Two week holiday. Could you manage with one cabin sized case per person?

[NickiFury]

I say yes, my Mum says no way and I am being ridiculous?

I will be able to do washing on the holiday. I just find massive suitcases really stressful and they slow us down.

Could you manage? Would you?

I know it's boring but it's consuming my planning for my Hols!

[Floggingmolly]

Of course. Nothing more tedious than people who take the kitchen sink with them, and spend half a day unpacking when they arrive.
It's a holiday. And how much space could makeup take up anyway?

[ILovedYouYesterday]

I could. I couldn't be arsed handwashing on my holiday but would be fine with the laundry facilities you describe.

The teens could. DD might need to beg some space off her two brothers for her make-up but they'd probably be OK with a bag between them!

DH - no way

[HelenF35]

See if your hotel hires beach towels, that saves a lot of room. It just buy over there and leave them, I did that in Turkey and the towels were only about £4.

[GirlOverboard]

Provided there are no weight restrictions on the cabin luggage, then yes, it's perfectly doable. I managed 10 days in Ibiza with cabin luggage very easily. And I'm quite high maintenance, so had my bulky hair straighteners and hairdryer and lots of make-up with me. The only extras I had to buy were shampoo and sunscreen once I'd got through security. I had a couple of little sachets of washing detergent in my liquids bag which I used to handwash my clothes when I was out there.

[GirlOverboard]

• When I say 'provided there are no weight restrictions', I mean extremely low weight limits like Thomas Cook have.

[PandasRock]

Yes. We do it quite often.

Most memorable time was to USA when dc 1 & 2 were quite small (ages 3ish and 1 iirc).

So all our clothes went into 2 cabin bags, then had one Trunki for toys/sticker books and nappy kit onboard, and another Trunki for food/drinks onboard (multiple allergic children, plus autism food issues). It was easily done, tbh.

[IssyStark]

Yep, we do every year, and I usually end up taking more stuff than we actually wear. It makes it much easier now that ds1 can pull his own, although ds2 wants to pull his own, he's not there yet.

[PunkAssMoFo]

Could you not check in one case between you as well. That way you could take all toiletries & some extra bits each. I personally don't take holidays in order to spend my time washing.

[irregularegular]

Yes of course. Provided you can do laundry, I don't think it matters whether you are going for one week, or more. We are going to Canada for 3.5 weeks, and though we are not going hand luggage only (not an option, I don't think) we will only take one cabin sized bag each because we are travelling around a lot and it just makes this easier. Having said that, my cabin-sized bag is quite large! You'd be surprised how big a bag airlines count as cabin sized!

It only becomes tricky if you need a few different formal outfits (with shoes) and a range of warm clothes, walking shoes etc. and need to take your own towels. For a 'normal' summer holiday it is absolutely no problem.

[dietcokeandwine]

I could, very easily, but wouldn't want to.

I would find it far more stressful to plan every day down to the nth degree than I would to manage a larger suitcase.

[chrome100]

I went away for 10 days last year and took one dress, one pair of shorts and one vest, a toothbrush and a bit of make up. All fit in one small bag. I just washed stuff overnight and it dried because it was warm.

(I had to pack so lightly as I was cycling but it taught me a good lesson in how little you actually need).

[abigamarone]

I could, and have, for only a few days. But if I'm on holiday for a fortnight I wouldn't want to.

[CrystalCove]

Nope, and don't want to. Airports tend to have trolleys. We are off to USA for 3 weeks soon and will have a hold and cabin bag each, me DH and our 2 boys.

[Ragusa]

Yes of course. We never pay for checked luggage. It's not cheap at all - for a family of 4 it adds £200 to our flight cost. We've managed it with skiing gear and for summer sunshine holidays. Also when the kids were babies and we had to take extra clothes for the vomiter and nappies .

How much stuff do you actually need on holiday?? Does anyone really have that much make-up?!

The only situation I can think when this might be a bit tricky is if you're going out clubbing every single night and want a wide range of outfits and shoes to choose from. Not my kind of holiday so that might be why we can do the carry-on suitcases only.

[Ragusa]

Yes of course. We never pay for checked luggage. It's not cheap at all - for a family of 4 it adds £200 to our flight cost. We've managed it with skiing gear and for summer sunshine holidays. Also when the kids were babies and we had to take extra clothes for the vomiter and nappies .

How much stuff do you actually need on holiday?? Does anyone really have that much make-up?!

The only situation I can think when this might be a bit tricky is if you're going out clubbing every single night and want a wide range of outfits and shoes to choose from. Not my kind of holiday so that might be why we can do the carry-on suitcases only.

[FuzzyWizard]

If there are laundry facilities it's 100% doable. I can do just over a week in a carry on without laundry facilities. Did 5 nights for 2 people with one carry on case and a few bits put into DP's camera backpack just last week.

[Ragusa]

Yes of course. We never pay for checked luggage. It's not cheap at all - for a family of 4 it adds £200 to our flight cost. We've managed it with skiing gear and for summer sunshine holidays. Also when the kids were babies and we had to take extra clothes for the vomiter and nappies .

How much stuff do you actually need on holiday?? Does anyone really have that much make-up?!

The only situation I can think when this might be a bit tricky is if you're going out clubbing every single night and want a wide range of outfits and shoes to choose from. Not my kind of holiday so that might be why we can do the carry-on suitcases only.

[Ragusa]

oh dear sorry for repeated posts.

[SinglePringle]

Different outfits require different underwear / shoes / accessories and I like to pamper myself / skin on holiday.

Never take beach towels - they're always provided in the hotels I stay at. And I get my laundry done at the hotel before I come home - bliss!

[EmmaWoodlouse]

Depends how hot it's going to be there. I could probably manage it if I was mainly going to be wearing thin, light clothes.

[stealthsquiggle]

It would cost more, as we would have to buy sun and insect protection at airport or resort prices instead of me shaping around for the best deals on the stuff my (fussy) lot want, but with access to a washing machine and to a sup armed for toiletries, yes, we could, fairly easily, as long as DS and DH weren't diving - their dive kit would no way fit into hand luggage.

Diving apart, shoes are the killer on luggage space. We don't really do holidays that require lots of sorts of footwear, though. When travelling for work, 3 days is my limit on hand baggage only as beyond that I need more shoes.

[CrystalCove]

There's no way I can or want to buy the toiletrues I use either. It's not just make up, shampoo, conditioner, styling spray, brush, shower gel, shower scrunchie, facial wash, soap for other areas, facial moisturiser, deodorant, sun cream and after sun are all items I use at home and have bought in advance to spread the cost. And then there's DHs and the boys toiletries to.