How to travel with a 16 liter Fjallraven Kanken as your only bag
Is it possible to travel with a 16 liter Fjallraven Kanken as your only bag? Yes it is. This is actually my preferred method for travelling. I will explain how I do it.
How to make the 16 liter Fjallraven Kanken backpack viable as your only travel?
To be able to travel with a small bag in general, and with a 16 liter bag in particular, such as the Fjallraven Kanken, there are 3 main aspects I always consider to achieve this. These are: doing Laundry, picking clothes with similar colors, and adjust to weather forecast.
Do take a look at my article where I explain my technique to travel only with a small bag here.
1. Do laundry
To make a 16 liter backpack work as our only bag we will not be able to fit a lot of clothes inside our bag, so we will need to pick only a few outfits. Thus, the only way to make this work is to wash the few clothes we take every night or every other day.
I usually take advantage of showering every night and wash my clothes then.
Firstly, before my shower, I put my clothes in the hotel sink with a little bit of soap at let them rest (you can buy proper soap, or you can just be lazy and use the body wash or shampoo that the hotels provide).
After a few minutes, I just go and take a shower and bring my wet clothes to rinse them properly while I shower.
The manual input in this daily process takes no more than 5 minutes.
2. Pick clothes with in similar color palettes
Since we're not taking a lot of clothes, whatever we take must make sense together, to allow us to match every clothing piece.
Packing clothes within the same colors allows us to pair every clothing piece with each other.
For example, 1 pair of blue jeans and 1 pair of beige shorts, and 3 t-shirts (1 white, 1 black and 1 gray), gives us a total of 6 different outfits. Meaning, you will only repeat the same exact outfit in the 7th trip day.
This gives you different options without making you feel you are always wearing the same outfits.
3. Adjust to weather forecast
Check the weather forecast before you go and adjust your outfits to it.
Taking only a hand full of pieces means they must be very effective to keep you warm or cold and to make you not stand out in the local crowd.
If you're going to somewhere hot, t-shirts should be perfect since they don't take a lot of space in such a small bag.
If the trip is to some place cold, the secret is to layer clothes:
- 1 warm jacket (which you'll wear the entire time, so no need to be put inside the bag - no space taken).
- 1 or 2 external layers (sweaters, fleeces, wool v-neck knits, etc.,). You can wear these pieces with the t-shirt underneath (consider long sleeved ones if it is really cold).
- If you take your t-shirts as base layers, you'll just need to wash them, while the remaining clothes will probably still not smell. I would consider at least putting unwashed clothes outside so that the fresh air can take any smell out (do consider washing if it is really necessary, but plan for this if you're changing location frequently).
Which clothes should I pack to make a 16 liter Fjallraven Kanken work as your only bag?
My packing list to travel only with a 16 liter Fjallraven Kanken backpack is the following:
- 3 pairs of underwear
- 3 pairs of socks
- 4 t-shirts or polos
- 2 pair of shorts or trousers
- 1 warmer sweatshirt
- small toiletries bag with just essentials (deodorant, toothbrush and paste and, my companion, an electric razor, and my smartphone charger)
This is complemented with the clothes you wear while you travel (on the plane or any other transport), since it gives you an extra outfit. I usually have these items on me:
- 1 pair of underwear
- 1 pair of socks
- 1 t-shirt or polo
- 1 warmer sweatshirt
- 1 belt
- 1 pair of shoes
- 1 jacket if needed
We could probably fit other things inside the bag like a pair of flip flop sandals or a small book, but let's consider these as non-essential items.
When picking clothes, one important aspect to consider is that the thinner the fabrics, the more you'll be able to put inside the bag. If you pick 3 polyester t-shirts you'll be able to maximize the space inside the bag.
How should I pack my clothes inside a 16 liter Fjallraven Kanken backpack?
The technique I use the most when I really need to save space inside my bag is to bundle clothes together and then roll them. If you keep 2 or 3 pieces together in one roll it really maximizes space.This works very well with t-shirts or underwear.
Another option is to bundle and roll together daily clothing changes. For example, a t-shirt with socks and underwear in just one roll. This works well too.
I have a video I prepared when I was packing a 10 liter backpack. Although a different size, the technique is exactly the same. Take a look below to so how I put everything inside my bag:
And this is it. Just put everything inside, grab your bag and go. This will work fine!
Conclusion
It is totally possible and it is actually comfortable to travel with only a 16 liter Fjallraven Kanken backpack. It can save you money on airline fees and also avoid lost bags. You'll always be light to travel around town.
There are 3 steps to take to be able to fit everything you need inside a 16 liter Fjallraven Kanken:
1. Do laundry
2. Pick clothes with in similar color palettes
3. Adjust clothes to the weather forecast.
Select only a hand full of pieces to put inside the backpack. I usually pick: 3 pairs of socks and underwear, 4 t-shirts, 2 pair of trousers or shorts, 1 sweatshirt, and a toiletry bag with just the essentials.
To pack it properly inside the bag, bundle clothing pieces together and roll them to maximize space.
Hope this works for you as well as it has worked for me.
Wish you an excellent travel!
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