We put a wheelie and a backpack to the test to see which fits more.
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00:00 Hi, I'm Hannah from Your News Travel.
00:02 I spend my time exploring the UK and Europe.
00:04 So, as you can imagine, I'm pretty good at packing by now.
00:07 Here's my half of a suitcase from my one-week summer holiday.
00:10 And it got me thinking.
00:12 Could I pack for a whole summer holiday using just hand luggage?
00:15 Here's exactly what I packed.
00:17 Evening and sightseeing outfits, swimwear, beach cover-ups, pajamas, underwear,
00:22 a travel towel, toiletries and makeup, sun cream, travel adapters,
00:26 a reusable water bottle, and shoes.
00:29 But could I fit all of that into one of these two bags?
00:33 I've just come back from Dubrovnik and the surrounding islands.
00:36 And for that holiday, a backpack would be much more suitable,
00:39 as there were stairs everywhere.
00:41 So let's start with the Tropic Feel Shell backpack.
00:44 This bag comes with an internal wardrobe system,
00:47 which compresses down and fits inside the bag.
00:49 Okay, so, I'm going to travel in this one.
00:52 So something I do when I pack, which I think is different to everyone else,
00:56 is I fold, I don't roll.
00:58 So what I do...
01:00 I did have a go at rolling my clothes with this system,
01:13 but found that folded clothes were much easier to compress.
01:16 So one of my biggest tips on trying to pack light is
01:26 pack way too much underwear.
01:29 Okay, so I know this sounds crazy, but if you're out and about
01:32 and it's really hot and sweaty and you feel a bit gross,
01:35 later in the day, before you go out for dinner,
01:37 if you haven't got lots of clothes you can change into,
01:39 put some clean underwear on and you'll instantly feel much fresher.
01:42 So one of the key difficulties when travelling with hand luggage only
01:45 is limiting your liquids.
01:47 I found these Insect Repel stickers, which are a great liquid-free swap
01:50 and an absolute holiday essential for anyone like me
01:53 who usually gets a lot of insect bites.
01:56 So it comes with this handy little add-on extra that sticks on the front,
01:59 which is a toiletries bag.
02:00 So let's see what I can get in.
02:02 Okay, so I usually use this deodorant,
02:06 but instead of travelling, let's swap out to this.
02:08 Solid shampoo in a little case.
02:15 I do need to take a big bottle of sun cream,
02:17 but as it's hand luggage, swap to this.
02:19 My headboard's a little big, so I may have to travel
02:25 in a different part of my bag, or I'll swap to a smaller one.
02:28 And refillable perfume.
02:31 This is one of my favourite travel swaps,
02:33 as it's such a space saver and can be filled with any perfume you want.
02:36 Another tip for anyone who wears makeup but needs to reduce liquids
02:40 is ditch the foundation.
02:42 Embrace the natural look.
02:44 Let your skin breathe and the sun will give you that natural glow.
02:47 Plus, when you get back, your skin will look clearer and fresher than ever.
02:51 Now I've tested the backpack, let's try my suitcase.
02:54 Okay, so I'm going to have a go at packing into packing cubes.
02:57 So I've got a four, a two, and a one.
03:01 Okay, so let's pack into a four first of all.
03:04 Let's put the main clothes.
03:06 Though I'd usually fold my clothes into this case,
03:08 rolling worked pretty well with the packing cubes,
03:10 as they're not super deep.
03:12 A benefit of this case is that I could fit in my regular toiletries bag
03:15 rather than repacking it into something else.
03:18 This travel towel and this water bottle
03:21 might just be the MVPs of my holiday.
03:23 The bottle is the most compact insulated water bottle on the market,
03:26 which meant it kept me refreshed with ice cold water all day,
03:29 but didn't take up much room in my bag.
03:31 The towel is incredibly big for how small it folds,
03:34 and the handy loop makes it both easy to dry and pack away.
03:38 So it turns out the answer to the question,
03:40 "Can you pack for your summer holiday with just hand luggage?" is yes.
03:45 In the backpack, I could fit everything except a book.
03:48 And in the suitcase, I could fit everything and had a little bit of space left over.
03:52 But the backpack did have a handy pop-out section
03:54 to put trainers in once I'm travelling.
03:56 So now that I've proved it, why not give it a go
04:02 and beat the airport chaos this summer?
04:04 [music]