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Day 11. I'm sitting at a harbor taverna on Naxos, sipping a cold freddo espresso, wearing my last clean shirt. Everything I own for this trip fits in a cabin trolley. 7.2 kilograms. Fourteen days, one bag, zero checked luggage.
This is my carry on only vacation experiment. And honestly? It's going better than I thought it would.
How I Got Talked Into This
Quick backstory. Last summer, my girlfriend Lisa and I flew Eurowings to Crete. Two checked bags, round trip. The baggage fees alone cost us 118 euros. Then we waited 43 minutes at the carousel in Heraklion. Our hotel shuttle left without us.
That was the moment I decided: never again.
I'd already done short carry-on only trips (Coming Soon) before. Three days, four days, no big deal. But a 2 week vacation carry on? Beach plus city sightseeing? That felt like a completely different animal. My friend Stefan bet me ten euros I'd cave and buy a suitcase from a tourist shop by day five.
The Rules
Pretty simple. One cabin trolley, max 55x40x20 cm. My small backpack as a personal item. No checked bags, no last-minute add-ons at the gate, no cheating.
The route: Athens (4 nights), ferry to Naxos (5 nights), on to Paros (4 nights). Beaches, old towns, restaurants. Classic Greek island hopping.
What I Packed (Yes, I Weighed Everything)
This is where it gets specific. I put everything on a kitchen scale. Lisa laughed. I didn't care.
Clothes (3.1 kg):
4 t-shirts (2 merino, 2 cotton)
2 pairs of shorts
1 pair of long pants for dinner
1 light linen shirt
5 pairs of socks, 5 underwear
Swim trunks
1 thin rain jacket
Shoes:
Sandals (wore them on the plane)
Light sneakers (clipped to the trolley handle)
Toiletries (0.8 kg):
Everything in a carry-on approved liquids bag (Coming Soon), travel sizes
Sunscreen 100ml (bought the full bottle on Naxos for 4.50 euros at a kiosk)
Toothbrush, deodorant, razor
Tech (1.4 kg):
Phone, charger, power bank
Kindle (books would've weighed too much)
Headphones
Everything else (1.9 kg):
The trolley itself
Microfiber travel towel
Packing cubes (bought them after reading our best packing cubes test (Coming Soon), probably the smartest purchase I made all year)
Total weight: 7.2 kg. My trolley weighs 1.9 kg empty, so the thing was packed to the brim. But it all fit.
Week 1: Athens and the First Real Test
The first four days in Athens went smoother than expected. I'll be honest, I was worried four t-shirts wouldn't cut it. At 34 degrees in the Plaka, you sweat through clothes fast.
My trick: I washed a shirt in the sink every evening. Merino dries overnight. Cotton doesn't. Mental note for next time. All merino.
What annoyed me? I didn't bring a beach towel. The microfiber travel towel works fine for drying off, but at the beach you feel like you're lying on a postage stamp. Day three, I bought a cheap beach towel near Vouliagmeni. Eight euros. Unplanned expense number one.
On the ferry to Naxos, though, the first real payoff. While everyone else hauled massive suitcases up narrow staircases, I just walked through. No sweat. That felt good.
Week 2: Naxos, Paros, and the Laundry Problem
Naxos was the real stress test. Five nights at the beach, and I learned something: saltwater plus sand plus a limited wardrobe is a combination you need to plan for.
My lifesaver: the place on Naxos had a washing machine. Three euros per load. I threw everything in and had fresh clothes for the rest of the week. On Paros there was no machine, so back to sink washing. That worked too, but cotton shorts don't dry overnight when humidity sits at 70%. I may or may not have worn slightly damp shorts on day 12. Maybe.
What I could've left at home? The long pants. Wore them exactly once, at a nicer restaurant on Paros. The shorts would've been fine. And nobody needed the second charging cable.
What I actually missed? A second pair of sandals. After ten days of sand and saltwater, mine started to smell. Like, really smell. Lisa complained. Fair enough.
The Money I Saved
This was the most convincing part of the whole carry on challenge. Here's the math:
| Item | With checked bag | Carry-on only |
|---|---|---|
| Eurowings outbound (checked bag) | 29 euros | 0 euros |
| Eurowings return (checked bag) | 29 euros | 0 euros |
| Carousel wait time | 43 min (priceless) | 0 min |
| Taxi instead of shuttle (big suitcase) | 22 euros | 0 euros |
| Total | 80 euros | 0 euros |
Minus my unplanned purchases: 8 euros for the beach towel, 4.50 for sunscreen. So net savings of about 67 euros. For one trip. Anyone who does this twice a year saves enough for a capsule wardrobe for travel (Coming Soon).
Curious about what airlines charge for overweight and excess baggage (Coming Soon)? Gate fees are even worse. Much worse.
My Honest Verdict
Would I do it again? Yes. But differently.
What worked: the freedom. No carousel wait, no dragging heavy bags through cobblestone alleys, no stress during the ferry transfer. I realized I need way less stuff than I thought. Four shirts are enough if you're willing to wash one in the sink each night.
What I'd change: only merino shirts from now on (cost more, dry twice as fast). A second pair of light shoes instead of just sandals. And I'd double-check the summer vacation packing list (Coming Soon) beforehand. There were a few things on it I'd overlooked.
Stefan owes me ten euros, by the way. I sent him a photo from day 14 with the same trolley I flew out with. He still hasn't paid up.
Two weeks, one bag, one adventure. I think I'm doing this every year from now on.
