Trip Report: 12 Days in Estonia and Sweden (Or, A Humbling First Attempt at One Bagging)
I just got home from my first longer trip where I attempted (key word, as I did not totally succeed!) to pack in one bag and I feel like I learned SO much. I read a ton of posts on this sub before I left which was so helpful!
This was a 12 day trip in August to Estonia and Sweden with lots of city exploration, a few days at the seaside, and a couple of fine dining meals. The first half of the trip I was visiting friends in Estonia (notable because I didn’t think I’d have a chance to do laundry at their place but I did!) and the second half was in hotels/airbnbs in Sweden with a travel partner. Most days had several “stages” to them, so I frequently wore a casual, walking-around outfit for the day then changed into a nicer outfit for dinner/drinks.
Bags (Photo 1)
I brought two bags, one as a carry-on and one as a personal item. They’re both generic, random bags I’ve gotten over the years from Amazon — nothing special or optimized.
My larger carry-on was the Matein 40L backpack. This held all of my clothes in packing cubes.
My personal item (which may not strictly fit the size requirements but I’ve always been able to get it on planes) was the Etronik 35L duffle bag. This held shoes, electronics, toiletries, etc. This wasn’t 100% full (probably 75% capacity?) but I didn’t have an option that was better suited for the amount of stuff I had, so I just went with it. Outbound, this included baked goods I was bringing for my friends who used to live in my city — those took up quite a bit of the space!
Clothes (Photo 2)
Dresses:
- Black midi dress — one of my favorite dresses and I wore it a few times.
- Linen Marimekko/Uniqlo midi dress — expected to wear this more but ended up just wearing it once as a cute/breezy coverup on a beach day.
- Black mini swing dress — brought this as an easy-to-throw-on swim coverup, but ended up only swimming once, so this didn’t get worn.
Bottoms:
- Darker wash wide leg jeans — I wore these on travel days and multiple times throughout the trip. Washed them once mid-way.
- Lighter wash even wider leg jeans — I wore these a few times as well, although not as often as the darker wash.
- Black swingy skirt — Another favorite and I wore this a few times, including once for a nice/fancy dinner.
- Maroon a-line skirt — I didn’t reach for this at all, not sure why. It’s a new skirt so maybe I just wasn’t instinctively reaching for it?
Outer layers:
- Pink cropped button down — wore this often as a very light jacket. It was the perfect thing to throw on over a dress or t-shirt when it was just slightly breezy.
- Denim button down — wore this a ton as a slightly warmer jacket, and it made a great pillow on the train/cabs/plane.
- Packable rain jacket — There was a fair amount of rain in the forecast when I was packing, but we had perfect weather the whole time, so I didn’t need this! Luckily it packed down pretty small.
Sweaters/long sleeves:
- Tan wool sweater — I wore this once but found that generally it wasn’t cold enough to need something this heavy.
- Black thin wool sweater and long sleeve brown t-shirt — Didn’t wear these at all even though they’re both favorites at home!
T-shirts/tanks:
- Brown shirt — For all of my airplane travel days.
- Blue boat neck shirt and black/white striped shirt — Wore both of these a few times.
- Navy short-sleeved merino sweater — I found this a little scratchy and close-fitting around the neck. It’s new and I didn’t have a chance to test wear it before I packed it.
- Red/white striped shirt and white tee — Didn’t reach for either of these this time.
- Cream wool tank — Wore this a handful of times, both casually with jeans and once with my black skirt for a nice dinner.
- Striped brown/white tank — This was perfect for the hottest day of my trip.
- Boxy black linen/wool blend tank — This is a favorite (I sewed it myself!) but it got lost in the shuffle and I didn’t end up wearing it.
Extras (Photo 3)
Under things/PJs/lounge:
- Underwear — a few more than I’d usually bring because my period was due to start mid-way through the trip
- Socks
- Sports bras and underwire bras — Wore the sports bras for travel days and underwire bras for non-travel days.
- Swimsuit
- Yoga pants — For long flights and PJs on a couple of chilly nights.
- Sleep shirts
- Bike shorts — Worn as sleep shorts.
Shoes:
- Adidas Sambas — Wore these constantly for up to 18,000 steps.
- Camper Dana sandals — Wore these 5-6 times on warmer days. Super comfy and easy to walk in.
- Loafers — My go-to shoe that looks cute with pants or a dress/skirt. Also my airplane shoes.
Accessories (Don’t judge me for my excesses!):
- Brown shoulder bag — Took this out a couple of times but ended up getting sick halfway through my trip which necessitated carrying around a box of tissues, so this didn’t get a ton of use.
- Black tote bag — My go-to bag pretty much every day.
- Larger pink/orange tote bag — For days I needed to carry more stuff (towels for beach day, big shopping days), and ended up being my airplane bag on the way back due to the number of souvenirs/treats I bought to bring home.
- Navy corduroy baseball cap
Makeup and health (Photo 4)
Makeup/Jewelry — Muji zippered pen case:
- Eyes - Glossier mascara, Glossier boy brow, eyeshadow brush, Urban Decay eye shadow (in the future I’d find a smaller palette with just my two everyday colors)
- Face - Cargo blush, blush brush, Smashbox halo tinted moisturizer (didn’t wear this and wouldn’t bring it in the future unless I have a very specific need to do “nicer” makeup), Tarte creaseless creamy concealer
- Lips - Burts Bees tinted lip balm, Mario lip serum (this was empty, oops! Tossed it out)
- Other - Tweezers, compact mirror, Altoid mini tin with four pairs of earrings
Meds/health — Muji zippered pen case:
- Muji divided container with daily meds, Dramamine travel tube, prescription bottle (I take one controlled substance medication so travel with it in its original labeled bottle when I leave the country), nasal spray, a few foil blister packed Imodium and a couple of Sudafed, Altoid mini tin with advil and tylenol
Toiletries (Photo 5)
- Body/hair care - deodorant, sunscreen, hair products in tiny bottles from Muji, face lotion in a small container from Muji, comb, shampoo, conditioner, face wash, baggie of tampons/liners/pads (not pictured)
- Shower - Shampoo, conditioner, razor, Dr Bronners soap, Korean spa scrub mitt
- Dental care - Toothpaste, toothbrush, tongue cleaner, mouthwash, nightguard, floss
Bits and Bobs (Photo 6)
- Tech - Noise-cancelling headphones, wired headphones as backup, Instax camera and extra film, USB-c charger, laptop, plug adapter, mini white noise machine — I am very picky about my white noise…. however, this broke halfway thru the trip :( so I ended up using my phone
- Other - Water bottle, wallet, sunglasses, hair clip, sleep mask, umbrella ( didn’t end up raining and probably would’ve been fine to just bring the rain jacket), passport (not pictured)
Reflections:
I’m not generally an excessive packer, but this was the first time I made a concerted effort to pare back to just what I’d need, and while I clearly could’ve cut more, I feel like this is the start of a totally different approach to travel for me. It was great to not have a suitcase and I’m delighted at the thought of only having one bag in the future.
It also helped define some parameters about how I’d like to pack in the future — I know that I’m not very driven to do laundry while traveling (outside of staying somewhere with a W&D) for trips shorter than two weeks or wearing hyper-optomized clothes on repeat — I want clothes that feel natural and aligned with my general fashion sense. This will mean building a flexible, stylish-ish, comfortable travel capsule wardrobe that works for lighter packing and still feels like me.
What I’d do differently:
- I didn’t organize these images of the clothes until after I got back — it's SUCH a helpful visual & I’ll definitely do this in advance next time to be able to better visualize what/how much I’m bringing.
- I probably could’ve done with just one pair of jeans, even though I did wear them both fairly frequently.
- I brought a couple things that were new to me that either weren’t as comfortable as I hoped or that I didn’t instinctively reach for. I’ll consider the question of whether I want to bring a new item of clothing that feels unvetted or focus on tried-and-true items I know I’ll enjoy wearing.
- Too many shirts…! I was grateful to have options to change into after a sweaty day but I’d like to cut this number down.
- Do I really need two sports bras? Probably not! Since I just wore those for travel days, it wouldn’t be too onerous to wash one out after wearing and let it dry so it’s clean and ready for the next travel day.
- Next time, I’ll bring my silk PJs from Lunya that pack down SO small and would similarly wash and dry quickly if I wanted to wash them every few days.
- Unless I had a truly fancy event/dinner planned, I’ll probably stick with a black tote bag vs a purse. I can fit much more in it, it packs down smaller, and it’s more versatile.
- I got sick halfway through the trip and really wished I’d packed more than two Sudafed. I’ll definitely research what basic drugs I can’t get in the country I’m traveling to and prioritize packing a few more of those. I ended up having to buy more stuff than I really wanted or needed (saline nose spray, zinc pills, an herbal cough reducer, So Many Tissues) which took up more space in my bag.
- I can bring smaller bottles of shampoo/conditioner/face wash/soap/etc to save space. I’ll buy a couple smaller ones, fill them up, and use them at home so I can really see how many days they last.
- I’ll definitely replace my bulky plug adapter with a smaller one before I travel internationally again.
Wins and what I’d do the same:
- I really loved having all three pairs of shoes…! I think this’ll be a priority for me whenever possible.
- The korean spa scrub mitt takes up basically no space, dries quickly, and is great for scrubbing off dirt and grime after a long day.
- Bringing a larger tote bag came in clutch when we discovered SO many delightful treats and gifts to bring home — having it allowed me to shuffle everything around. I’ll probably find a lighter-weight tote (probably Baggu) that takes up less space or a single tote that works as both a day bag and a transit bag.
The biggest lesson came on the trip home — my travel companion checked a bag on the way home (included w/ our tickets) so they wouldn’t have so much to schlep thru the airport. But their bags didn’t make it onto our connecting flight…! Luckily it wasn't lost and was delivered within 24 hours, but it was 1) frustrating to wait so long at baggage claim vs getting out of the airport quickly after a long travel day, 2) stressful to have the bag be MIA, and 3) logistically challenging to not have the stuff inside the bag for 24 hours. I’m now fully committed to being more efficient and minimal with my packing so I don’t ever have to personally deal with that nonsense.
Thank you everyone for being so generous with information sharing on this group! This sub is so great and I appreciate everyone who shares their experiences, expertise, and advice 💞