7 Days in Turkey With Hand Luggage Only: The Travel Gear I Packed

Introduction

Seven days in Turkey, hand luggage only, one backpack. The trip started with a few days exploring Izmir, catching up with friends over drinks, and ended at a rented villa in the countryside. The weather did its best to break the packing list: boiling heat one day, torrential rain the next. Here is everything that made the cut, and why.

The Backbone: Tortuga 30L Travel Backpack

The Tortuga 30L was a first try, and it worked out really well. Its real strength is the harness system: thick shoulder straps, load lifters, chest straps, and a belt strap that supports the bag on your back. If comfort matters because you move around a lot, island hopping or catching flights, this is a serious advantage.

Each strap has a pocket too. Passport and wallet in one, phone in the other, so the two most important items are always exactly where you expect them at a gate or border check. A velcro adjustment system lets the whole harness move up and down to fine-tune the bag height on your back.

The bag is made from a lightweight, fully waterproof three-layer fabric, similar in feel to X-Pac, with waterproof zippers throughout, not just on the laptop pocket. There are two water bottle pockets on the sides, padded neoprene carry handles on the top and side, an admin pocket with card holders for fans of organization, a quick-grab top pocket, and a front pocket that held the airport toiletries bag.

The main compartment opens like a suitcase, which makes packing and finding gear far easier than with a top loader. At 1.8 kg it is not too heavy, and the build quality feels excellent. The trade-off: that harness adds bulk, so if carry comfort is not a priority it can feel a bit unwieldy. The waist belt is detachable, and the generous laptop compartment feels like wasted space if you travel with a tablet instead.

Merino Clothing: Unbound Merino Trousers and T-Shirts

The spare pair of trousers is usually the heaviest thing in a packing list, which is what makes the Unbound Merino travel trousers interesting. They come in at just 380 g, under 14 oz, fold super flat, and are anti-wrinkle. They look like a smooth chino rather than wool, but they are 95% merino with 5% elastane for stretch.

In wear they were really comfortable, machine washable, antimicrobial, and quick to dry. Like merino generally, they are designed to keep you cool when hot and warm when cold. They run a bit loose on skinny legs, and merino is never cheap, but as lightweight, compact backup trousers nothing better has shown up yet.

The same logic applies to the Unbound Merino t-shirts, a couple short sleeve plus one long sleeve. They can realistically last for weeks of wear: if they get dirty you wash them, but sweat odour simply does not build up, so you can wear each one multiple times before it matters.

One Pair of Do-It-All Shorts: Iron Tide Hybrid Shorts

For solo travel with hand luggage only, there is room for exactly one pair of do-it-all shorts, and these are the ones. The new version two hybrid shorts are the successor to the original Kickstarter-backed adventure shorts, with more of a beach focus while still working as everyday wear.

You get an elasticated waist with a non-slip drawstring, a mesh lining, a slightly shorter leg, and a new lighter four-way stretch fabric with UV protection that dries fast and is antimicrobial. Pockets include two deep side pockets, one housing the Fidlock waterproof rubber pouch that takes a max-size phone, plus a single zip back pocket for things that can get wet but need to stay safe, like an emergency credit card. The original shorts’ waterproof pocket is rated to a depth of up to 100 ft, which is the whole point: you can swim without leaving valuables in a bag on the beach.

The Sling: Bellroy 7L Sling Bag

The Bellroy 7L is a lighter, thinner-fabric alternative to the 9L sling normally carried. It folds down into a small space, so it can stay packed inside the main bag through airports, and removing it frees up space in the backpack when needed. Simple, but it earns its place.

Cameras: DJI Osmo Pocket 3 and HoverAir X1

The DJI Osmo Pocket 3 is the go-to travel camera here. It lives in the backpack alongside a mini tripod, a microphone, and a backup battery built into a handle extension. It is small, quick to deploy, and genuinely capable.

The HoverAir X1 is the new experiment on this trip: an autonomous flying camera with a 2.7K sensor, no controller and no phone needed. Open it up, press the switch, and it is in the air within about ten seconds. No GPS acquisition is required, so it flies indoors too.

The modes are the story. A simple hover rotates it on its axis tracking the user; fly-out-and-up holds position then returns; follow mode locks on at a pre-set distance, tracks up to 15 mph, and attempts to follow your actual path rather than cutting corners, avoiding most obstacles even in tight spaces. Orbit mode flies out and does a full 360 before returning, and bird’s eye mode climbs vertically to a maximum of 50 ft while slowly rotating. Footage is impressively stable given how it gets bumped about in the breeze. To stop recording you just hold your hand underneath and it lands and shuts down.

It is well made and very light at 130 g, around 4.5 oz, which keeps it exempt from general drone registration requirements. It charges via USB-C or swappable battery packs, the blades are fully protected, and it folds in half to be super compact. The lens is small, but if you want new angles without the hassle of a full drone, this is a genuine game changer.

Footwear: Vessi and Allbirds

The Turkey weather, hot one day and drenched the next, is exactly why the Vessi waterproof shoes came along. They look and feel like ordinary sneakers, high-tops in this case, but are fully waterproof. They stayed comfortable through the flight, sightseeing in blistering heat, and, best of all, through standing water and unexpectedly deep puddles that would normally soak your feet.

For indoor and pure-comfort duty, the Allbirds Tree Runners did duty all over Thailand last year and returned here. Around 500 g for the pair, roughly 18 oz, they squash down flat and may be the most comfortable shoes ever worn. The pairing makes sense: Vessi for the journey and all weather, Allbirds packed for comfort and packability.

Conclusion

A 7-day, one-bag trip comes down to products that pull double duty. The Tortuga carries everything comfortably, merino clothing stretches one packing list across a week, the Iron Tide shorts handle both street and sea, two compact cameras cover video from the ground and the air, and two pairs of shoes split the work between waterproof protection and packable comfort. Choose by deciding which of those problems you actually have, then pack accordingly.