Three Weeks. One Carry On.
- Devyn
- Jan 5, 2019
- 8 min read
Updated: Feb 1, 2019
I'm a notorious overpacker. Visiting family for a weekend? Two bags, minimum. One week in Portland for a business trip? Yup, gonna need to check a bag. I once spent three days in LA and brought no less than NINE pairs of shoes. I kid you not.
I think most people struggle to find the balance between packing enough without going overboard. Maybe you like schlepping a large suitcase through the airport for the sake of having options. There are certainly times when I don't give a care about packing too much (ex. my honeymoon, where I brought an excessive amount of dresses and bikinis and sunscreen). My first time abroad was when my now-husband and I decided to trek around Europe for three weeks. We were keeping our budget as small as possible as we were taking advantage of being in-between jobs (aka no paychecks rolling in). That called for public transport, budget airlines with some crazy baggage fees, etc. As much as I would have loved to pack half my closet as usual, I knew I didn't want to lug around a huge suitcase the whole time (or pay for it, for that matter).
Enter - the carry on. Wait, let me rephrase that. The budget airline carry on. Measuring in at 22x14x9, this little suitcase plus a large purse was all that carried me through three weeks. To some, I'm sure this sounds like no big feat at all. But people, let me tell you, this suitcase gave me anxiety. How could I possible pack everything I needed in such a tiny suitcase? Our itinerary was really varied - some warmer climates, some cooler places. We had plans that called for hiking gear, boating gear, and fancy dining gear. This seemed like a mission doomed to fail.
But guess what people? I DID IT. I survived. Really, I rarely found myself in a clothing pickle. I even had space leftover to purchase some (albeit small) trinkets and souvenirs. I mean, this is gold medal worthy stuff in my books. For those of you struggling to figure how you can pack a variety of clothes for a variety of destinations in one carry on, read on:
What I Packed
(stars denote things I regret packing, which I’ll talk about later):
-1 black faux-leather jacket
-1 windbreaker-style lightweight coat
-1 pair skinny jeans*
-1 pair black pants
-1 pair black shorts*
-1 black maxi skirt (doubles as a dress)*
-1 dressy knee length skirt
-1 shirt-dress style dress
-2 lightweight dresses
-1 lightweight romper in a fun print*
- 2 t-shirts (gray and black)
- 3 tops (two printed, one black long sleeve)
- 2 undershirts (black and white), also doubled up as pjs
- 1 athletic-y tank, also doubled up as pjs
- 1 pair athletic-y shorts, also doubled up as pjs
- 2 cardigans
- 1 pair tennis shoes
- 2 pairs of comfortable flats (black and nude)
- 2 pairs of socks
- 2 bralettes
- Week's worth of undergarments
- Travel-sized toiletries - toothbrush, deodorant, perfume rollerball, hand sanitizer, face lotion, leave-in conditioner, Downy wrinkle release spray
- Small bag of my "essential" makeup - mascara, eyeliner pen, small eyeshadow palette (one color could double as a brow filler), eyelash curler, pressed powder, 2 makeup brushes, lip balm
- Hairbrush and a few hair ties
- Travel-sized razor
- Small amounts of jewelry - I had a little ziplock bag filled with a few sets of studs and simple necklaces
- iPad*
- Book for the airplane*
- Sunglasses
- Inflatable travel pillow and eye mask
- Other Essentials - phone, phone charger, phone charging bank, medications, passport, wristlet-style wallet, adapter
Here's what I ended up buying abroad:
- 1 pair of tights (it was MUCH colder some days than we anticipated)
- A lightweight printed scarf (again, the cold weather)
- Shampoo and Conditioner - not every place we stayed provided mini bottles of this. I bought some halfway through the trip and left them behind at the end. Every place did provide soap though!
- Small bottle of laundry detergent - we obviously had to do laundry throughout. We made do with sink washing and one of the places we stayed actually had a machine to use free of charge. We bought the smallest bottle we could find and poured some in an empty travel-sized shampoo bottle for the duration of the trip
- More toothpaste and deodorant. We ran out along the way.
- More books (3 total)
- Feminine products as needed
- Snacks. Cuz your girl gets hangry and buying granola bars at a store is cheaper than buying a snack mid-flight
The verdict? I didn't really struggle as much as I thought. I was able to pull together outfits for a bunch of different activities and locations. Keeping most of the colors and prints neutral made it easier to mix and match. Sure, I was really sick of these clothes at the end of it, but at the end of the day no one other than my travel companion knew I was repeating outfits so frequently. So how did I pull off being able to pack this all in such a small carry on?
1.) Always traveling in my heaviest clothes. Anytime we were moving from one location to the next, I was wearing my jeans, tennis shoes, scarf, and jacket. Yes, it got sweaty sometimes. Yes, I wasn't the picture of fashion. But it saved space for everything else.
2.) Swapping my usual purse for a larger handbag. I purchased a large (you could easily fit a cat or two inside) handbag from Target specifically for this trip. It wasn't pretty, but it had three large compartments. I could store my beauty products, iPad, one pair of shoes, a book, and a heck of a lot more in this baby. I didn't actually use the purse any other time - I only went out and about with my small wristlet style wallet.
3.) Rolling, not folding clothes. Maybe you've seen this technique before. You stack similar clothing together (ex. all my tops) and then roll them up. I think it resulted in some space saving. Some pieces of clothing, like my dresses, were able to roll down into tiny pieces of fabric easily.
4.) Making use of every possible nook and cranny. Every little storage pouch on the inside and outside of my suitcase held something. Shoes were great for holding things (like jewelry) inside of them. I utilized the pockets in some of the clothes to transport things like medications.
5.) Buying things abroad. I purchased quite a few things (noted above) as needed. It meant I had to bring less with me. I would hit up a discount store to snag products really cheaply (using cheap shampoo for a little while won't destroy your hair, I promise) and then I didn't feel bad about leaving them behind.
6.) Washing clothes. We only had a wash machine at our disposable once, but we made do with our bathroom sink. Our room may have smelled like dirty socks at times, but it allowed us to pack less. Plus you just feel better when your clothes are clean!
Obviously I didn't get the whole thing right from the get-go. I made mistakes and packing regrets. Consider these my takeaways and learning points:
1.) Compression bags aren't what they are all cracked up to be. I used one. I wouldn't say it saved me a ton of space. If anything, it made traveling much more frustrating because all my clothes ended up SO WRINKLY. Horribly wrinkly. Embarrassingly wrinkly. We were hard-pressed to find an iron and the whole "hang it up while you take a shower" does nothing. I had a bottle of Downy wrinkle-release spray, which helped a little, but overall I wish I never used the bag. Disclaimer: I could see using it for the final flight home, when you can compress the living daylights out of your clothes and not care.
2.) I packed things that I barely used. Mostly, it was clothing I didn’t wear often already and was hoping this trip would be an excuse to finally wear them. You know those pieces of clothes that creep in the depths of your closet but never see the light of day? Yeah, that was my black maxi skirt and romper I packed. I only wore them once and wish I had swapped them with more tried-and-true items. I also didn't use the iPad too often. Pack things you know you’ll wear.
3.) Some stuff I packed stood out (not in a good way). You should never care what people think when it comes to clothing. But, alas, I did care a little bit about blending in. I really stood out whenever I wore shorts. No one seemed to wear them half the places we went (granted, we didn’t hit up beach-y or warm destinations). Even my jeans seemed too dressed down in some places we went. I wish I had skipped these in favor of different pants or tops. If you care about something like this, do your research ahead of time to get a feel for what are more ideal items to pack.
4.) Books are awesome, but kinda suck to travel with. I read really, really quickly. I basically consume books. I packed a pretty big book to read while traveling, but finished it early on. So...I bought more along the way. Traveling with 4 books took up space. Looking back, I should have left the books behind or made sure I was buying from a "Read and Exchange" partner at airports. This program lets you return books you purchased from a participating store and swap it for a new one, then I could have had only one book to pack along the way.
5.) I assumed I would find hairdryers more often. I am blessed with frizzy, not-really-straight/not-really-curly hair. My hair just doesn't look good if I don't do something with it. To save space, I didn't pack any hair products or tools other than a brush, some hair ties, and leave-in conditioner spray. I figured I could do a simple blow-out with a hairdryer. Sadly, despite what the hotel amenities stated, these weren't always available. The result? My hair looked something awful most days. I didn't even bring bobby pins or something to smooth the frizzies. I wish I had packed a flat iron or small curling iron, which are fairly slim, in place of my little used iPad.
6.) Pack an empty water bottle (if your destinations have tap water that's fine to drink). We bought a lot of plastic water bottles since we left our reusable bottles behind. I really regret this because this is just crappy for the environment, we spent money (sure only a couple of Euro, but still) for something we could have had for free, and we ended up lugging around our purchased plastic water bottles anyways.
7.) Packing cubes are where it's at. Notice how I hated on compression bags earlier? Well I will sing the praises of packing cubes. They come in a variety of sizes and styles - I have a three-pack of different sizes. I love these simply because they keep things organized. I hate when I have to tear apart my suitcase searching for something. I like using one cube to house my beauty products or non-clothing items, one cube to store dirty clothes in, and another to separate out delicate or special clothing (ex. swimsuits, dresses, easily-snaggable materials).
8.) Not really buying souvenirs. Everyone wants to take mementos back with them. I wanted to bring back little trinkets for my immediate family since I was the first person to go to some of the countries we visited. While it was a nice gesture, in hindsight I wouldn't have done this. Even buying small items took up valuable bits of space. No one would have cared if I didn't bring them back something. I appreciate the memories and pictures more than the knick-knacks I brought back. Resist the urge to buy a bunch of souvenirs (bonus: you'll save money) unless it's something you really need to have.
Do you have any super-secret packing tips? I know I've gotten better about packing less and being okay with re-wearing outfits. The packing list I outlined above is a great way to cover your bases - it can work for most destinations and seasons. I'm hoping to pull together some specific packing lists based on destinations in the future so stay tuned! Any particular destinations you want a packing guide for? Drop your ideas in the comments!
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