The Holidays and the Minimalist Suitcase

Happy New Year! Dom and I just spent two weeks visiting Rome, Prague, and Barcelona. We went to Rome to see our good friends Leah and Collins get married. Since we were in Europe already, we figured we might as well squeeze in a few other places. What an amazing adventure!

During the trip planning, Dom and I realized that checking a bag on the multiple legs of the airfare would cost us 35 euros per leg per bag. Considering that the flights were pretty inexpensive, we didn't want to pay the extra cash in luggage fees. Unwittingly, we'd created the perfect storm to try out our "minimizing" in the real world. The challenge: 14 days, three countries, and winter clothing in a carry-on bag weighing no more that 10 kg (22 lbs). We were both surprised to find out that packing with limitations isn't as hard as we thought it would be. Since we didn't have bags to wait on at each stop, we had extra time for sightseeing!

My tiny suitcase! 

Here my short packing list:
6 sweaters
1 Pair of Jeans
1 Pair of Black Pants
1 Black Skirt
1 Little Black Dress
1 pair of cuddle duds (best purchase of the trip!)
5 pairs of socks
8 pairs underwear
2 bras
1 pair tall brown boots
1 pair short grey boots
1 scarf
1 pair of gloves
1 heavy jacket
Curling Iron
Straightener
Makeup
1 Quart Size bag of toiletries
Travel Meds
Jewelry
Hair Accessories

I also loved using a packing cube by Eagle Creek to minimize my sweaters and keep my suitcase tidy!

Dom was successful in his packing as well!

We stayed at different Air BnB apartments along the way and made sure that they had washing machines so we could do laundry. Having the weight constraint kept us from buying souvenirs along the way, which means we'll have less junk to minimize later on in our home.

Since our final flight didn't have a fee or weight restriction for checking in a bag, we rewarded our good behavior with a few Spanish goodies that we can't get in Rwanda. Something tells me that we will be traveling lighter in the future!

To our wine loving friends we highly recommend Spanish Rioja, Tempranillo, Cava, and Rose Cava.

I'll be sure to share more of our European adventures via video as soon as I can.  Check out Leah's blog for more on our traveling adventures!