Inspired by a Tweet from fellow travellers @LoveandRoad and @ChiefFrugalista I thought I’d post my experience on the subject of travelling with one bag, or more specifically, one ‘carry on’ bag.

I wholeheartedly agree with travelling as lightly as possible and with Mrs Young have successfully toured China and Japan with nothing more that a carry-on sized suitcase. It can be done easily, with a little thought, and makes travelling so much easier when you have just one case to haul around.

My work sends me all around the globe and I’ve been lucky to have traveled to a LOT of different places. Usually for a week, sometimes two, but I always check-in just one suitcase, a medium sized, semi-rigid Timberland case that carries everything I need just nicely and even when full to busting, weighs in at under 23kg.

These days I get very irritated by the increasing number of passengers selfishly carrying cases on to aircraft that are obviously way over the recommended guidelines, both in weight and size, filling up the overhead bins in one go, not caring that other fellow passengers might actually need some space too. This is a controversial topic and I know gets most frequent travellers talking.

My current work project sees me travelling to Lima. A LOT!

Every three weeks sees me making the long haul trip out to Jorge Chavez Airport in Lima, via Madrid. I now have an apartment to use rather than shacking up in a hotel every trip, which is really nice and homely after a busy day at work. This luxury also brings with it the benefit of not having to carry all of my work clothes to and from home every trip allowing me to leave some things like shirts, trousers and larger toiletries in the apartment.

With this in mind I thought that I’d try travelling with just ONE carry-on case plus my usual laptop shoulder bag. Well within the baggage guidelines of most airlines.

What could be simpler?

My usual route out to Lima sees me leaving the amazing T5 at London Heathrow and transiting through Madrid and it’s this security pinch-point that is the source of all of my travel problems.

Security must be cleared once again before picking up my onward flight to Lima and the people that perform this task are the most officious and obnoxious people I’ve ever had the misfortune to encounter in all of my globe-trotting travels. Every single trip, nine so far, these officious, unhappy, non-smiling, unhelpful security people have pulled me over for some minor infringement. Questioning me on items like a box of chocolates, a packet of biscuits, a small screwdriver set, loose change, chewing gum and even a prepacked salad. I have had a few items confiscated like screwdrivers, travel tool-kits and other non-dangerous hand tools that Heathrow security didn’t even flinch at. Sadly though this securty procedure is an inconsistent one as some items being picked out as problematic on one search would then be totally ignored on another, so the whole process is completely random and entirely dependant on who is observing the scanner.
So when my first trip trialing the use of just a carry-on case arrived, I was hopeful it would all work seamlessly, saving me precious time at either end of my journey and avoiding having to wait for my case to appear on the carousel.

Sadly, the experiment failed. Having to navigate this security hurdle at Madrid Airport is such a painful experience that after just two trips I gave up the whole experiment. The hassle of being pulled up and unpacking and repacking my suitcase each time is really not worth that amount of aggravation. I fear that one day I will eventually miss my connection.

Now it’s back to checking in my trusty ol’ Timberland case at the check-in desk as usual and negotiating Madird security with just my laptop bag that STILL gets searched every trip.

Oh the joys of a jet-set lifestyle eh?