Packing
Carry-on first, layer for climate, and be redundant where it actually matters.
Packing is the part of travel where small decisions compound. A bag that is two kilos too heavy is a bag you resent at every staircase, every overhead bin, every cobblestone alley in Hoi An. A jacket that is wrong for the weather is the only thing you will think about for a week. The good news is that almost every trip — Tokyo in February, Bali in August, two months across Vietnam and Thailand — can be packed for in a single carry-on if you make a handful of decisions early and stop second-guessing them at the closet.
The PacificAir house philosophy is simple. Carry-on first, because checked bags get lost and connecting flights get tight. Layer for climate, because almost no place on earth has just one weather. And be redundant where it matters — passport copies, payment methods, charging cables — and ruthless about everything else. The four guides below break that philosophy into the situations you will actually face.
Table of Contents
Carry-On Only
The 7kg, 22-inch playbook — why a single bag changes the way a trip feels, how to choose between a 30L and a 40L, and what airlines actually weigh at the gate. Includes the clothing math that gets a two-week trip into a bag you can run with. Read the guide ›
Tropical
Bali rice terraces, the Vietnamese coast, the Thai islands — humid, hot, and harder on gear than people expect. Linen versus merino, sandals that can handle temple stairs and wet boats, dry bags, mosquito strategy, and what tropical humidity does to a laptop left on a hotel desk. Read the guide ›
Cold Weather
Hokkaido powder, Patagonian wind, Icelandic sideways rain. The three-layer system explained without the catalogue copy, down versus synthetic for damp climates, baselayer fabrics that don’t stink after three days, gloves you can actually use a phone with, and how to dry a wet shell in a guesthouse with no heating. Read the guide ›
Tech Setup
Whether to bring a laptop, the camera question, the universal-adapter trap, the watt-hour limits that decide whether your power bank flies or gets confiscated, eSIM versus physical SIM by country, and the one-bag-of-cords rule that ends the great cable hunt. Read the guide ›
These guides assume a generalist traveller — not a thru-hiker, not a businessperson in suits — spending one to eight weeks abroad. Adjust upward for expedition trips and downward for a long weekend.