How to Pack Everything You Need for Vacation in a Carry On
You are lugging two heavy, overstuffed bags through the airport. Already miffed because you had to pay a fee for one of your bags being over the weight limit, you are getting more and more frustrated as you wheel your bags out to the rental car. "Why do I do this to myself?” you ask silently, mulling over why you always end up packing more than you need when you go on vacation.
Do you dread packing for vacation? Dread lugging your baggage around, pulling at least one suitcase per person? What if there was a way to make your vacation even more blissful by consolidating your luggage for a long weekend vacation down to just one carryon? That’s right! Just one carryon per person. Can you imagine how blissfully easy that would make your travel time? Well, you don’t have to just imagine it! Let us show you how you can easily pack for a long weekend vacation in only a carryon whether you are driving or flying.
Eliminate
The first and most obvious step towards packing all of your necessities for a vacation into a small bag is whittling down what you pack to the essentials. After all, do you really need six pairs of pants for only four days? Probably not, unless you have a toddler who gets food all over everyone they touch.
This process of elimination can be hard, though. So, here are three steps to get you started:
1). Plan out your outfits ahead of time. That way, you won’t be taking up space with clothes and accessories you will never use.
2). Make sure you aren’t packing doubles. It’s surprisingly easy, when you are in a rush, to throw two hair brushes into the suitcase, or add in makeup or jewelry or socks that you thought you had forgotten.
3). Enjoy having nothing to do. Don’t bring fifty million books with you on vacation, bring just one and enjoy savoring it. Be choosy with what you decide to bring as entertainment on vacation. Plan on enjoying having no schedule rather than trying to pack in as much as possible.
Re-Size
We all know that TSA requires us to keep all of our liquids and aerosols in bottles that are three ounces or smaller when they are in our carryon luggage. This greatly helps us reduce the volume of things we pack. What, though, if we could shrink some of the other items in our carryon bags? Instead of bringing a full-size brush for instance, find a small travel one. Shrink the two or three books you still want to bring with you by downloading them on your tablet or phone and reading them that way. Get creative - it can be quite fun to hunt for miniaturized travel items.
Go French
Have you heard of the capsule wardrobe? it is a very French concept, and one that has relatively recently become popular in the US. Basically, if you haven’t heard of the capsule wardrobe yet, it is where you have a few basic items (a pair of black pants, good fitting jeans, a white shirt, a black shirt, and maybe a "fun" shirt along with one really nice dress item...) and then you accessorize and mix and match. A capsule wardrobe not only takes up a lot less space in your closet, it also takes up a lot less space in your suitcase. So, for a long weekend, try taking only two pairs of pants and two or three shirts, and then mixing and matching your outfits. Maybe throw in a scarf, or a statement watch. Enjoy the challenge!
Vacation is so much more enjoyable if you don’t have to lug around enormous mounds of luggage. This spring, instead of just contemplating a vacation, use these packing tips to make a spontaneous, blissfully easy getaway to paradise in the mountains of Asheville, NC! We can’t wait to see you!
