The luggage of a flashpacker

I still have the adventurous spirit of a backpacker but I loathe sleeping on floors at a couchsurfing host's place or sharing a dorm room with potential thieves or strangers in a hostel. There are three things in my traveling life that are of utmost importance to me and these are: Freedom, independence and comfort. A hotel is very likely to suit my needs and I often use Couchsurfing, virtualtourist or Meetups.com for social interaction and a kind of local touch in a culture that is not my own. I have not used AirBnB yet, especially not in South East Asia where I can get clean, decent and convenient enough hotels or family-owned guest houses for as much as maximum EUR 10,-

Some airlines charge extra money for checked-in luggage, so this is already a reason to not carry too much checked luggage. Apart from everything, it can be downright inconvenient to wait and be pushed by people at the conveyor belt until you can collect your luggage. After some experience I have decided to travel light and only carry a cabin case, laptop bag in form of a smaller cabin case that transforms into a backpack and a big handbag. We need to aware that we are only allowed to carry liquids of maximum 10 x 100 ml in a zipper bag. So any contact lenses, medicines, make-up, toileteries or other liquids need to be stored as mentioned above.ou can organise your things. You can find and organize them very quickly.
I have just bought small organizer bags with tags which can help you to find your things easily


In my small cabin suitcase I have packed:

1. Many T-shirts and figure-hugging tops, 2 bikinis
2. A pair of jeans for cold days, maybe a thinner pair of long batik pants
3. I like skirts, so I bring two, alternatively a pair of pants and an office skirt or suit will do
4. socks and stockings for cold weather or air-conditioned rooms
5. A jacket and jumper
6. flip flops
7. shoes, a pair of pumps if you combine it with business events, maybe trekking/running shoes
8. 2 dresses to go out or if you combine it with a business trip some conservative business clothing. At least one of them should be a simple black dress. The right accesories will transform it to a party dress, business attire, reception etc. My favourites are a loose batik dress for hot weather and a black dress/business suit. The business attire becomes unnecessary if you don't have business appointments
9. 1 or 2 fast-drying travel towels
10. Transparent toileteiries kit with 100 ml bottles of toileteries, make-up, tooth brush, contact lenses, comb/hairbrush etc
11. Small umbrella
12. Cutlery, formalin-free melamin  plastik plate and glass, coffee cup, washrope, pegs 
13. Smartphone and tablet with keyboard
I can also store thinner clothing such as tops, T-shirts and thin dresses in my laptop bag (see photo below) or a mid-size backpack. The laptop bag in the picture can easily transform into a medium-size backpack. Thin shirts, T-shirts and tops with jeans or skirts can be combined in such a way that you have a wider variety with relatively few items. My choice is a mixture of smart casual and leisure....

All the items mentioned above will fit very well in a 7 kg cabin case plus medium size backpack or laptop case.  It is still considered ultra-light packing. You may have to divide your things in both the cabin trolley case and backpack. Please check with your airlines about luggage allowance. Low-cost airlines are less compliant with baggage allowance than full-service airlines. Lufthansa has low compliance with everything, Air Asia is quite generous with cabin luggage but quite incompliant with checked baggage.I hope you will enjoy travelling this way, no need to drag your whole household with you.

Please remember that my list is most suitable to travel in sub- and tropical countries, for Europe we need at least one thicker pair of jeans, more socks, stockings, a thick wind- and waterproof jacket, a jumper and an umbrella. The weight and packing is still ultra-light although for colder climate you may have to reduce the amount of things to bring. Leave warm clothes and formal dresses at home when you definitely plan to travel leisurely in (sub)tropical climate

Figure-hugging tops and T-shirts can also serve as a protection to your body against wind and cold. In this case you can use them both as underwear and summer clothes. It is very important to dress in layers, as you can take off or put on more clothes as the temperature changes. Multiple layers of clothes store body heat inbetween the layers and are much more effective than one thick jumper without anything underneath.

Take 1-2 showers per day and change clothes daily, especially in tropical countries:
If you stay in people's houses, nothing is more disturbing than a penetrating smell. Clothes need to be washed regularly and dirty clothes in a separate bag which needs to get into the laundry ASAP or washed by hand.