How to Pack Light for Travel: 10 Things You Should Never Bring

Want to travel light? It saves money, time, back pain, and the frustration of dragging a massive suitcase over cobblestone streets and up five flights of stairs in a European walk-up. And it’s incredibly liberating to know everything you own for the next two weeks is on your back or in a light roller bag.

Even if you have door-to-door service, there are so many items you may never actually use on your journey, so why pack them and lug them around? Here are 10 things we never bring when we travel and what we chose to pack instead.

---

Heads up: Some links in this post are affiliate links, including to Amazon. We may earn a small commission if you book or buy through them, which helps keep our website running at no extra cost to you.

---

1. Full-Size Toiletries

There is no reason to check a bag just to bring a 12-ounce bottle of shampoo on a plane. Bring travel-size containers, or better yet, know what your hotel already provides. Most standard hotels have shampoo, lotion, and even razors or toothpaste available at the front desk if you forget yours. Apartments and Airbnbs might have less, so check the listing before you go.

Castile Soap for the Win: We swear by Dr. Bronner’s Lavender Castile Soap. It is the ultimate smart travel item because it’s incredibly versatile. You can use it as body wash, face wash, or even to scrub a stain out of a shirt in the hotel sink. And it’s biodegradable.

If you need something specific like spray-in conditioner, bring a tiny carry-on size and trust that you can buy more at your destination if you run out.

✅ These are my favorite refillable travel bottles, and this is the greatest travel-size castile soap.

2. A Heavy Hairdryer

Almost every hotel and Airbnb has a hairdryer. Even if it isn’t a high-end model, it will get the job done for a week. If you are worried about styling, leave the heavy tools at home and use a no-heat strategy.

My Tendril Trick: I bring two soft curlers in my toiletry bag to create some tendrils and put the rest of my hair in a bun. It takes up almost no space. If you need hairspray, bring a small non-aerosol spray bottle. Aerosols can be a headache with security in some locations, but a pump spray always passes.

✅ Here are the soft curlers I use. They don’t take up room in my bag and they are small enough not to bother me while sleeping if I fully set my hair. While they do curl tight, I usually relax the curls with some water or product in the morning.

3. A Different Outfit for Every Day

The biggest secret in travel is that literally no one cares if you wore the same shirt yesterday. Packing for “just in case” scenarios leads to a heavy bag and a lot of unworn clothes.

The Capsule Strategy: Pack a color-coordinated capsule wardrobe with mix and match items and scarves and other accessories to change the look. (I also never bring good jewelry, just a few inexpensive items that I don’t mind losing.)

What if you run out of clean clothes? Bring a few biodegradable laundry strips for the sink or book a place with a washer halfway through your trip. Washing a few items doesn’t take long and saves you from lugging ten extra pounds.

✅ These are my favorite quick-dry, light-weight pants I wear on every trip. They’re available in a ton of colors and even in sizes for shorties like me!

4. Too Many Shoes

Shoes are the heaviest, bulkiest items in any suitcase. You do not need four pairs of heels for a ten-day trip.

My Two (and a Half) Pair Rule: Wear your most comfortable, bulky pair on the plane and for your heavy walking days. Pack one nice, versatile pair for dinners and dresses and maybe add flat flip-flops for the hotel or beach. That is it.

✅ We both swear by Vessi waterproof shoes for travel. We’ve been wearing them for years. They keep your feet dry without getting hot. My favorite are the Chelseas.

5. The “Just-In-Case” Pharmacy

If you lug around meds for every possible scenario, you’d be carrying a mobile hospital. We needed burn cream in Laos and cold meds in China – but we just walked to a local pharmacy and got exactly what we needed for a fraction of the price at home. It’s part of the local experience. Even with language barriers, translation tools make it much easier.

The Essential Kit: We only bring what we are most likely to need immediately: a few bandaids, Neosporin, and a small supply of cough medicine (we do tend to get upper respiratory infections when we travel, so for us, this is essential). For everything else, trust the local infrastructure. It’s often cheaper and more effective.

✅ A small first-aid kit like this one covers the basics. If the kit includes scissors, make sure the the blades are 4 inches or less from the pivot point, if your going to bring through TSA in your carry-on. You can also just remove the unnecessary items

6. Valuable Accessories and Jewelry

Theo loves his watches and I love my handbags, but we only bring one of each that goes with everything. We bring our most neutral options. Why lug around expensive items that might get lost, stolen, or just take up space in a hotel safe?

Pro Tip: I rarely wear jewelry when we travel, but if I do, it’s inexpensive and versatile. I have a necklace that is black on one side and flips to white on the other. It matches every outfit in my capsule wardrobe and weighs practically nothing.

7. A Tangled Mess of Electronics

We love our gadgets, but we don’t bring all our devices on the road. Theo loves his iPad for long travel days but we otherwise limit it to three items:

• Smart phone.
• Earbuds, two pairs each just in case. (They can be very expensive to replace on the road).
• Apple watch (sometimes, but this can slide into the “expensive jewelry” category.)

We leave everything else at home (unless we’re on a beach and I really want my e-reader so there’s no glare). It’s hard not to bring everything! But we never regret being minimalists. I have a lightweight stand for my phone, which I use to read books and watch shows.

Keep the charging situation lean: We swear by Anker products. We bring a single 3-in-1 charger, a universal adapter, and one brick each. That still feels like a lot, doesn’t it? But these items are necessary for entertainment, capturing the travel moments, and keeping connected. I guess the point is to boil it down to the items you need to make your trip smoother and to be smart about your charging situation.

✅ This is my new favorite 3-in-1 charger. It’s powerful and folds up nicely. We also love this Anker universal adapter because it’s so much thinner than older models.

8. Bulky Pillows, Blankets, and Towels

These are the ultimate space killers. Unless you are camping in the wilderness or staying at a basic hostel, your accommodation will have all of these things.

The Hoodie Blanket: Instead of a bulky blanket, use a hoodie you were already planning to bring. The airplane seats now have better head support than they used to, so we often skip the neck pillow. If you must have one, consider getting an inflatable version that disappears into your bag when you don’t need it.

✅ I’m trying this highly rated inflatable neck pillow on my next trip.

9. Physical Guidebooks and Multiple Beach Reads

I used to be the person who brought three physical books on every trip. I even brought my favorite book as a “reminder of home.” That was a rookie mistake. Physical books are heavy, rigid, and take up valuable real estate.

Consolidate: We almost always do audiobooks or read on our phone. For beach vacations, we have old model, no-glare Kindles that were cheap enough we don’t panic about losing them. If you absolutely love the feel of paper, bring one paperback for the beach and leave it at a book exchange when you’re done. You can often trade books at resorts or even Airbnbs.

✅ Glare can be a problem when reading outdoors, so we like to keep it simple with a cheaper, like-new Kindle model.

10. Specialized Expedition Gear

Unless you’re climbing Everest, you do not need to drop thousands at a high-end outdoor store before your trip. Iceland is a perfect example: We don’t need professional-grade mountaineering gear just to see a waterfall.

Layering is Important: Most people just need basic cold weather gear and a practical layering system. If you’re going on a serious expedition, your guide will tell you what you need – and they often provide the specialized supplies themselves. Don’t waste suitcase space on gear you’ll only wear once or maybe never at all.

The goal is to leave enough room in your bag for the things that actually matter.

What can’t you live without on the road? What packing mistakes have you made in the past? Let us know in the comments.