How to Pack Carry On and Get to Your Destination Faster with 3 Easy Tips

Part of my joyful quest is to build a life where I can have amazing experiences by traveling the world. Travel opens our minds to different ways of living and feeds our curiosity to learn about others. I travel around 100,000 miles a year. That’s a lot of trips through airport security, walking the terminals, and connecting flights. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to pack carry on so you don’t need to check bags and can get to your fun destination even faster.

Check the Weather and Your Plans for the Trip

How many times have you taken a trip and, when you returned home, found that most of the clothes you packed were still clean and weren’t worn? Guilty. Or have you ever convinced yourself that your gorgeous new sweater needs to travel with you to Florida? In August? Um, yes.

So how do you avoid this and only bring what you need for the trip?

First, check your agenda. I consciously audit my schedule and ask myself questions such as “What is the purpose of this meeting or place I’m visiting?”, “Will I have the time or energy to work out today?”, “What’s the weather like, or will I be in an office?”. The last question is important. Early in my career, I can’t remember how many times I had to buy a new coat or pick up a new pair of shoes because I hadn’t prepared and packed for the destination.

If you’re anything like me, you’re so busy juggling your life that preparing for the trip feels like another chore. Having taken hundreds of flights, I am fully convinced that the 15 minutes of preparation is a necessity in order to fully enjoy your trip – whether it is a work trip, a vacation, or a weekend away with your love.

So, what should you check, and how?

• Check the daily weather for every location. Look at the time when you will need to be outdoors. Will it be raining or snowing? Will the sun and humidity melt off your make up? I am very happy to use the Weather app on my iPhone, and add the cities so I can focus on the weather conditions on the specific days I’ll be in that city. Some other apps that you might like include Dark Sky (great for predictive weather notifications), Weather Undergound (uses crowdsourcing to get the latest weather updates) and Accuweather (very detailed weather forecasting).
• Look at your daily schedule. What time will you need to wake up, have breakfast, or work out? I schedule my day in blocks and include appointments and commitments in my calendar. This also applies to my travels. By knowing how my day will be scheduled, I’m able to make the right decisions on what I need to take on my travels. No time to work out? Then there is no need to bring work out clothes. It’s a simple decision but a tough one, too. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve packed gym gear, to find myself so exhausted that I had to prioritize sleep over exercise, returning home with half a bag of clean leggings and socks. I’ve also had trips where I’ve booked tours and day trips, so I knew exactly what my schedule looked like.
• Research the hotels before arriving. I’ve found so much variability in lodgings. I remember a stay at the Ritz Carlton where they called me before the trip to find out what I’d like in my room (yoga mat, exercise ball, and weights, please). And then there’s the hotels without refrigerators in the room, limited pool or gym hours, and is located miles from anywhere good to eat.

How to Pack Carry On: Find the Right Suitcase and Pack Efficiently

Find a bag that suits you and your traveling style. There are so many choices, which can sometimes be confusing. I prefer the 22 inch expandable with rotating wheels and soft sides. It’s lightweight, easy to roll between terminals and I’m able to hoist it into the overhead storage space without needing help from others.

This leads to the topic of packing efficiency. What is that, you’re wondering?

It’s about both fitting as much in your bag, as well as creating space to see your items easily and without needing to dig through your bag. So, how to start? First, I put my shoes in the bottom of the suitcase, in their own bags. I aim to have no more than one-eighth of my bag devoted to shoes. Next, I look at my clothes.

I must confess, I am a die hard “roller” of my clothes, even before Marie Kondo started teaching us ways to simplify our lives. If by some chance, you haven’t heard about the KonMari way, let me explain.

What you’ll want to do is to take your garment, let’s say a pair of jeans. Rather than folding lengthwise and then folding again to form a thin rectangle, just fold the jeans lengthwise and fold the crotch of the jeans so everything sits nice and flat. I then roll from the hem of the jeans to the waist of the jeans. The KonMari method would have you fold it in half first and then again in thirds. Both methods result in a nice little package of clothes that you can pack side by side so you can see every single item.

This is especially helpful when you reach your destination. It’s so much easier to quickly scan the layer of clothes and pluck out your nautical themed shirt, rather than having to unload the entire bag or dig through to find your pajamas.

And when it’s time to pack your dirty clothes, just go in reverse! Fold the clothes, and put them on one side of your bag, away from the clean ones. This also makes unpacking a dream. When I get home from a trip, the first thing I do is to toss the dirty clothes into the hamper and transfer the clean clothes back to my closet. No more rooting through the bag, trying to remember which clothes need to go to the dry cleaner or can be worn again.

I plan to have my bag half full of clothes and shoes (the bottom layer). This gives enough space for my toiletries, which sit on the clothes layer. The liquids go into carry-on sized bottles or I buy products than are less than 100 mL and bring those. For short trips, I’ve recently begun experimenting with bringing only shampoo and using the hotel conditioner. While I might have a three-step hair washing process at home, short trips with only one or two hair washes often don’t need the full salon of products.

The other big tip is to keep a larger toiletry bag always packed and ready to go. I keep my makeup, toothbrush and floss, hairbrush and face sheets in this bag. It’s a sturdy bag that won’t leak or make a mess on my clothes and is also large enough that I’ve never left it behind. Here’s some sturdy toiletry bags that you might like.

Finally, one part of packing efficiently is having some empty space left in the suitcase. There have been so many times when the airline staff have looked at my bag and assumed it was too big for carry on. I smile and easily slide it into the baggage sizer. And of course, just in case there is time for a little shopping while traveling, it’s always fantastic to have extra room to bring home some memories.

Coordinate Your Look

Now we get to the fun part. I’m certainly no fashionista although I do love to dress well and feel confident. And I’ve learned that I can take a two week trip using a single carry on bag.

But it does take planning, coordination and thought.

The first thing to think about is your meetings and events, as we discussed earlier. Will you be wearing casual clothes, a suit, participating in team building activities that might need athletic clothes, or hanging out in jeans? Once you’ve worked out the type of garments you’ll want to bring, think about a color theme or palette. I find the easiest is a combination of black, grey and dark blue. My second go-to is white, pink and grey.

Using Pinterest or Instagram is fabulous for collating ideas about your style and wardrobe. In the past, I’ve used apps like StyleBook and Mode Relier, so I can create outfits using items in my closet. Not only was it fun, but it was incredibly efficient with my morning routine as it removed additional decision making from my day, which helps with my productivity.

I’m guessing that one of the reasons you might be interested in this step-by-step guide is that you’re wanting a more joyous and simplified life. To find enough time to enjoy what truly matters. From personal experience, I find choosing my look of the day to be a time suck. I will flip through my closet, agonizing over five white shirts. Should I wear the knot front or the button down? Let’s be honest here, friends. No one really is paying attention. So long as your shirt is clean, doesn’t have holes (unless that’s the intention), and fits nicely, it’s all good.

What I will now spend time on, is coordinating my looks. Let me share a recent trip to explain. I was traveling from the United States to Europe, then India and Japan. A two week trip with temperatures between 30 and 100 F. I decided to wear only long pants (jeans, trousers, leggings) with pink, grey and navy blue colors. I brought my North Face jacket which I adore, because it’s quite fitted, super warm and rolls up tightly (I’ve linked to similar jackets below). This meant I didn’t have to bring bulky sweaters, which can easily take one-eighth of the bag. I kept my jewelry super simple – my wedding jewelry, Oura ring and some bracelets.

So, I packed my bag with a pair of white leggings, two pairs of blue jeans (comfortable and soft), and one pair of navy trousers. I’m lucky that my job does allow me to wear quite casual clothes, so your looks may obviously need to be different to mine. Along with this, I packed five tops: a dusty pink button down, white knot shirt, navy blue blouse, black long sleeve, and grey long sleeve. For shoes, I wore a pair of platform casual tennis shoes on the plane, and packed one pair of black stilettos, a pair of red flats and pink ballet flats.

I also brought some comfortable cardigans in dark blue and cream, which I mostly wore on the plane, over black leggings and a black shirt. So how did I not look like I was wearing the same clothes every day? Here’s a couple of tips for you:

• Think about your wardrobe as four items and always switch up two of them each day. The four items are tops, bottom, shoes, and accessories. I might wear white leggings, pink button-down, ballet flats and a single gold necklace one day. The next day might be a bit sassier with white leggings, black long sleeve, black stilettos with the same necklace. And on another day, the look might be black long sleeve with blue jeans, platform casual shoes, and no necklace.  
• Invest in plain colored staples (a hallmark of minimalist or capsule dressing) and use shoes or accessories to make things interesting. Remember my red flats? They are a great way to add color to any of these outfits.
• Use dresses (I’m loving wrap dresses right now) as a simple go to. You can use fun tights or cardigans to accessorize or just wear the dress alone.

One final tip to coordinate your look. If you’re needing a special outfit, I can’t recommend rentals enough. Rent the Runway is a tried and true service. Rather than having the hassle of buying, dry-cleaning and storing beautiful clothes that get worn once, try having your outfit sent to your location or hotel. I know it sounds luxurious but believe me, it’s worth it. Not only will it be one less thing in your bag but also a load from your mind as you can almost always schedule the outfit delivery for a specific date and easily return once you’ve worn it.

Key Takeaways

Packing for your trip or vacation with only carry on luggage is a fantastic way to simplify your travel and your life. It gets you in and out of airports faster, prioritizes the most important physical items you need, and offers a chance to think about your schedule and destination.

If you’re curious about whether you’d be able to travel with only carry on, give it a try. You might surprise yourself.

Where do you dream of traveling to? What is the one thing you just have to bring with you when traveling?