Travelling Light: How to go away for the weekend only with a small Longchamp bag?
Note: this article isn’t sponsored
Before setting off on my round-the-world trip, I had to pass a lot of tests to make sure I could get used to my new life as a backpacker. One of the hardest tests was to learn how to travel with a minimum of stuff
We often went to France for weekends because JB gave trainings all over France. And we travelled by train so the weight of the suitcases was never a problem. I often left with a big suitcase full of stuff, my hairdryer, my Clarisonic and clothes covering all 4 seasons.
For 2 nights, 2 days and a half…
Of course, most of the stuff wasn’t even out of the suitcase.
Luckily, in the 3 months leading up to the round the world trip, I was able to reduce the amount of my weekend stuff from a large suitcase to a small Longchamp bag.
Parisian women all have a Longchamp bag, or even several of different sizes. I have one that I really like: it’s the famous Longchamp’s size S fold.
Inside, I have space to slide around
- an Eagle Creek mid-size (half cube) containing a top (or dress), a small vest, two panties, two bras, a pair of socks and pajamas. Roll up the clothes to put as many things as possible in the Eagle Creek or fold them using the KonMari method.
- a plastic bag for dirty clothes
- a toilet kit. Hotels in Europe always provide shampoo and soap. I just take
- my face cleanser (transferred in a Muji jar)
- a sun cream
- a moisturizing serum
- a moisturizing cream
- tweezers.
- If I’m in the mood for makeup, I’ll take some extra
- a concealer
- a make-up remover balm decanted into a Muji jar
- a mascara
- a lipstick
- a sample of Laura Mercier’s transparent powder (when you buy something from Laura Mercier, you can ask for many samples)
- my wallet reduced to a minimum (credit card + Navigo pass + identity card or passport) => on the picture, I put a transparent pocket bought at Maison du Monde as a wallet
- keys to the house
- sunglasses
- paper handkerchiefs
- my phone, headphones and charger
- if needed, a mini umbrella bought at Esprit (they have the smallest and strongest umbrellas I know) or my Japanese umbrella at 70g
- if the hotel isn’t a 4-star hotel, I also take cloth slippers that I have taken from another hotel
All this fits easily into a small Longchamp bag. There’s even room for a magazine or a small book.
I also stopped taking my blow-dryer with me. At the hotel reception, there is always one.
If I like the Longchamp, it’s because the bag itself doesn’t weigh much and it has good quality leather straps that don’t hurt the shoulder.
Try it and see! You can really survive with a minimum of stuff.
Note: although very practical, I didn’t take the Longchamp folding with me on the 1st round-the-world trip – but a very adventurous foldable Osprey backpack that goes unnoticed. The Longchamp is, for me, more adapted to a nomad workers life (as it is for me now), where you have to be pretty well presented from time to time while remaining minimalist.
