Traveling with only a carry-on is one of those skills that sounds hard until you’ve done it once. After that, checked bags start to feel like a tax on your time. There’s no wait at the carousel, no lost luggage, and no lugging a giant suitcase up three flights of stairs to an apartment with no elevator.
The best advice on packing light comes from people who have done it for months or years at a time. These are seven carry-on guides from travel bloggers I trust, each with a different angle. Every entry credits the creator and links to the original post.
Last reviewed: November 2026. Airline size limits change, so always check your own airline before you fly.
1. Her Packing List: the first-timer’s walkthrough
If you’ve never gone carry-on only, start here. Her Packing List treats it as a step-by-step process: what to expect, how to choose the right bag, how to build a packing list, and how to pack the bag itself. Then it covers the two things beginners forget, using your personal item well and weighing your bag before you leave home.
The section on getting through security is a nice touch. Knowing in advance where your liquids bag and laptop will go makes the airport part of carry-on travel far less stressful.
Read First Timer’s Guide to Traveling Carry-On Only on Her Packing List
2. Never Ending Voyage: ten steps from long-term travelers
Erin and Simon of Never Ending Voyage have been traveling long-term for years, and their ten steps are refreshingly practical. Choose luggage that is actually carry-on size, pack for one week no matter how long the trip is, use packing organizers, and switch to solid toiletries so your liquids bag has room for the things that matter.
My favorite of their steps is “don’t pack anything just in case.” Most overpacking comes from imagined scenarios. They also suggest wearing your bulkiest clothes on travel days, which is the simplest way to free up space.
Photo: Timur Weber / Pexels (illustrative). Read Carry-On Travel: 10 Easy Steps on Never Ending Voyage
3. The Broke Backpacker: the honest pros and cons
Most carry-on guides are pure cheerleading. The Broke Backpacker’s version also covers the limitations and downsides of hand-luggage-only travel, and how rules differ around the world. That’s useful if you’re flying budget carriers, where cabin allowances can be much smaller than you’re used to.
It also covers the money side. That matters, because on low-cost airlines a checked bag on every leg can add up to more than the flights themselves, which is often the best reason to learn to pack light.
Photo: Mateusz Feliksik / Pexels (illustrative). Read Travelling with Hand Luggage Only on The Broke Backpacker
4. Northabroad: six rules, including liquids and banned items
Northabroad keeps it to six tips, and two of them are ones people often get wrong: understanding the rules for liquids, aerosols and gels, and knowing what you’re not allowed to bring at all. Getting either wrong means losing items at security.
The first tip, “know the restrictions,” is the one I’d underline. Size limits, weight limits and personal item rules all vary by airline and even by fare type. Check them before you buy a bag, not at the gate.
Photo: Tara Winstead / Pexels (illustrative). Read Our 6 Best Tips for Travelling With Hand Luggage Only on Northabroad
5. Mog and Dog Travels: for recovering over-packers
This one opens with “Over-packers Anonymous,” which tells you who it’s written for. The 16 steps focus on how you pack as much as what you pack: packing cubes, rolling clothes, and packing complete outfits rather than random pieces that don’t go together.
Two of their rules are easy to apply at home tonight. Don’t bring anything you never wear at home, and leave behind anything that creases badly. If it needs an iron, it probably isn’t worth the space.
Photo: Timur Weber / Pexels (illustrative). Read 16 Simple Steps to Travelling With Carry-On Only on Mog and Dog Travels
6. The Backpacking Housewife: how she gave up hard cases for hand luggage
This is less a checklist and more a story, and that’s why it works. The Backpacking Housewife describes starting out with far too much luggage (hard-shell suitcases, then wheeled backpacks) and ending up with hand luggage only on a six-month trip through Asia.
If you don’t think you could ever pack that light, this is the post to read. It ends with ten packing tips, her actual packing list and what she learned, so you can see the change step by step rather than as an all-or-nothing leap.
Photo: Atlantic Ambience / Pexels (illustrative). Read Travel Light: Hand Luggage Only on The Backpacking Housewife
7. Snarky Nomad: ultralight, for people who want to go further
Once you’ve mastered a standard carry-on, Snarky Nomad’s ultralight packing list is the next level. It covers how to pack for ultralight travel, how to budget for it, and the gear choices that make a very small bag workable. The site also reviews specific clothing and gear in depth if you want to dig further.
It’s not for everyone, but even if you never go fully ultralight, reading it will change how you think about every item you pack.
Photo: Jędrzej Koralewski / Pexels (illustrative). Read the Ultimate Ultralight Travel Packing List on Snarky Nomad
Before you buy a carry-on bag
Every guide above starts in the same place: the bag has to fit your airline’s rules. That sounds obvious, but limits vary more than most people expect. Some airlines care only about dimensions, others weigh cabin bags strictly, and budget carriers often split your allowance into a small free item plus a paid larger bag.
So before you buy, compare the airlines you fly most in my carry-on size and weight limits for 25 major airlines, or look one up in the airline bag rules finder, which links to each official page. Ryanair is the classic budget example, and if you like to shop at the airport, its duty-free bag rules are worth reading too.
Then size the bag to the strictest airline you use, not the most generous one. A bag that passes on a full-service carrier can still fail a low-cost sizer at the gate.
- Measure packed, with wheels and handles. The size on the label is often the body only.
- Weigh it empty. On airlines with a cabin weight limit, a heavy bag eats into what you can pack.
- Check your fare type. Basic and light fares often allow only a small under-seat item.
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