What to Pack for a Week Away With Carry-On Only

Packing for a week in a carry-on is not about being spartan. It is about accepting that you will wear the same four things and nobody at your destination will notice, because they have never seen your other clothes.

Here is the list we use, and the reasoning behind each decision.

Wear the heaviest things on the plane

The single biggest gain in carry-on packing is not folding technique. It is wearing the coat, the boots and the heaviest knit instead of packing them. Planes are cold; you will want the coat anyway.

The list

Worn on the plane

• The coat or jacket you would pack
• The heaviest knit
• Straight trousers or dark denim
• The boots

In the bag — clothing

• 2 t-shirts (one white, one darker)
• 1 shirt, poplin or oxford, for evenings
• 1 second knit, lighter weight
• 1 pair of trousers in a crease-resistant blend
• 1 dress or one-piece, if you wear them
• 3 sets of underwear and socks, washed in the sink
• 1 pair of flat sandals or a second lighter shoe
• 1 swimsuit, even in winter — hotels have pools

In the bag — everything else

• A small pouch: charger, adapter, cables
• Toiletries in containers under 100ml, decanted
• One foldable tote for the return trip
• A scarf that works as a blanket, a pillow and a layer

That is roughly a week of outfits for a bag that fits under the seat.

The two-outfit system

Most travel wardrobes fail because they are packed as individual items rather than as outfits. Pack two outfits and repeat them with variations:

Outfit A — walking. T-shirt, trousers, sneakers or boots, coat. Add the scarf when it is cold.

Outfit B — evening. Shirt, trousers, the lighter shoe, the same coat. One button difference from Outfit A, which is the whole point.

Everything else is a variation: swap the t-shirt colour, swap the knit for the shirt under the coat, swap the shoe. Six combinations from five garments.

Fabric choices that survive a suitcase

• Wool and wool blends recover from creasing better than cotton. A wool trouser unpacked and hung for twenty minutes looks fine.
• Linen creases permanently and that is the point, but only if you are somewhere warm enough to embrace it.
• Jersey and ponte travel perfectly and look casual. Useful for long transit days.
• Silk packs to nothing and creases less than people expect, but needs a sink wash and a night to dry.

Avoid stiff cotton twill, heavy denim on long trips, and anything that needs ironing to look intentional.

Washing on the road

Three underwear, three socks, one week. The arithmetic only works with a sink wash every second night:

1. Wash in cool water with a drop of soap, agitate for thirty seconds.
2. Roll in a towel and press — do not wring.
3. Hang overnight near a window or over a chair.

A travel clothesline weighs nothing and is the difference between packing for four days and packing for ten.

What not to pack

• "Just in case" shoes. Shoes are the heaviest thing in any bag and the least likely to be worn.
• A second coat. One coat, worn, is the rule.
• Gym clothes for a gym you will not visit. If you actually train on trips, pack one set and wash it.
• Books. One paperback, and the rest on your phone.

The return trip

Leave a quarter of the bag empty. You will come back with something — a book, a shirt, a gift — and a bag that was full on the way out becomes a problem at the airport.

If you are building the wardrobe this list comes from, start with the 30-piece checklist. For the shoes that make the walking outfit work, see how to buy leather boots.