What Not to Pack for a Year of Travel

We headed off for a trip around the world and our suitcases were just jam-packed full with a ton of stuff that we didn’t need. We’re starting off with the absolute rookie packing mistakes. After having traveled to over 40 countries, we really should have known better. And then we’re going to work our way through the list to the truly ridiculous items that we never should have brought along for our adventure-of-a-lifetime.

If you’ve been following our YouTube channel, you’ll know that we’ve stopped bringing you along for our travel days. And there’s a reason for this. Our travel days are extremely stressful. And the reason that they’re stressful is because we’re dragging around a huge amount of luggage plus two dogs.

There are two issues with our luggage. The first is that we have so much stuff that Gillian has to spend days packing and repacking to make sure everything can fit. Some of that is just her OCD but mostly it’s because it’s really difficult just getting those suitcases closed. 

The second issue is that our suitcases are just too heavy for me to lift — and I consider myself to be relatively strong. So we somehow have to make our way down stairs, into cabs, through train stations, wherever — all with suitcases that only one of us can actually carry. Plus two knapsacks and two dogs.

Everytime we need to move from one city to another, it’s an absolute circus. Our situation came to a head when my suitcase could finally take no more and the wheel came apart. I found myself dragging 50 pounds of dead weight to the train station at 7 in the morning. That was it; I told Gillian we need to travel lighter. When we get back to Canada, we need to solve this once and for all. So here we are.

We’re going through all our packing mistakes today and sharing the mistakes that you should avoid making on your next big trip.

Mistake #1: Size of luggage

Our first mistake was the size of our luggage. We started our journey with oversized suitcases. One was 29” and the other was a huge 32”. And the more room we had, the more we filled it with stuff we didn’t need. 

Fortunately, we’ve since had the good sense to buy much smaller luggage. This is what’s forcing us to downsize all the unnecessary things that we’ve been carrying around. 

Mistake #2: Too many beauty products

Our second mistake was bringing along far too many beauty products. And this mistake was all mine. I insisted on bringing along three 10-litre dry bags, which I proceeded to fill with as many toiletries and beauty as would possibly fit. A lot of it was the standard stuff you expect to bring on a trip: soap, toothpaste, deodorant, makeup. But the biggest culprit was the huge volume of hair products that I brought along. For example, I had litre-sized containers of conditioner and gel. 

I was carrying what added up to a year’s supply of beauty products because I thought I wouldn’t be able to find my brands once we started travelling. So I sacrificed 20% of our luggage space to my hoarding. Meanwhile, what I discovered once we started traveling is that you can usually get the things you need one way or another. Or you just make do with what’s locally available. 

Mistake #3: Too much gear

Before we started traveling, Gillian was the kind of person with gear for everything. She had gear for hockey, camping, rock climbing. She owned a 200-foot climbing rope. A one-person tent, a two-person tent. You get the picture.

When it came time to pack for our trip, she knew that she had to keep it to the bare minimum. We wouldn’t be sleeping in tents but we might be staying in mountain refuges in Albania or wherever. Who knows, there could be a time when a set of silk sleeping bag liners would be just the thing we’d need. And if you have the liners, obviously you need pillow cases as well. To this day, we have never done a hostel or home stay. And even if we did, it’s really not worth bringing these along. 

The lesson for Gillian was not to bring gear that is so specialized that it might never get used. Again, if you need something, you can always get it along the way. 

Mistake #4: Impractical clothing

Our next mistake was bringing along a lot of impractical clothing. When we quit work to go traveling, we took what we had at hand. It didn’t make sense to buy new stuff when we already had a lot of perfectly good clothing. If we didn’t bring it along, we’d probably end up giving it away. 

But what we had on hand were a lot of dress clothes for work. For example, I brought along a lovely sequined t-shirt that I used to wear all the time at work. I’ve been carrying around in my luggage for over a year and I’ve never, ever worn it. For some reason, it was just never appropriate to wear it for hiking or for long walks on the beach. And I have a lot of this type of thing. 

Gillian also brought along her share of clothing that wasn’t quite right for life on the road. Probably the best example is her sweater collection. First she couldn’t resist bringing her two cashmere sweaters because she loves them so much and didn’t want to let them go. But they’re far too nice to wear everyday. So she has two other sweaters, which are the ones she actually wears on a day-to-day basis. Plus a merino sweater for hiking, because of course she needs her specialized gear. So somehow she’s hauling five sweaters around, which is kind of ridiculous for someone living out of a suitcase. 

Mistake #5: Unsuitable Footwear

Again, we went right from the workplace to our life of travel. And we brought what we had on hand. For me, this included a couple pairs of really cute dress flats that I just couldn’t let go. Like my sequined top, they were totally useless for 95% of my travel activities and have never been worn. I also brought along dress boots. Same issue as with the flats. 

Gillian did a pretty good job with her footwear. She brought two pairs of shoes that are good for multiple purposes: walking, hiking, working out. But then she added in her dress loafers. These were carefully selected from her collection of dress shoes and there was just no way she was going to let them go. After all, they went really well with the absolute most ridiculous item that she brought along: a linen blazer.  

Mistake #6: Just-in-case clothing

That’s right, Gillian brought a linen blazer on our trip around the world, while I had a chambray blazer. We need to explain why we thought this was a good idea. We thought what if we get invited to a wedding along the way, or go to a conference? After a couple decades of wearing suits to work all the time, it seemed odd not to have a blazer along. We wanted to be ready, just in case. Gillian even brought along a pocket square to complete the look. Of course, we’re still waiting for those invitations and our blazers haven’t made one appearance since we started traveling. 

To be honest, our biggest obstacle to packing light was the image we had of ourselves. We were still thinking of ourselves as working professionals but we’re not those people anymore. We’re travelers, we’re nomads. We need multi purpose clothes, not cashmere sweaters and sequined t-shirts. And we need shoes that can stand up to a full day of touring old town. 

After all the stuff we’ve gotten rid, we’re still not packing light but at least I can finally lift my own suitcase.