I Travelled for 10 Days with Just a Cabin Bag — Here's My Exact Packing List

I resisted the cabin bag only thing for longer than I should have. Ten days felt too long. I wouldn't have enough clothes. I'd have to do laundry in a sink. All of those objections turned out to be mostly wrong — and when I added up what I saved on bag fees for a 10-day trip (Ryanair charges £28 each way for a checked bag, so £56 return — more in peak season), it stopped feeling like an inconvenience and started feeling like a decision.

Here's exactly what I took for 10 days in Seville and Porto in May, and what I'd change if I did it again.

The Bag

This matters more than the packing list. The Ryanair cabin bag allowance for basic fare tickets is 40x20x25cm — that's the free underseat bag. To bring anything larger (the 55x40x20cm overhead cabin bag), you need to pay for priority boarding or a fare that includes it, which currently costs £6–£10 each way. Most cabin bag travel content assumes you have the larger bag — so just to be clear: the 40x20x25cm free bag is very small. It holds about 10 litres. The 55x40x20cm 'cabin bag' holds 40 litres. I used the latter.

For the bag itself, I used the Osprey Daylite Plus (20L) for years and it's fine for shorter trips. For 10 days I've switched to the Peak Design Travel Backpack 30L, which compresses down to fit overhead bins and has excellent organisation. It's expensive (£175), but it's the only bag you'll ever need. Budget-wise, the Cabin Zero 36L Classic and the Wandrd Duo Daypack are both around £45–£65 and Ryanair/easyJet compliant.

Clothes (For 10 Days in Warm Weather)

This is where most people overthink it. In warm weather, you need fewer clothes than you think. My list: 5 lightweight t-shirts (merino wool or synthetic dries faster than cotton — I used 3 Uniqlo Airism and 2 merino from Icebreaker), 2 lightweight shorts, 1 pair of jeans or chinos that can double as smart-casual for evenings, 1 linen shirt for nicer evenings, 4 pairs of underwear (merino again — washes and dries overnight), 4 pairs of thin socks, 1 lightweight packable layer for cool evenings or air-conditioned restaurants. That's it. The 5+4+4 rule (5 tops, 4 bottoms, 4 pairs of socks and underwear) circulates on TikTok and it's broadly right, though I find 5 tops is one too many if you have a merino option — those genuinely can be worn two or three days in a row.

Shoes

Shoes are the cabin bag killer. They're heavy, they take up space, and most people bring one too many pairs. I travelled with: one pair of comfortable walking shoes (I used New Balance 327s — not the most practical, but I wore them onto the plane), one pair of lightweight sandals for evenings and beach days. That's it. No flip-flops (the sandals cover it), no 'nicer' shoes (the walking shoes, if they're not obviously trainers, are fine for most restaurants). Your feet will be grateful too — if you're walking 12,000+ steps a day in a city, trainers beat sandals by a margin.

Toiletries (The 100ml Rule)

Everything liquid in a single 1-litre clear bag, all under 100ml. This is the part of cabin bag travel that actually requires planning. I decanted shampoo and conditioner into reusable 100ml bottles (buy a set of travel bottles for £3 on Amazon — it pays for itself the first time you use it). Solid shampoo bars bypass the liquid rule entirely and take up no space; Lush and Ethique both make good ones. Toothpaste, face wash, moisturiser: all in the smallest size I could buy or decant. The thing I never bother putting in the liquid bag: deodorant (stick form is fine, not a liquid), sunscreen (small SPF stick for face goes in the liquid bag, proper sunscreen you either buy there or check online — many good pharmacies in Spain and Portugal stock Factor 50).

Tech and Cables

Laptop (if needed — on this trip I didn't bring one, used my phone for everything), phone charger, universal adapter, a small powerbank, earphones. I used a flat cable organiser pouch (£8 on Amazon) to stop these turning into the wire chaos that usually lives at the bottom of my bag. One tip: a MagSafe or wireless charging pad eliminates multiple cables at once if your phone supports it.

The Things I Was Glad I Packed

A dry bag or waterproof pouch for the beach (you can also buy them cheaply at most beach resorts, but having one guarantees I'll actually use it). A microfibre travel towel, which compresses to the size of a thick paperback. A reusable water bottle with a filter (Lifestraw or Brita make compact options) — this genuinely saves money and means I never had to buy water at tourist prices. A small first aid kit: ibuprofen, plasters, rehydration tablets, antihistamine. If you've ever needed any of these things at 11pm in a city you don't know, you know why this makes the cut.

The One Thing I Nearly Regretted Leaving Behind

A proper rain jacket. May in southern Europe is generally dry, but I had one afternoon of genuine downpour in Porto, and my lightweight layer was not adequate. Next time I'd either bring a packable rain jacket (they compress to the size of a fist) or accept I'd get wet. For reference: the Decathlon Quechua packable rain jacket costs £15 and folds into its own pocket.

Does the Cabin Bag Only Strategy Actually Save Money?

On a Ryanair or easyJet return trip: £28–£42 saved per person (checked bag fee each way), plus the time you save not queuing at baggage claim. On a two-week trip for two people, that's £112–£168 back in your pocket for a bit of packing discipline. The first time you do it you'll feel underprepared for the first two days. By day four you'll wonder why you ever checked a bag.