The Carry-On Traveller: The Ultimate Guide to Packing Light – Book Review
I don’t typically read non-fiction. I read for leisure and prefer curling up on a hammock or laying out on the sand and getting lost in a story. There is one big exception to that preference; guide books! I can pore over a guide book for just about anywhere, reading it from cover to cover and back again, looking for tidbits I’d missed or learning about the history and culture of a new place. Though I don’t usually read non-fiction I am (obviously) obsessed with all things travel and so was ecstatic to be chosen as a beta reader for “The Carry-On Traveller: The Ultimate Guide to Packing Light” by Erin McNeaney (of Never Ending Voyage). The Carry-On Traveller is a complete guide for the art of packing, for any length of time and to any climate, with just one carry-on bag.
One of the questions that Tom and I get asked the most is, “how have you been traveling for over five years with just one carry-on bag each?” When I point people to our own packing list post I’ll often get feedback like, “well that works for you, but I wear make-up, travel in cold weather climates, need camping gear,” or “that is way too much computer gear!” There is not much I can tell these people because though I know what works for Tom and me, I certainly don’t know about all these other special cases!
Enter Erin’s ‘guide to packing light,’ a book that promises to answer these questions and many more. Not only does Erin’s book accomplish what it says it will, answering any question that I have been asked about carry-on travel, but it also answers questions I never even thought to ask!
Erin writes about the intricacies of packing from beginning to end and covers dozens of “special cases.” I also really enjoyed the interviews with different types of travelers who travel carry-on only, and not just because one of them is with us! She interviews a family, a fashionista, a makeup lover, a retiree, and an artist, just to name a few. The book also comes with access to a packing resources web page featuring exclusive discounts and a downloadable packing list template.
I think the “The Carry-On Traveller: The Ultimate Guide to Packing Light” is a great tool whether you are planning on traveling for a week or a year. It is a practical guide that is easy to relate to and I am sure will help even the most seasoned of travelers pare down their possessions. Even after traveling with just a carry-on for five years I felt inspired to go through my bag after reading her book, taking out a few of the items I had “just in case” to drop another kilo from my bag.
When Tom and I first left on our adventure I read Erin’s packing posts with a religious fervor. Here was a couple who (at that time) had been traveling for a whole year and seemed to have the packing thing down to a science. Five years later, after six years of location independent living in over 30 countries with just a carry-on backpack Erin and her partner, Simon are indubitably the experts and it shows in her book.
The Carry-On Traveller is available for the Kindle on the Amazon store for U.S. $4.99 and may be available on other platforms in Summer 2016. Even if you don’t have a Kindle, you can read the book on the free Kindle app that’s available for any laptop, smartphone, or tablet.
