Didn’t read all the comments but I’ll add this:
you can find a lot of advice online about how to travel with just a carryon. The guidebook author Rick Steves has info on his website too
I would not get a wheeled bag. They are heavier and lose space due to the wheels. The NY Times website Wirecutter reviews carry-on backpacks https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-carry-on-travel-bags/ The one we use is https://meipacks.myshopify.com/products/mei-voyageur
We were in Belgium last summer and needed a laundromat. So did a bunch of other people. It killed half a day, waiting around for machines and whatever. Next time, I’ll plan a laundry/hotel or apartment or just wash in the sink.
I just bought a Carry-On today that has the max dimensions allowed on our flight - 22x14x9. I’m only traveling for one week, but plan to start packing to see how realistic it is. Honestly, I could fill up that little space with shoes in ten seconds. Lol. That will be my greatest challenge - trying to choose who gets to travel with me! The booties? The flats? The sneakers that don’t look too much like sneakers but feel like sneakers? The hiking boots? Thank goodness sandals are an easy no.
I sat and looked at my 19” when it first arrived for a 10 nighter. I remember laughing when I opened it. I just remember thinking there is NO way. DH bought the 22” and thought the same thing, especislky with those big, bulky shoes men wear.
You just have to get strict with yourself. Wear your bulky booties on the plane. I’d say unless this is an actual hiking trip, leave the hiking boots at home. Or wear those if you have to, pack your booties in your carryon and put your sneakers in your backpack. Roll, roll, roll your clothes. That’s the only way you are going to be able to do this.
I don’t like to mix and match travel, but I did for half my trip. That way I didn’t feel like I was wearing the same colors all the time.
I became so good at packing like this, I had a rolled sports jacket in my husbands suitcase (it did not wrinkle) and he took quite a few things. He had a little more space.
When thinking about outfits, definitely think about clothes that don’t wrinkle. But yes, doable and liberating! And when you get home and have realized how easy it is to live with only a few things you love, clean out your closet! Your head will be in the right place for it!
I will second the recommendation for ex officio underwear. Dries so fast! You can easily get by with 2-3 pairs.
Costco had men’s ex official underwear in the store last time I was there about 10 days ago. I didn’t notice if they had women’s.
This is a point of pride for me. I can do it even on a winter trip.
The key is always minimizing shoes/boots. One walking, one dressy, one athletic should do it. Wear the heaviest/largest pair on the plane.
If you have a connecting flight, you may want to wear the athletic shoes, in case you need to run quickly to make it from your delayed inbound flight to get to your next flight before they close the door.
My husband and I do this all the time. I just wear Keen sandals that serves me all purpose. I can hike in them, walk around town and I don’t care about fashion. I have an Osprey Farpoint 40 (sm/med) https://www.amazon.com/Osprey-Packs-Farpoint-Travel-Backpack/dp/B014EBLO0K?th=1&psc=1. It is the only pack I could find that would work for my small frame. My husband has a Tortuga travel pack though it doesn’t look his kind is being sold anymore and the upgrade looks expensive https://www.tortugabackpacks.com/products/outbreaker-travel-backpack.
We are headed to Europe this spring- 23 days-Paris, Belgium, Amsterdam and London. Various day trips. I am okay with checking bags to and from the US but the rest of our visit will be via train…I want that to be stress free if possible. All our Airbnbs have a washer so I know we can do it. This is our first trip I have planned thinking about luggage and laundry in addition to museums and restaurants!
European washers take half a day for a load of clothes. I did my clothes in the sink— done and already dried before friends was even out of the washer.
This thread brings back happy memories. We took a three week vacation to Europe followed by two weeks in Israel (!) when the kids were in middle school. Everyone got one bag, for which he was responsible, and a back pack. We had access to washing machines only in Israel. I did a lot of planning before the trip, a lot of thinking about shoes, and bought everyone microfiber, wash in the sink clothes. We had a blast!
I have to think, but I believe we each had two pairs of shoes, one casual and one dressy but good for walking. I think I assigned each kid a color, which we joked about but they ended up hating, to make dressing easier.
We did so much walking. It started when we landed in London and I dragged my sleepy-headed kids to the train and then the three of us tried to find the hotel. We tried not to take cabs and having little luggage made that possible. Of course, we had mishaps, like trying to squeeze on a Parisian train and getting separated and having to shout instructions to each other about where to get off. (I had the money and one kid, H had the hotel info and the other.)
We still travel light, just taking one carry on bag.
Usually the bags show up, but not always. Chances of misplaced bags rise if you have a connection. For us, I don’t like to take that chance. Others differ.
Lol. First time we went to Europe there were 9 of us. 4 bags showed up. Fortunately we were at our first destination for 3 days giving a couple days for bags to show up.
Carry on only since then!
Trains are an excellent reason to pack light. And watch for pick pockets—they look for anyone with too much luggage.
We traveled with carry on only the only time we went to Europe, when it was cold! We wore our coat and walking shoes. We were gone 3 weeks. We brought a rolling suitcase which was OK over cobblestones and whatever ground but worthless for steps. We were always at the top floor of places with no elevator. We had a great time but were 25 years younger.
When we go back to Europe we will need to sclep my medical equipment and Rx, which takes up the equivalent of an extra suitcase. 
Sadly, we can’t travel as light as we’d like but at least we aren’t weighed down by clothes and shoes.
You definitely need to be prepared for rain. I like the small plastic ponchos since they are so small, light and cheap so you can throw it away towards the end of your trip. I also only bring 2 pairs of shoes, with one of them being comfortable but old so I can throw them away at the end to make room for souvenirs. For shampoo, cream rinse, and toothpaste, I get them in solid form from Lush and share with travel mates to minimize space and the carry-on liquid limitations. The cream rinse doesn’t work that great but is better than nothing.
I like a fold up bag for souvenirs. I don’t mind checking on way back.
We spent a month in Austria, and one week was in Vienna; and we ended the trip, with another week in Budapest. On the first night in Vienna, we used https://viennafood.tours/ to acquaint ourselves with the city. This is a young couple who made our visit unforgettable. They take you on a tour of four restaurants: appetizers in one place, a sausage tasting in another, a main course in a third, and ending with coffee and dessert in the fourth.With drinks and special service at each location. You walk between all the venues seeing the downtown. Melinda and Thomas both grew up in Vienna and provided us with ample restaurants to visit, and what highlights to see in Vienna. It was a history, art, and foodie extraordinaire experience.
We stayed in Guesthouse Vienna across from the Saint Stephen’s Cathedral and next to the Albertina Museum. It is walking distance to the State Opera, the Karlsplatz Underground Station, and the Burggarten Park and the Heldenplatz Square. The Hofburg Congress is the furthest and takes about 10 minutes to walk. Your room comes with 4 complimentary bottles of wine and coffee beans to grind for unlimited coffee. Vienna has the wildest museums: Pathologic-Anatomical Museum, Funeral Museum, Crime Museum and the quirky Clock Museum. See the Catacombs, Kaiserliche Schatzkammer Wien / Imperial Treasury, Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, the MAK, and the Third Man Museum.
We used a transfer company https://tastehungary.com/tour/budapest-to-vienna-wine-castles-along-the-austro-hungarian-border/ to proceed to Budapest. This transfer took us the Esterhazy Palace and the Esterhazy winery, a picnic at Sopron, the UNESCO Iron Curtain site and Rust. In April, you would be able to see the great stork migration at Rust’s Lake Fertő / Lake Neusiedl. The highlight of this part of the trip was the http://hernyak.hu winery. Hernyak Estate is about 30 miles east of Budapest in Eytek wine region. A family of three runs the intimate winery. They made us Tepertős Pogácsa and goulash as we partook in 7 of their wines.We purchased their Pinot Noir. It is a organic operation, a guest becomes family and it is unparalleled.
In Budapest, our son signed us up for http://www.cookingbudapest.com/# for our first morning.
You meet your chef/guide at the Great Market Hall, where you can get information about the Market’s history. The chef shows and you sample the basic Hungarian ingredients, sausages, fruits/vegetables and spices. The chef purchases what you need for your class course. We had a fantastic breakfast at the Great Hall, no need to eat before you go. We make Langos now ourselves.The chef for our cooking class also provided outstanding recommendations for our stay. Best Langos in town: Retró Lángos Büfé. Try to secure reservations at Onyx for a lunch before you go. http://onyxrestaurant.hu/ We were not hungry for appetizers before our lunch at the Onyx, but the chef insisted sending us several to try, and made sure we ended the meal with free desserts and a take home chocolates. Fabulous meal.
Visit the Gerbeaud confectionery. See the Holocaust Museum. We accidentally found Dracula’s labyrinth by the Buda Hill Castle and it was off the wall fun with a Verdi opera background music and a gas lantern. A week was hardly enough time for Budapest. We stayed at Bohem Art hotel which had good free breakfast and snacks in lounge in afternoons.
We rented a car and drove ourselves around Austria, hiked the Dolomites, and white water rafted through the Soča Valley in Slovenia, before our week in Vienna. We all only had one carry on bag each. The trip was very doable with a rucksack. I second the recommendation to take a coat for rain or snow in April. We did purchase a wine suitcase in Budapest, to check, for souvenirs.
I was trying to remember some specifics about what we took on our last long, travel light trip.
Two pairs of shoes each, one casual, one dressy. One pair was running shoes because I run. The other was likely pretty, walkable black flats.
Two pairs of long pants each. Tan and another neutral color, could be black but mine weren’t. Microfiber. Mine were from Title9 Sports, the boys from LL Bean or Target. (Boys were still growing so needed cheap stuff.)
Two pairs of shorts. One pair of the boys’ doubled as swimsuits since we went from cool to warm climates. (You won’t two.)
Wash in the sink undies, probably 5 pair. Ex Officio for the adults, maybe even the larger kid. I only took two-three bras, and YMMV, but mine were the sports bra like over the head ones.
Good socks. I like thin, quick dry ones, H prefers Thorlo, which are bulkier, but hey, they work for his feet. Five pair.
I had a longish skirt, black with some pattern on it, to wear at conservative religious sites and out to eat at fancier places.
Bathing suit for me.
For shirts, we were boring but practical. This is where everyone had his color. I had microfiber polo shirts for the men, maybe three, plus some dressier looking collarless shirts, everything solid or white with stripes so everything could be mixed and matched. For me, many different colors of lightweight, microfiber but felt like cotton shirts from Title9. The shirts could be rolled up tightly to avoid wrinkles.
Everyone had a few $1 rain ponchos. Everyone had a fleece pullover for cool days. You could add watchman caps and cheap gloves pretty easily.
Two exercise outfits each. For me this was shorts, running bra, wicking t shirt.
We traveled before the days of smart phones, so we had to think about paper, like guidebooks, maps, and reservations. You can avoid that.
We had to give up the idea of looking super stylish and fashionable and know that we would be wearing the same things in different combinations over and over. But we would be in different places and seeing different people, so who would notice? It might show in our pictures!
I’d add for Budapest: try a bathhouse and try Momento Park, where the old Soviet era statues are gathered, if you like that sort of thing. Public transportation is cheap and easy.