We only fly with hand luggage!
Why?
It cannot be lost during loading or unloading of the aircraft.
We want to travel with minimal luggage anyway - it makes you more mobile! Especially in Asia, where it will be super hot, you appreciate every kilo less on your back.
It's cheaper: we would have had to add checked baggage for €60 per person.
The low weight has already proven to be the right decision for us before the flight. We walked from Berlin Hauptbahnhof to Alexanderplatz to the cinema (4 kilometers - 1 hour) with our luggage. No problem. We also saved ourselves a train ticket and invested the money in popcorn.
Check-In
Each airline has specific dimensions and a maximum weight for carry-on luggage. We pondered for a long time whether we would be able to meet the requirements. And we decided to just give it a try. Take a risk. In the worst case, we would have to add checked baggage on-site. And in the end, it was no problem for the flight from Berlin to Singapore. We boarded the plane with our backpacks.
Implementation details
Karli got a new backpack from Decathlon, and I was able to borrow a backpack from a friend - a big thanks to Leonie! In their "normal state," both backpacks are slightly larger than allowed. We assume that compressed backpacks are acceptable.
For our outbound flight, we are allowed to take two pieces of luggage - the second one has smaller dimensions (briefcase) than the first and can be a maximum of 10cm deep - which we also don't comply with. Again, these are collapsible bags.
Regarding the contents or non-contents of the backpacks:
Anything you're wearing doesn't count. Karli is wearing "only" two pairs of pants and 4 tops. I, Janine, am wearing 4 pairs of pants and 9 tops layered on top of each other. My scarf is 1.5x2.0 meters and will serve as a beach towel and sleeping bag in Asia. Besides the advantages in terms of weight and volume, the layering principle also serves the simple purpose of keeping me warm. We don't have any winter clothing with us; it doesn't make sense in Asia.
I have a neck pillow for the flight. I removed the filling and stuffed a pair of pants in it instead. Karli has a regular pillow instead of a neck pillow. Contents: a pair of pants, a regular-sized towel, and a 1.5x2.0 meter towel. Hopefully, they won't be weighed either.
You can get almost everything in Asia. We are confident that if we don't have something we need, we can either buy it there or find another solution.
And then we realized that it's not the space that's the problem, but the maximum weight - 10kg. Solution: now we each have a waist bag where the heavy items are stored: solid soap, deodorant stick, electronics,... We were betting that they would count as clothing and not be weighed.
Disadvantages of traveling with only carry-on luggage
No pocketknife
Limited amount of liquids
We have a well-stocked emergency medical kit that also contains some creams and drops for various cases. Therefore, liquids. However, I packed them separately and obtained prescriptions from my doctor whenever possible. I had read somewhere that medications do not count towards the liquid restrictions.
None of the mentioned items caused any problems on our flight from Berlin to Singapore.
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