair. Instead, we take a second set of insoles with us.

When our feet get sore, we swap our memory foam insoles for gel ones (or vice versa)… and it feels almost like putting on a completely new pair of shoes!

They take up a fraction of the space a second pair would.

Hack 18: Always carry a foldable shopping bag

Travelling is expensive enough, so we don’t eat out for every single meal on a city trip. Some evenings, we buy food and snacks in a local supermarket and eat in our hotel room.

And every time, we had the same problem… how do we carry all this? Groceries don’t fit into our cross-body bag, which only holds the daily basics.

That’s why we started taking a foldable shopping bag with us. It’s now one of the city break essentials we never leave the hotel without.

You don’t need a special travel version, either. A reusable plastic bag folds down to almost nothing and works perfectly.

It’s also been our seat on damp park grass and our rubbish bag when there were no bins.

And on the flight home, it holds anything that won’t fit in the suitcase. Just check your airline’s allowance first, as budget airlines may charge for it as an extra bag.

Our suitcase has a removable laundry bag, but we recently bought a compression laundry bag for dirty clothes too.

With it, worn clothes don’t need rolling or folding. We press on the bag, and a valve lets the air out. That way, our efficient travel packing survives the flight home.

Only our flights, hotel and sightseeing plans get sorted weeks ahead (and yes, there really is a best time to book flights).

Oh, and we’re old-school and typically print our checklist, but ticking it off in an iPhone/Android notes app works just as well.

Ready to pack lighter?

Twenty years ago, we’d have laughed at the idea of three weeks in a carry-on. Today, we wouldn’t travel any other way.

If you only try one thing from this list, make it the checklist. Every other hack is easier to stick to once it’s written down and ticked off before each trip.

Before your next trip:

Pack light, and may your bottles never leak again!