The One Bag Challenge

Long haul airlines typically give you a pretty generous luggage allowance - in the region of 20-30kg for checked luggage and maybe around 10kg for cabin. Let's say it works out about 30kg overall, in general. Imagine how much you could fit in that much baggage.

When we went to New Zealand last year, my checked bag weighed 11kg. For three weeks of travel. I didn't even use half of the things I packed - mostly extra clothes. So when I went to Iceland in January with Gemma, I figured I'd bypass the checked baggage and just take carry-on, because a) we were only going for four days and b) you have to pay extra for checked bags with WOW Air. Managed it easily.

Ryanair also charge for checked baggage, so we've taken just one between the 3 of us to Ireland. Personally, the less I put in that bag, the better. I'm aiming for just the one bag. Observe.

Woo, badly edited photo. Anyway, the bag on the right is the checked bag and also the one I took to New Zealand with an entire 11kg in it. The one on the left is the bag I intend to fit most of the things I need into. It holds 25l and it lasted me a week in Wales without feeling I was missing anything.

This is the challenge you see. The Grand Tour, my epic grand plan to travel round the world on my own, is less than a year away and I figure the fewer bags I have to keep an eye on, the better.

Enter the One Bag Challenge. My goal is to cut out the checked bag altogether and just take carry on. This can make so many things easier.

• Fewer bags to keep an eye on.
• Potentially faster check in at airports.
• Cheaper travel where airlines charge for checked bags.
• Fewer things to carry around - that 65l bag was not pleasant to lug around in New Zealand.
• Fewer things to misplace from the bag.

With a little thought, there is no reason why I shouldn't be able to fit everything I need into that bag. I'm perfectly capable of doing laundry, so I won't be needing all those extra clothes I always take. I always wear my walking boots, my heaviest item, on the flight, so that takes them out of the equation. I don't take loads of tech with me - my laptop, though fairly light, stays at home and my camera will fit neatly into the top of the bag.

New Zealand also taught me that I don't need to take books away with me. I took a couple to NZ with the idea that I'd read them in the evenings. I didn't touch them, not even on the flights. Dead weight. Even my travel guide barely got touched, so I won't be taking them anywhere again.

The other heavy and bulky things are the toiletries. I only took travel-sized toiletries to Iceland, which seriously cut down on weight and how much space they took up. Also, let's face it, most places I plan to go, I'll be able to buy toiletries there.

Same applies to any clothes I might be missing - nothing to stop me picking up something locally. Might even find something nice to take home.

And there's another thing - souvenirs. They can take up so much space. Nothing to stop me posting things back home though. Could have a nice little stack of things waiting for me when I get back.

Yeah, I'm thinking this is a great idea. I'll let you know how it goes.

Do you have any tips for cutting down on luggage? Feel free to share!