How to Travel Light on Your Next Family Trip

When planning for our most recent trip to Japan I knew I wanted to try and simplify our packing. Not that we typically overpack, but considering where we were going and that we would be traveling to multiple cities, I wanted it to be as easy as possible to navigate around. We decided that we needed to travel light.

We would be staying in tight accommodations, riding the Japan rail system (along with thousands of other people) and be doing a lot of walking. I wanted something easy to transport as to not add to the challenges we would already be facing in a foreign country. For these reasons, we decided to opt for travel packs.

This post contains affiliate links. This means that Aloha Lovely may receive a small commission if you decide to purchase any of the linked products or services. Mahalo.

Osprey Travel Packs

I did the usual research on different brands, read reviews and watched YouTube videos. There are a lot of different options out there but the brand we settled on for everyone in the family was Osprey. Here are the specific packs we ended up getting:

Osprey Farpoint 70

Osprey Fairview 70

Osprey Fairview 55

Osprey Kids Ace 50

• 

• 

• 

• 

I gotta say I absolutely love these packs! After traveling throughout Japan for almost two weeks, I can totally vouch for their durability and comfort, they really did help us travel light! My husband chose the Farpoint and my 12-year-old daughter and I both went with the Fairview model. The Farpoint and Fairview packs are basically the same design, just slight variations for male and female sizing.

Both the Fairpoint and Fairview packs have daypacks that can zip on and off the front of the main pack. The daypack is great for exploring locally once you reach your hotel or Airbnb.

My youngest daughter, who is 10, got the Kids Ace 50. She’s not yet big enough for the Fairview so this was a good option for her that should last her a few years. The Kids Ace 50 fit her well and she definitely did some trekking with it. It also included a rain cover, which was a nice bonus.

What else I love about these packs:

• Carry-on friendly. No need to check this bag, all we did was detach the daypack and head on through security.  There is no guarantee that you can bring these as carry-on on every flight, but we didn’t have any issues. The main packs fit easily in the overhead bins and the daypack fits under the seat. The Kids Ace 50 easily fit under the seat. Woohoo!
• Comfortable. I had no problem with how this pack fit me. When trekking longer distances I preferred to detach the daypack and hook it to the main pack in front. I felt a bit more balanced and had the front pack handy for easy access to passports, train passes etc.
• Great Capacity. We were able to fit a ton of stuff in our packs. Keep in mind however that whatever you pack, you’ll be carrying.

Investing in these travel packs also forces you to become more strategic regarding what you pack. Here is a display of just some of the stuff I was able to pack in my Osprey Fairview for almost 2 weeks in Japan. You can view the entire packing list below.

My Packing List

2 sweaters
7 tee shirts
2 long sleeve shirts
2 pair of yoga leggings
1 pair of jeans
2 sets of pajamas
10 pairs of underwear
6 bras/sports bras
10 pairs of socks
1 pair of New Balance sneakers
1 pair Report slip-on sneakers
1 pair of slippers (flip flops)
1 North Face Rain Jacket
1 baseball cap

1 Nikon D3400 DSLR Camera
1 Kindle Fire Tablet
1 external battery
1 pocket Wifi
1 Samsung Galaxy 7 Edge
1 small makeup bag
1 small bag of OTC and prescription medication
2 charging cords
1 folder with travel documents, passports, tickets etc.

Find links to some of the items I packed here.

Keep in Mind

I knew that we would have to do a load of laundry (or two) while traveling, so just keep that in mind when you pack. We had laundry machines at every place we stayed so it really wasn’t too much of an inconvenience. I’d rather deal with that than having to roll around a giant piece of luggage across Japan!

I am so happy we decided to purchase travel packs for our trip. We were able to move around the country with ease and actually felt more like explorers rather than tourists. It was refreshing to not pack as much and to simplify that aspect of our trip. I’m excited to see how they hold up for our next trip!

How do you pack? Do you travel light? If so, what kind of luggage or pack do you use? I’d love to hear about it in the comments. Aloha!

Pin for Later

Craving more travel posts? I’ve got you!

How to Spend 3 Days in Tokyo with Kids

Family Travels: 2 Days in LA with Kids