10 days in Ireland with a low budget load out, here’s how it went.

Before I get into it, I wanted to give a shoutout to this community for giving me the encouragement that I can do this, and the phrase “don’t pack your fears.”

For context, I’m a 5’2” plus-sized masc presenting person. YMMV, since some items I brought may or may not apply to you. We’re flying back home tomorrow, so this trip is in late March with weather between 40-58° F and scattered rain.

For my one bag, I used the Gieury carry on backpack 40L. I see now that it’s currently unavailable on Amazon, but wanted to list it anyway and there’s many others like it.

I paid under $40 for the bag a year ago and didn’t want to invest in a serious bag until I knew I could make one bag work for me. After this trip, I will definitely be getting a better bag that will last. This one is bulky and on the heavier side when empty, but it had a lot of features that I wanted like outside and inside compression straps, clamshell opening, chest strap, and handles on both the top and side. Was it great? Meh. Did it work? Absolutely. I also brought an Owala sip/chug water bottle since it locks and doesn’t explode on planes.

I used BAGAIL compression cubes 4 pack (Amazon) that I also already owned. As of writing this, they’re still available and under $20 for a 4-pack. I didn’t end up using the largest one. -largest bag - 5 pairs of jogger style pants, 2 sleep tees -medium bag - 9 pairs of underwear (David archy bamboo/rayon boxer briefs). These are very lightweight, dry fast, and are super comfortable in any climate from 40° (and probably lower) to 95° F), 5 pairs of merino socks, and 3 sports bras -small bag - 5 All in Motion short sleeve soft stretch shirts from Target (great tees I use day to day, fast drying and very comfortable) plus 1 long sleeve poly blend Columbia shirt.

In the shoe compartment of the bag, I packed a pair of crocs since they’re lightweight and on the off chance I didn’t want to wear my main shoes around the hotel or at a friends house where we spent a few nights.

For toiletries, I used a basic clear plastic zipper bag but just as easily could have used a gallon ziplock bag. I don’t wear makeup, but there are plenty of posts on here that can help with that. I tried to minimize what I brought, and a few things that really helped: -solid soap (dr bronner’s, cut small), shampoo, and conditioner (kitsch sample sizes). I used the Matador bar soap bag and I highly recommend. -contact lens containers for serums, face lotion, etc. -comb instead of brush -travel sized electric toothbrush, I used Philips sonicare one battery powered (my regular sonicare is huge)

All of the above fit in my backpack, plus some other misc items like: -travel sized lint roller -solid cologne -medication -Goodr sunglasses -eye drops and a pair of rx glasses -combo USB/USB-C charging cable (all hotels we stayed in had those, didn’t need travel adapter) -beanie -packable rain jacket (since we were in Ireland, it was a must but not necessary for a lot of other destinations) -a Columbia flannel shirt I used as an outer layer, left out of compression cubes for quick access

Based on recs from this group, I also brought the WANDF 20” folding duffle. I ended up using it as a personal item for the plane, so this is technically not a onebag trip. I put everything I wanted to access during the flight in it, like my Columbia fleece jacket (my main jacket for this trip), a charger, snacks, eye mask, AirPods, etc. When it’s folded up, it does fit in the backpack. It was very easy to carry at the same time as the backpack, since it can be carried in the front.

Whew, still with me? Almost done.

Here’s the verdict. The bag was clunky and weighed just shy of the 22lb limit on Aer Lingus for a carryon, but they never weighed it or asked me about it. YMMV especially here, since I’ve heard it depends on the staff on duty at the time. We also were on a relatively empty flight coming to Ireland. I will definitely be getting a better bag for future trips, but for a test, it definitely worked. Under $60 USD for the bag and compression cubes was definitely about as cheap as you can get. I already owned most of what I brought with the exception of the matador soap bag and my main pair of shoes, Adidas Terrex goretex hiking shoes with boost. They were about $100 on sale and I can’t recommend them enough, especially in the rain and walking an average of 5 miles per day. I don’t want to include that in the price since you may have shoes you already prefer.

I hope this helps someone out there, as you all have helped me. Remember, don’t pack your fears! Most places with have a lot of what you need when you get there, should you forget something or not have the space. I used to be a 3 bag person (checked, carryon, personal item) so if I can do it, you probably can too!

Edited to add 2 really important things! We used the osprey daylight packable backpack to carry around stuff for the day and were able to fit 2 packable rain jackets as well as my wife’s wool poncho and a few small things like hand sanitizer, eye drops, etc. Absolute gem of a bag. We even walked a few miles in drizzly rain and nothing in the bag was wet (ymmv in a downpour though). I love that it has a chest strap and we used a nite ize double clip carabiner to clip the zipper pulls together for extra security. Would absolutely buy that bag again. Also, in Dublin airport, they require liquids to be in a clear plastic bag and taken out of your carry on to go through security.