Shoes are the volume problem, and there are three answers

Everything here earned its place by changing an outcome. Nothing about packing footwear is included to round the number up.

Why shoes cost so much space

A shoe is a rigid, awkwardly curved object that cannot be compressed, folded or nested efficiently with anything else. Two pairs typically occupy a quarter to a third of a cabin bag, which is more than a week of clothing in a compressed sack. Their weight is moderate; it is the shape that makes them expensive, and no packing technique changes the shape.

This is why almost every genuine one-bag setup turns out to be an argument about footwear.

Answer one: wear the biggest pair

Whatever is bulkiest — boots, trainers, anything with a thick sole — should be on your feet in transit rather than in the bag. This removes the largest single item from both the volume and the weight measurement at no cost beyond wearing them.

The working rule: cabins are cold and airports involve long walks, so the comfortable shoe is the right one to travel in anyway. Where security requires removing shoes, laces and boots slow you down, which is the one honest cost.

Answer two: one pair that covers two jobs

A dark, plain, low-profile shoe that reads as smart enough for a restaurant and comfortable enough for six hours of walking eliminates a whole pair. Leather trainers and minimal walking shoes both occupy this space, and the compromise is real but usually acceptable. The specific trips where this fails are formal events, hiking on rough ground and anything involving water.

For everything else, the second pair is being carried for a scenario that may not occur.

Answer three: pack the flat one

The pair that goes in the bag should be the flattest — sandals, espadrilles, packable flats — rather than the most useful. Choosing which pair to wear and which to pack on that basis alone often halves the space footwear consumes. Sandals also cover showers in shared accommodation, beaches and hot weather, which is three jobs for a very flat object.

On a long trip, this is why so many long-trip packing lists end up as one solid shoe plus one sandal.

Pack them as containers

Shoes are hollow, and socks, chargers, small bottles and cables all fit inside them, which recovers a surprising share of the space. A shoe bag or a supermarket bag keeps soles away from clothing without adding meaningful weight.

From the queue, placed sole-down along the base of the bag with soles facing outward, they form a stable layer that stops the bag collapsing. Stuffing them also helps them keep their shape, which matters for leather.

Allowances vary by fare class more than by airline.

The maintenance nobody plans for

Wet shoes do not dry overnight, and one soaking can put a pair out of service for a full day, which is the real argument for a second pair. Newspaper inside, laces out and tongue open speeds drying considerably; a radiator warps leather and glue. Breaking in new footwear during a trip is the most reliable way to produce blisters and lose walking days.

Travel in shoes you have already worn for several long days at home.

Everything above, in order of what to do first

1. Why shoes cost so much space. A shoe is a rigid, awkwardly curved object that cannot be compressed, folded or nested efficiently with anything else.
2. Answer one: wear the biggest pair. Whatever is bulkiest — boots, trainers, anything with a thick sole — should be on your feet in transit rather than in the bag.
3. Answer two: one pair that covers two jobs. A dark, plain, low-profile shoe that reads as smart enough for a restaurant and comfortable enough for six hours of walking eliminates a whole pair.
4. Answer three: pack the flat one. The pair that goes in the bag should be the flattest — sandals, espadrilles, packable flats — rather than the most useful.
5. Pack them as containers. Shoes are hollow, and socks, chargers, small bottles and cables all fit inside them, which recovers a surprising share of the space.
6. The maintenance nobody plans for. Wet shoes do not dry overnight, and one soaking can put a pair out of service for a full day, which is the real argument for a second pair.

The takeaway

Wear the bulky pair, pack the flat one, and fill both with socks.

Pack for the trip you are actually taking, not the one in the photographs.