Everyone keeps asking me how the hell I get away with one back pack and a purse for a one or two week vacation.
I guess it’s my training from traveling so much for business, that you develop a hatred for anything that cannot fit into your rolling carry-on.
Vacations = 1 Backpack + Optional Purse
For vacations, I stick to backpacks because we generally check out of a hotel and wander around for a couple more hours before actually getting to the airport for our flight.And I hate rolling around a suitcase for 4-5 hours while we get in some last minute sightseeing or shopping.
Business = 1 Rolling Carry on + Optional Purse
For business.. BRING ON the rolling carryon!
I know they have hybrids out there, of backpack/rolling carryons.. but honestly, you’re just putting the weight of the wheels and the handles on your back. Not so cool.
When you’re away on business, the rolling carryon is fine because you take a cab or a limousine to the airport, you don’t really need to walk anywhere and it’s just easier to maneuver when you are in 2″ heels.
So how do I do it?
Everyone packs different things, and packs differently. But I’ll just kind of list what I bring on vacation when I do go, assuming it’s 2 weeks of vacation:
- Enough underwear changes for every single day
- 10 pairs of socks
- Bag to put dirty underwear in and seal up
- 2 tops
- 1 bottom piece of clothing
- 1 complete sleeping outfit
- Travel slippers
- Travel sheets
- Toiletries (Liquid/Gels)
- Toiletries (Other)
- Travel Purse with compartments
- Hairbrush
- Jewelery/Watch
- Pashmina/Large Scarf doubling as a light blanket
- 1 pair of shoes
- Sunglasses
- Entertainment (Book/iPod + Charger)
- Pen + Pad of paper
- Camera + Charger
- Netbook + Charger
- External Hard drive
That’s my basic travel kit.
Naturally, if it’s cold, you’ll have to pack a sweater or a jacket too.
Or if you’re going to a wedding, you’ll need your wedding outfit & shoes and so on.
I have this noted as “Special Events Items” in my Palm T|X Memo on what I need to pack.
Why does this work?
I’ll go through some of the choices above that aren’t obvious:
2 tops & 1 bottom piece of clothingEveryone forgets that you have to wear an outfit on the plane too.
That means another top, a sweater and a pair of pants. Or a comfortable jersey dress. With a pashmina and another pair of shoes.
Basically, with 3 tops, 2 bottoms, 1 sweater and 2 pairs of shoes (total count, including packed and worn items), you are looking at a combination of 6 outfits (3 tops x 2 bottoms).
And if it’s cool/cold, the sweater will be making an appearance every day, so your top changes won’t really matter because it’s being covered by a sweater every day.
1 Sleeping Outfit
You want something NOT slightly sweaty and dirty to wear to bed and to be comfortable in. This may or may not be something you’d wear in public, but I just put it in there just in case.
Travel slippers + sheetsI’m paranoid, what can I say? I don’t like wearing socks, but I don’t like my feet touching hotel floors. I also don’t like sleeping on hotel bedding without something between me and the sheets.
I got my travel slippers for $1.99 at the dollar store (hah.. dollar only my butt), and they fold up flat.
Toiletries (Liquid/Gels)
Ahh.. toiletries. The only liquids and gels I have are my facial moisturizer, my apple cider vinegar in mini bottles for rinses and mascara.
I don’t travel with perfume (if I did, it’d be solid perfume so I wouldn’t have to throw it in the liquids bag), nor do I travel with hairspray, hair gels, lots of face products and anything but the necessities.
I pre-pack them into those prescribed little plastic bags, and put them in the FRONT compartment of my carry-on, or in my purse, so that I can easily grab them out stick them in the little plastic bucket and breeze through security.
I hate searching for anything, and I hate watching women in front of me search frantically through their suitcase to find ALL of their liquids and gels to try and stuff them into a plastic bag and then wailing up a storm when they can’t.
Get organized, people.
Toiletries (Other)
This includes my body moisturizer (solidified shea butter is not a liquid or gel, but when warmed up, melts into a liquid), my toothbrush, and so on.
I don’t travel with curling irons, straight irons, hairdryers, or all that stuff most women have because they think they can’t possibly go a day without curling their hair.
I do travel with a 100% boar bristle hairbrush… but that’s only because I don’t use shampoo or conditioner and I really need this brush to keep my hair from getting oily at the crown.
Travel Purse with compartments
This is misleading. I should really say “Travel Wallet”, because this is where I put my money (CAD currency and the country’s currency that I exchanged 2 weeks ago), my passport, boarding pass, identification, a pen and pad of paper.
I can even fit my ipod in the back. LUG makes some cute travel wallets. I bought mine for $6.99 at the drugstore on sale because it’s so fugly no one wanted to buy it. It’s grown on me.
Jewelery/Watch/Pashmina
I usually only bring a watch and a necklace (but I don’t wear either when I go to the airport because I hate having to remove everything while waiting in line)
The pashmina, or large scarf is helpful because I wrap it around myself for more cuddly warmth when on an airplane that likes to crank up the A/C, and it doubles as a blanket in the hotel room (no really, I get really cold in bed).
2 pairs of shoes (1 walking, 1 other)
If I’m on vacation, I am either in flip flops or in walking shoes. Either way, that’s all I’m wearing the entire 2 week trip, so I better just pack that, and one other back up pair just in case.
Usually in the winter, it only ends up being a single pair of boots.
In other seasons, I usually only pack 1 pair of walking shoes.
But I give myself the option to pack a pair of ballet flats, if I wanted to…
Sunglasses, Book/iPod/CameraStandard. Sunglasses goes on my hair, Book/iPod/Camera in my purse.
Netbook & External Hard drive
(That’s my travel wallet —->)
People find it weird/bulky, but it’s surprisingly useful. I update my budget spreadsheet as I go, I download all of our pictures off our cameras’ SD cards onto my laptop AND back it up on my Western Digital Passport hard drive (super small and light), and I can use it to surf the internet wirelessly to look up things, or just to check on my blog.
Really handy, and small. When I had my huge, bulky Dell 15″ laptop before, I refused to bring it because it was just too damn heavy. The Netbook option is a lot better on my back.
How about switching it up for business?
For business, it’s the same principles as above.
Except I take out stuff like the Netbook and substitute in my Dell business-only laptop.
I also pack 2 pairs of shoes – 1 pair of ballet flats (worn on the plane), and 1 pair of heels, and more jewelery.
The rest of the list stays as is. 3 tops, 2 pairs of pants (one top and pair of pants = my travel outfit).
Read more here: How to pack for a formal or casual business trip
But I can’t possibly live without.. [insert item here]!!!
I hate to say it so bluntly, but … tough luck. Get over it.
If you want to pack lightly, you have to cut what you carry, make choices to either remove a pair of shoes and bring your curling iron instead, or figure out what you REALLY need on your vacation/business trip.
I’m not saying my list above is perfect, I could probably cut it down even further (the no shampoo thing has really helped the load)…
But if you cannot possibly live with your entire arsenal of personal toiletries and items, then don’t try and fit it all into a carry-on and cry that you have to always travel with a big, huge bulky suitcase while other women like me are breezing through with a tiny carry on.
You just have to make a choice, and really pare down on what you bring.
I am totally fine with you carrying a HUGE suitcase, sweating, and feeling exhausted and tired before you even get to your destination, and kicking the airline personnel when it gets lost, or kicking the carousel waiting for it to show up.
Totally fine… because I’m not the one carrying it or waiting for it!!
So why do YOU travel with a small carry-on then?
Other than the added benefit of having less for the security people to put their dirty paws in if they decide to do a random check on me.
I hate carrying heavy items, I hate feeling the weight on my back, and I like being free, so to speak.
I hate lugging it to the airport, checking it in while waiting in line instead of doing a fast express check-in, lugging it off the carousel, waiting for my luggage.. so on and so forth.
I’ve mentioned spending 4-5 hours on the last day doing some last minute sight seeing and it gets pretty annoying to have a huge suitcase to lug around to do so.
Sure, I could leave it at the hotel and pick it up later when I want to finally leave, but there goes the feeling of freedom. After sightseeing, I can’t go directly to the airport. I have to go back to the hotel and then, to the airport.
I also don’t like searching around the hotel room, trying to figure out if I have packed everything into my bags. The less I bring, the less I have to remember to find/pack into my bag when I leave.
Resources
- Water only hair washing (No Shampoo, No Conditioners)
- Traveling frugally & intelligently (For Business)
- How to purchase a suitcase
- What to look for when booking a hotel
- How to pack for a formal or casual business trip
- How to pack for a business trip (formal + casual)
- Don’t let the bed bugs bite!
- Cooking while on vacation
- 10 Long Trip Traveling Essentials
- What I have to look into, before booking a hotel
