How I Pack for a Week in Italy With Just a Carry-On

I'm about 10 weeks away from another trip to Italy, and I thought it would be fun to do something a little different this time.

Over the next couple of months, I'm going to share a behind-the-scenes look at everything that goes into preparing for an international trip. I'll be writing about how I built my itinerary, the reservations I've made, the travel apps I rely on, how I budget for a trip like this, and, of course, how I pack.

If you've followed me for a while, you probably already know that I'm a big believer in traveling with just a carry-on. I've written before about the carry-on rules I actually follow and what I always pack for a long-haul travel day, but today I wanted to show you what that actually looks like for a real trip.

People are often surprised when I tell them I can fit everything I need for a week in a single carry-on. In fact, I even traveled with just a carry-on for 8 weeks in Europe last year. The secret isn't finding a bigger suitcase or becoming a packing wizard—it's changing the way you think about what you actually need. Once you stop packing for every "what if" and start packing intentionally, traveling with less becomes much easier than most people expect.

This trip makes that even easier because I'll be staying in an apartment about halfway through my week that has a washing machine. Instead of packing seven days' worth of clothes, I'm really only packing for three or four days before doing a quick load of laundry. That one decision cuts the amount of clothing I need almost in half and leaves extra space in my suitcase for whatever inevitably comes home with me.

When I first started traveling internationally, I packed for every possible situation. What if it rained? What if I wanted a completely different outfit? What if I needed an extra pair of shoes?

After years of traveling, I've realized those "just in case" items usually stay exactly where I packed them.

Now I build my wardrobe around versatility. Every shirt works with every pair of shorts or pants. I don't mind wearing the same clothes more than once, especially after washing them. Nobody in Italy is paying attention to whether I wore the same shirt twice, and honestly, I don't think we should either.

Shoes are probably the easiest decision I make. Since I'm only traveling for a week, I'm bringing exactly one pair—the ones I'll already be wearing on the plane. For me, that's usually a clean pair of white tennis shoes. They're comfortable enough to walk ten or fifteen miles in, but still look good with everything else I've packed. Shoes are one of the biggest space hogs in any suitcase, so if I can avoid packing a second pair, I will.

My tech setup is surprisingly simple because I stopped reinventing it before every trip. I keep a dedicated travel tech pouch packed inside my carry-on year-round. It has the charging cables I need, a power bank, and everything else I use while traveling. That means I'm not crawling behind my desk looking for a phone charger the night before my flight. Since I travel to Europe fairly regularly, I've also switched to European charging cables, so I don't even have to think about packing plug adapters anymore.

My toiletry bag follows the same philosophy: bring only what I'll actually use. One product that's earned a permanent place is Lush's New shampoo bar. This definitely isn't sponsored—I just genuinely love the product. Because it's a solid shampoo, it doesn't count toward my liquids allowance, it lasts for months, smells great, and takes up almost no room. It's one of those little travel upgrades that makes packing a carry-on noticeably easier.

One thing I intentionally pack is empty space.

It sounds counterintuitive, but I know myself well enough to know I'm coming home with something. Whether it's coffee, pasta, or a few specialty food items I can't find at home, I always end up bringing back a little piece of Italy. Leaving room from the beginning means I'm not trying to squeeze everything into an already-full suitcase the night before I fly home.

For me, traveling with a carry-on has never been about proving I can pack less than everyone else. It's about making travel easier. I don't wait at baggage claim. I don't worry about lost luggage. I can walk through train stations, navigate cobblestone streets, and carry my own suitcase up the occasional flight of stairs without it feeling like a workout.

The less I have to think about my luggage, the more I get to think about why I traveled in the first place.

This is just the first post in my Preparing for Italy series. Over the next several weeks, I'll be sharing how I planned this itinerary, why I chose each destination, why I booked apartments over hotels, my favorite travel apps, and plenty more as departure day gets closer.

If you're planning your own trip to Italy, I hope you'll follow along. And if you have any questions you'd like me to answer in a future post, let me know—I may just include them as I count down to departure.