Editorial Team
Our content team
9 min read
Bangkok, Hanoi, Siem Reap. Five airlines, three countries, zero checked bags. I did it. And it was simultaneously the best and dumbest travel decision I've ever made.
Quick answer: Yes, carry on only travel works on long-haul flights and in the tropics. But you need the right backpack, an honest packing list, and the willingness to do laundry on the road. My 40-liter backpack lasted the entire three weeks without me genuinely missing anything I'd left behind.
Why I Left the Suitcase at Home
I'd already done a carry-on only trip across Europe (Coming Soon) and noticed how much easier everything gets when you just walk past the baggage carousel. No waiting, no stress, no lost luggage horror stories.
But Europe and Southeast Asia are two very different beasts. Tropical heat, monsoon downpours, overnight buses with no proper luggage compartment. My buddy Jonas called me crazy. "Three weeks? Just a backpack? In the tropics?" He was half right.
The real trigger was simpler than philosophy. I wanted to save money on internal flights. AirAsia charges around 20-30 euros for checked baggage on routes like Bangkok to Hanoi. VietJet is similar. Across five internal flights, that adds up to 150 euros or more pretty fast. So I asked myself whether carry on only travel could work here too, and just skipped the checked bag entirely.
Carry On Only Long-Haul: Is It Actually Possible?
This was my main question going in. I'd done carry on only long haul before on shorter trips, but three weeks felt different. More countries, more climates, more unknowns.
Honestly? It's more possible than people think. The key is accepting that you'll wash clothes, buy cheap things locally, and let go of the idea that you need a "just in case" outfit for every scenario. Traveling Southeast Asia with backpacking carry on luggage means packing light and then packing lighter again.
The IATA guidelines for hand luggage don't change much region to region, but enforcement by individual airlines varies a lot. More on that below.
The Southeast Asia Packing List Carry On Version
I started packing about a week before departure. Then unpacking. Then repacking. I'm honestly not sure how many times I started over, but the scale finally showed 7.2 kg on attempt four.
My southeast asia packing list carry on approach came down to one rule: if I wasn't sure I'd use it, it stayed home. Here's what ended up in the backpack:
Clothes (about 2.5 kg):
4 merino wool t-shirts (dry fast, resist smell)
2 pairs of shorts
1 pair of long pants (temples require covered legs)
7 underwear, 4 pairs of socks
1 thin rain jacket
Flip-flops clipped to the outside
Tech (about 1.8 kg):
Left the laptop at home on purpose. Just phone and power bank
Noise-cancelling headphones (non-negotiable for an 11-hour flight)
Charging cables, travel adapter
Toiletries and the rest (about 1.5 kg):
Toiletry bag with liquids in hand luggage-compliant sizes (Coming Soon)
Sunscreen (50 ml tube, bought more locally)
Bug spray (small bottle, same strategy)
Microfiber towel
Basic first-aid kit
What I threw out? My book (Kindle app is fine), the second sweater (you don't need one at 35 degrees), and the hiking boots. The hiking boots were the hardest call. I don't regret it.
Airline Roulette: 5 Airlines, 5 Different Rules
This is where things got interesting. And a little annoying.
Understanding hand luggage long haul flight rules versus low-cost carrier rules is actually two different problems. On the long-haul leg from Europe, airlines are relatively relaxed. On the short hops inside Southeast Asia, things get strict fast.
Lufthansa (Frankfurt to Bangkok): 8 kg carry-on, max 55x40x23 cm. No issues, my backpack fit easily. On the hand luggage long haul flight nobody even glanced at it.
Thai Airways (codeshare leg): Officially 7 kg. Rarely checked on long-haul routes. I stuck to 7 kg anyway. Better safe than sorry.
AirAsia (Bangkok to Chiang Mai, later to Hanoi): This is where it gets real. AirAsia allows 7 kg carry-on, and they actually weigh bags. At the gate in Don Mueang, there was a scale. The woman ahead of me had to pay 400 Baht (roughly 10 euros) because her backpack was 7.8 kg. Mine showed 6.9 kg. Lucky? Sort of. I'd put on my heavy rain jacket that morning. At 32 degrees. Was that ridiculous? Probably. But it worked.
VietJet (Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City): Also 7 kg, also strict on paper. But the cabin crew was more relaxed than AirAsia. No scale at the gate, just a quick look.
Cambodia Angkor Air (Saigon to Siem Reap): 7 kg officially, but the enforcement was basically nonexistent. I could've probably gotten away with 10 kg. Didn't test it though.
What I learned: Asian low-cost carriers are stricter than anything I've experienced in Europe. Ryanair might occasionally weigh your bag. AirAsia does it almost every time. If you're browsing the carry-on backpack comparison on Kofferly, pay attention to lightweight models. Every gram genuinely counts for carry on only travel in this region.
Thailand: Baptism by Monsoon
The first three days in Bangkok were easy. Hostel, street food, temples. Backpack sat in the corner. Everything fine.
Then came Chiang Mai. And the rain.
I was at the night market when a monsoon shower hit that flooded everything in about 20 seconds. My backpack had no rain cover. I honestly hadn't thought to pack one. The clothes inside? Soaked. The microfiber towel? Useless, because it was also soaked. My phone survived only because it was in my shorts pocket.
Lesson number one: put your stuff in zip-lock bags. I bought four large ones at a market the next day for the equivalent of 80 cents. They saved the rest of the trip.
Vietnam: Overnight Buses and Backpacking Carry On Reality
Vietnam was the part of the trip where the carry on only concept got truly tested. The overnight bus from Hanoi to Hue doesn't have a real luggage compartment. You sleep in a sort of pod-capsule thing, and your backpack goes beside you or underneath you. A full-size suitcase? Not a chance. Backpacking carry on style is the only sensible option on these routes.
And then there were the markets. In Hoi An, I got a suit tailored (yes, really, for 40 euros). And suddenly you're standing there with a suit in a plastic bag and no room in your backpack. I threw away a dirty t-shirt and my broken flip-flops to make space. Minimalist travel sometimes means making tough calls on the spot.
The travel gadget tip (Coming Soon) I can pass along here: packing cubes. I hadn't used them before and bought a set in Hanoi for about 5 euros. Total difference. Suddenly I knew where everything was, and the backpack felt twice as big.
Cambodia: Three Weeks Later
Siem Reap was the last stop. Angkor Wat at sunrise with a 40-liter backpack on my shoulders. Sounds kind of stupid. It was, a little. But the hostel was only ten minutes away, and I dropped the bag off after breakfast.
After three weeks of carry on only travel, the backpack smelled interesting. Despite regular washing at hostels (costs between 1 and 2 euros per load in Southeast Asia). The merino wool shirts held up better than I expected though. A cotton replacement I bought at a market lasted exactly one day in the humidity before it started to stink.
What I'd Do Differently Next Time
I think most of it went right. But a few things would change.
The rain cover should've been in the bag from day one. Weighs 80 grams. Would've saved me a miserable evening in Chiang Mai.
Packing cubes from the start, not bought halfway through the trip. And maybe compression bags for dirty laundry.
Next time I'd probably bring only three t-shirts instead of four. In Southeast Asia you can get laundry done cheaply everywhere. One to wear, one drying, one in reserve. Enough.
And honestly? I almost didn't need the long pants. I wore them exactly twice. In temples. There might be a lighter solution for that.
