What if I told you that you could take some of the stress of travel away when you make the switch to travel by carry-on? Skip the luggage check in and baggage claim, and just enjoy your vacation. Sound appealing? Keep reading to find out how I do it for every trip I take.

Several years back, when I was traveling quite a bit for work, and also when we took our family trip to Ireland, I made the switch to carry-on only travel. Really, the Ireland trip was my litmus test and once that proved successful, I adopted this method for any trip we/I have taken since. Why? Because, having gone through the hassle of retrieving lost luggage I decided I’d rather skip that particular life experience should it come around again. Also, I hate to waste valuable vacation or business time standing in line to check my luggage. Equally unappealing is the need to stand around the luggage carousel at the end of a flight hoping my bags actually made the trip with me. I discovered I like being able to zip through security and onto the plane with a minimum of fuss and, likewise at the end of the flight, being among the first off and out of the airport. For me, it’s all about the efficient use of my time and eliminating the need for standing in lines.

Now, having said all of that, I realize that packing what you feel you absolutely must have for comfortable travel, may not fit into a carry-on. Also, the general bulk of your apparel does play a part in this. My husband and son both traveled to Ireland with checked bags mostly because neither could get their bulkier clothing to fit in a smaller suitcase. I contend that had they used my method for packing and my logic for what to bring, they could have managed it, but that is neither here nor there at this point. My point is, being selective about what you bring, and packing everything as compactly as possible, will go a long way toward being able to fit everything into a smaller bag. To illustrate this point, I packed for our upcoming trip to Edisto Island and Charleston so I could test my theory. What follows are the photos and the results. Spoiler alert: I packed enough for 10 -12 days (our trip is for 10 days) and have a mix of light and bulkier items. With the exception of my toiletry bag, which I typically toss into my second, smaller bag for the plane, everything fit.

A few rules to travel by…

Packing Cubes are a Must Have

1. Packing cubes will help you to hide away certain pieces of your wardrobe that you absolutely do NOT want the whole world to see should your bag get flagged at security. *wink *
2. They make the perfect dirty laundry bag for the return trip. In fact I always pack an empty large one just for that. Note the teal colored bag in the top photo tucked under the X-straps. It’s empty – just waiting for my sandy clothes…

Choose your wardrobe wisely

The suitcase I am using is a hard side case which means there is little to no expansion space available. Since I am not a fan of bursting zippers, I do everything I can to ensure that it closes with a minimum of effort.

For the trip we are going on, we will be traveling for 10 days with part of the time spent running around sightseeing as well as a few days on the beach. I wanted a mix of outfits that I can switch around depending on the temperature for the day and also that are comfortable. This is an actual vacation after all! I also try to wear the same bottoms at least two times on a trip and just change out the top I am wearing. Bottoms are always the heaviest, bulkiest items in my packing pile, so I try to minimize how many I bring.

The packing list: (all of this will go into the carry-on)

• 2 pairs of jean-weight Capri pants – I chose these because they have pockets and are comfortable.
• 1 pair of jeans
• 2 pairs of shorts
• 8 tops – I may not need all of them, but I wanted variety and everything is mix & match
• 1 skirt – comfortable wrap-around style that I can pair with at least 2 of the tops I packed
• 4 dresses – all of them comfortable and casual. One will serve double duty in case we eat out somewhere nicer one night.
• Pajamas
• 2 swimsuits
• 1 beach coverup
• 1 lightweight long-sleeve shrug – I can’t really call it a jacket because it’s so light
• Lingerie and 3 pair of low-cut socks (my feet get cold on the plane plus a couple in case we have a cooler day and lots of walking)
• 2 pairs of sandals and 1 pair of water shoes
• Curling wand to tame my unruly hair (hotels don’t have these typically)
• Ball cap

For the Journey (there and back)

• 1 top/tshirt
• 1 pair of jean-weight capris
• 1 pair of low-cut socks
• White canvas tennis shoes
• Lightweight go-with-anything scarf
• Jean jacket

Now, I know what you are thinking. Where are the toiletries, the electronics and the sunscreen? Yes, I’ll be packing those things as well, but I don’t put them in my carry-on. I’ll expound on the whole toiletry topic a little later, but the reason none of this goes into the carry-on is because once we get on the plane, I stow that puppy up in the overhead bin and forget about it until I need to retrieve it to get off the plane. If I don’t get to stow it right over my seat, I don’t want to be hanging over someone else’s seat trying to find my tablet or iPod. I’ve been that someone with the ding-a-ling hovering over me and I can’t say I loved it. Therefore, my rule of thumb is that whatever I put in the carry-on I will not need until we get to where we are staying. Since the airline is nice enough to let me bring a second bag on the plane that I can tuck under the seat in front of me, I use that for anything I will need in flight. More on that later. For now, let’s move on to how I fit everything in the list above into a small bag.

A note about what I chose and why

I know that I mentioned this above already, but it bears repeating. You can see from my list that I have several more tops than bottoms packed. This is because I try to wear the same bottoms more than once. Preferably two or even three times. This means I can pack a lot fewer bottoms which are generally the bulkiest items on my list. In this case, I have at least 2 tops lined up to go with the bottoms. I also truly have at least two more outfits than I will probably need, but I included them because life happens. If I drop a plate of Southern BBQ on my white shorts, I want a backup. Or, if the temperatures dictate one outfit over another I want to be prepared. I picked a lightweight white shrug to go along with any of the sleeveless tops I am taking and I have a jean jacket in case the evenings are cooler. Since everything I am packing is casual in nature, I can pair the jean jacket with every single item in my suitcase, and if it really gets chilly, I have my scarf to add to the mix. I deliberately chose one that will go with anything I might be wearing.

Roll everything tightly

Roll, roll, roll. This is probably the most important and valuable tip I can share with you on this topic. I also know that there are many opinions on whether this really works, whether your clothes are wrinkle free when you get to your destination, and so on. I’m here to tell you it DOES work and the wrinkles are minimal. Now, I am also going on vacation so I might be a little less picky about the stray wrinkle than I would be if I was presenting the answer to world peace to thousands, so there is that. However, I have it on good authority that most hotels have irons you can borrow if you feel the need. I can’t remember the last time I felt the need.

I typically begin with my smaller items. Lingerie of course, goes in a packing cube, but from there I start on my T-shirts and tops. If you fold them lengthwise so they’re only 5 or so inches wide and then roll, you can minimize wrinkles. Once all of my tops are added to the bag, I do the same with bottoms. These will be bulkier so take your time and. roll them as tightly as you can. I was able to fit nearly all of my tops and bottoms into one side of the carry-on. Repeat the process for remaining items on the other side. The larger gray packing cube holds my shoes (3 pair) plus my swimwear and my dresses, one pair of capris and my curling wand fill the remaining space. Note, I don’t pack a hairdryer because it’s another one of those things that is provided by the place we are staying at. It might not be MY haridryer, but it will do the job so why lug my own along? The curling wand is another matter entirely. If I want to style my hair at all I have to bring that along. Thankfully it doesn’t take up a ton of space.

My rule for toiletries? Take only what you REALLY need.

Before I begin, let me say that I realize many are super particular about the shampoo, conditioners and other hair care products that they use. I get it. However, if you can live without your favorites for a few days, you can also make room for other toiletries that you may need more.. Honestly, I try to minimize what I have to try and cram into that quart-size baggie as much as I can because I don’t want the security hassle. There are a couple of things that I generally need more of though than the 3.4 ounce TSA rules allow for. To mitigate the problem, I don’t pack shampoo, conditioner, or body lotion. Typically all of that is provided by the hotel you are staying at. Worst case, we hit the neighborhood Walgreens or Target and pick up some travel size stuff there, but I have yet to encounter that problem..Instead, I pack an extra sample size of the items I need more, like contact solutions, Not having what you need of that when you want it is a pain in the patookus. All of the TSA regulated stuff (sunscreen falls into this category) goes in the zip-loc bag in my 2nd carry-on tote. Generally right near the top where I can fish it out if need be.

You get a second bag. Make use of it!

Most airlines allow you a second bag in addition to your carry-on. For me this is a good sized expandable tote that I purchased recently. Fully expanded, it will fit under the seat in front of me and it has several pockets for stowing away everything I need. This is where the on-board entertainment goes – iPad, iPod, headphones, phone, charging cords, paperback book, sunglasses, my refillable water bottle and a scarf. The latter is something I learned early on as well. Always pack a lightweight scarf that you can wrap around your neck if the traveler next to, behind or in front of you, decides they want their air vent to be blowning on you for some reason. A cold neck is no laughing matter. I also toss in a ball cap, (for those days when the hair just wants to fight me), snacks and my makeup pouch. The rest of the space in the bag is really for any souvenirs I decide I can’t live without. I also like to reserve a little space in the event I need to do some shuffling around for the return trip to accommodate souvenirs that I can’t take on the plane. Those go into the hardside carry-on and, on the trip home, that bag gets checked. OR…since I haven’t convinced my husband to travel this way, I use his luggage for larger items since it will be getting checked anyway. LOL!

I believe that pretty well covers everything. If you have any travel plans coming up (and I hope you do!) I encourage you to give this a try. I think you might be surprised at how much easier your trip can be when you start out by packing light.

Happy Travels!