Packing for a summer trip with only a carry-on is much easier than it might seem. Summer clothes are lighter, shoes can be kept to a minimum, and a few well-planned outfits can easily get you through a week away.
From my experience, a small carry-on suitcase is enough for around seven days in summer – and with a little more planning, you could probably stretch it to ten. The goal isn’t to fit as many things as possible into a smaller suitcase. It’s almost the opposite. Pack fewer things, but make almost everything something you genuinely like wearing.
Before thinking about clothes, shoes or toiletries, though, there are a few carry-on essentials that matter much more than everything else:
- your passport if you’re traveling internationally,
- money and cards,
- phone and charger,
- and I never (again) will leave without the travel health insurance for trips abroad. I learned that lesson the hard way.
Once those are covered, everything else becomes a question of how little you can pack while still having everything you need.
Start with the right carry-on
I usually travel with a small suitcase, approximately 55 x 40 x 23cm or 21.65 x 15.75 x 7.87 inches. That’s enough space for my summer trips, but always check the baggage dimensions and weight allowance of the airline you’re flying with. Carry-on rules vary, and what works perfectly on one flight may count as oversized or additional baggage on another.
If the airline and ticket allowance permit an additional personal item, I also like having a smaller bag that slides over the suitcase handle. It’s particularly useful for things you want to keep separate and easy to reach, such as toiletries, jewelry and smaller personal items. And because it sits directly on the suitcase, you don’t have another bag constantly falling off your shoulder while moving through the airport.
You don’t necessarily need a bigger suitcase. You need to use the space you have more intentionally.
Plan your outfits before you start packing
This is probably the biggest difference between packing a carry-on successfully and simply trying to squeeze a normal holiday wardrobe into a smaller suitcase.
Don’t start by picking individual clothes. Start with outfits.
You don’t need to plan every single thing you’ll wear down to the last detail, but having most of your outfits in mind makes it much easier to see what actually deserves space in your suitcase.
Keeping the colors relatively coordinated helps too. You don’t need to create a strict capsule wardrobe in three neutral colors, but your tops and bottoms should work with more than one other thing you’re bringing.
For a summer trip, that might mean a pair of shorts, one or two skirts and several lightweight tops or shirts. And then there are dresses. Light and comfy summer dresses might be one of the best things you can pack when you’re traveling light. They take up very little space and one piece gives you an entire outfit.
Pack fewer clothes – but make them your favorites
There’s little point in packing something you don’t particularly enjoy wearing just because you might suddenly want it on holiday. You probably won’t.
The things that sit untouched in your wardrobe at home have a funny way of sitting untouched in a hotel room too.
I’d rather bring fewer clothes and have almost everything in my suitcase be something I already know I feel good in. It also makes repeating clothes much easier.
Bottoms, in particular, don’t need to be changed every day. A pair of shorts or a skirt can work with several different tops, which gives you multiple outfits without adding much to your luggage.
This is one of the reasons I’ve come to prefer traveling with less in the first place. If you’re interested in the less practical and more personal side of it, I wrote more about it in How I learned to travel with only a carry-on.
Be ruthless with shoes
Shoes take up an almost ridiculous amount of suitcase space.
And somehow, even when you bring several pairs, you often end up wearing the same ones anyway.
For a summer trip, I usually travel in sneakers. They’re generally the bulkiest shoes I’m taking, so it makes much more sense to wear them on the journey than put them in the suitcase. They also mean I already have comfortable shoes if the trip involves a lot of walking.
Then I’ll pack one or two pairs of sandals and flip-flops. That’s usually enough.
If you absolutely want to bring something bulkier, wear it while traveling. But before adding another pair of shoes “just in case,” think about how likely you are to actually choose them once you’re there.
In my experience, the answer is often: not very.
Give bikinis the space they deserve
For a summer holiday, swimwear is one category where I don’t feel the need to be particularly minimal.
Two or three bikinis take up almost no room, and if you’re going somewhere with beaches, a pool or sailing, you’ll probably use them constantly.
For underwear, I like having slightly more than the exact number of days I’m away.
Sleepwear stays very simple: a thin T-shirt and a pair of shorts. For a longer trip, I’ll sometimes bring a second T-shirt.
None of these things require much suitcase space, which is another reason summer is such a good season to try traveling carry-on only for the first time.
Downsize your toiletries – literally
My toiletry bag used to be one of the easiest places to overpack. Full-size products, too much skincare, too much makeup – it all adds up surprisingly quickly.
Now, anything that can go into a smaller travel bottle does. Skincare gets edited down to what I’ll actually use rather than recreating my entire bathroom routine somewhere else.
I generally don’t pack shower gel because accommodation will usually provide it. The same logic can work for shampoo, although this is one exception I make myself: I have a particular shampoo that works for me, so I’d rather bring a small amount of my own.
Makeup gets the same treatment. A holiday doesn’t require your entire makeup collection. Bring the products you genuinely use and leave the endless “maybe I’ll want this” options at home.
Small containers and travel-size versions can make a surprisingly big difference when every bit of carry-on space counts.
Leave the hairdryer behind if you can
Especially in summer, a hairdryer is one of the first bulky items I’d leave at home. Many hotels and apartments already provide one, so check your accommodation before packing.
And depending on your hair and the kind of trip you’re taking, summer may be the easiest time to simply go without one anyway.
You probably need less tech than you think
For many summer trips, my technology packing list is almost embarrassingly short:
- Phone.
- Charger.
That’s about it.
Of course, what you need depends on the trip. If you’re working while traveling, a laptop changes things considerably. A camera might be important to you too. But don’t automatically pack electronics simply because they’re part of your everyday life.
One thing I would consider if you love reading on holiday is an e-reader such as a Kindle. I don’t currently travel with one myself, but from a carry-on perspective, it makes perfect sense: it takes up less space than a single book while giving you access to several.
For someone who normally packs two or three books for a holiday, that’s a very easy way to save space.
Leave room for things you haven’t bought yet
This is the part I could probably be better at.
You leave home with a perfectly packed carry-on and then find a beautiful shop, something local you want to take home or a piece of clothing that absolutely wasn’t part of the luggage plan. Suddenly the perfectly packed suitcase has a problem.
The sensible solution is to deliberately leave a little room when packing for the outward journey. It requires some restraint, but it’s much nicer than sitting on your suitcase the night before your flight home trying to make the zipper close.
And if you don’t leave enough space, you may have to exercise a different kind of creativity. The bulkiest new purchase can always become part of your airport outfit. 🙂
You don’t need packing cubes to pack light
Packing cubes are often presented as one of the ultimate carry-on essentials. I don’t use them.
That doesn’t mean they aren’t useful. If they help you organize your luggage, great. But you don’t need to buy an entire collection of travel accessories before you can start traveling with a smaller suitcase.
The same applies to most packing gadgets. Start with what you already have. Learn what actually annoys you or takes up too much space. Then buy something if it genuinely solves that problem.
Packing light is much more about deciding what not to bring than finding clever ways to fit more things into your suitcase.
Carry-on packing gets easier every time
The first time you pack for a week with only a carry-on, it can feel as though you’re leaving half the things you need at home.
Then you come back and realize you still didn’t wear everything. That’s usually the best lesson.
You learn which shoes you actually reach for, how much makeup you really use, which clothes are easy to repeat and which “just in case” items never leave the suitcase.
For a summer trip, you have an advantage. Clothes are light, dresses barely take up space, and you don’t need layers of bulky sweaters and coats. Start with the things you genuinely can’t travel without. Build outfits from clothes you love wearing. Keep shoes and toiletries under control.
And don’t fill every last centimeter of your suitcase. Future-you, standing in a beautiful little shop somewhere in Europe, might need it.
Carry-on essentials: Copy this packing list to your Notes
Don’t leave without
☐ Passport (for international travel)
☐ Wallet, cards and cash
☐ Phone
☐ Charger
☐ Travel health insurance (for international travel)
☐ Tickets / booking details
Clothes
☐ Lightweight summer dresses
☐ Shorts
☐ 1–2 skirts
☐ Tops
☐ Lightweight shirts
☐ Underwear
☐ Bras
☐ Thin sleep T-shirt
☐ Sleep shorts
☐ 2–3 bikinis
☐ Light layer if needed for the destination
Shoes
☐ Sneakers – wear while traveling
☐ 1–2 pairs of sandals
☐ Flip-flops
Toiletries
☐ Toothbrush + toothpaste (they come in travel size as well)
☐ Travel-size skincare
☐ Shampoo if needed
☐ Minimal makeup
☐ SPF
☐ Deodorant
☐ Hairbrush
☐ Any medication or personal essentials
The little things: optional
☐ Sunglasses
☐ Jewelry
☐ Small everyday bag
☐ E-reader / Kindle if you use one
☐ Headphones / earbuds
☐ Hat — wear it while traveling to save space
☐ Destination-specific essentials – for example, a lightweight quick-dry towel for a beach trip
☐ A little empty space for the trip home
Keep reading
How I learned to travel with only a carry-on
If you’re wondering why traveling with less can make a trip feel easier in the first place, this is where the carry-on story started.
7 beautiful places to visit in Europe
Looking for somewhere to take that carefully packed little suitcase? These are seven European places worth slowing down for.
A weekend in Ortigia: The most beautiful part of Sicily
A slower guide to one of my favorite places in Sicily, with beautiful streets, food, swimming and plenty of reasons to wander without much of a plan.
