When you’re planning a motorcycle trip that lasts a few months, packing can be a real challenge. Last summer, we went on a six-month journey around Europe, from Turkey to the North Cape in Norway. This trip required us to pack clothes for both hot and cold weather. Our trip to Morocco was a bit easier in comparison, and we were fortunate to experience mild weather even at the end of October, with temperatures hovering around 60 degrees in Paris.
In a picture from last year, you can see that we used the same three panniers for our trip this year, but we didn’t place anything on top of the rear topcase. We split the bike’s storage space equally. Here’s what I packed.
First, I took a small backpack, around 15 liters, which is perfect for day trips when you leave most of your stuff on the bike. Inside this backpack, I carried my laptop, iPod, cell phone, chargers, international adapter, and important papers like my passport. I also managed to fit in a bottle of water, gum, and some light snacks.
Next, I packed a long bag that fits in the upper part of the bike’s pannier. I included my flip flops for showers in shared bathrooms, running pants, shirts, bras, a few t-shirts, underwear, and clothes for 2-3 days. The idea was to use this bag for most nights, leaving the larger bag untouched, and then rotate out the fresh clothes every few days.
The third bag was larger and filled the rest of the pannier. It was great that these bags perfectly matched the shape of the panniers, so packing was hassle-free. This bigger bag had a small detachable pouch for a notebook, headphones, and small items like a nail clipper and extra soaps. Inside the large bag, I kept more clothes, including a second pair of jeans, a pair of shorts, some t-shirts, underwear, a pullover for colder weather, a bathing suit, and a pareo. The pareo was versatile and served as a scarf, headscarf, picnic blanket, towel, beach towel, bed linen, and skirt.
I also packed a pair of running shoes, which were the only shoes I brought along with the flip flops. I wore the running shoes while riding the bike and the flip flops when walking around. In my jacket, I kept my keys, a pouch for credit cards, my driving license, a bus pass, and some coins.
In addition to my personal items, we shared a tank bag with BF (my boyfriend) where we kept hygiene products. There was also a square pannier at the back of the bike that stored a tent, two sleeping bags, some food reserves, oil for the bike, and other essentials.
Before leaving, we did a full service of the bike, so we didn’t bring any tools with us. This might sound risky, but we weren’t planning to visit very remote areas without access to mechanics within a 20-mile radius. Thankfully, we didn’t encounter any issues.
We did laundry roughly every 10 days. Although I could have gone longer, BF brought fewer clothes, so we did it more often. Finding laundromats in Western Europe was easy, and in Morocco, there were ladies offering laundry services for a fee almost everywhere.
Traveling light can be a challenge, especially with airline luggage fees pressuring you to pack more efficiently. Have you ever tried to travel light?