Life Hack: Carry-On Travel

On our recent trip to Toronto, we decided to travel carry-on only. I'd never gone on a plane trip without a big suitcase before, so I knew I'd better do some planning if I was going to make it work! The trip was three nights, two days, and with hot temperatures, which meant I didn't need to bring any bulky clothes. Here are a few tips I have from packing a carry-on.

I went to MEC and bought two packing cubes. These reminded me a bit of the compression bags I used when I backpacked. The difference is, your clothes get really wrinkled in compression bags because you are squishing them to get all the air out. With packing cubes, they just keep things separated without removing the air. I rolled my clothes before placing them in the packing cubes, which I always did as a backpacker as well. Socks can be packed inside shoes to save space. 

I made sure to choose my clothes based on my shoes. That sounds a bit backwards, but trust me. Shoes take up a lot of space and weight in a suitcase, so if you pick sensible shoes and then base your outfits around those, you should be good!  The shoes I picked to take with me were my black leather Converse and my Aldo black sandals. Picking two shoes in the same color meant the clothes I brought would go with either pair. 

Try to wear your heaviest bulkiest clothes on the plane.  My plane  attire was jeans, a lightweight cardigan, a tank, top and my Converse. I didn't bother bringing a jacket with me as I knew it was going to be hot and sunny. 

Toiletries might be the hardest part about travelling carry on. I used lots of beauty samples I had collected and barely had to decant anything into small containers. For those products I did have to decant, I used little jars from Sephora and The Body Shop - ones they give you when you ask for a sample or get a sample with purchase. Sunscreen went into a small travel squeeze bottle. I decided to use the hotel products for soap, body wash, lotion, shampoo and conditioner. 

For makeup, I decanted three days of my foundation/BB/liquid highlight combo into a small jar. I brought a small eyeshadow palette (used the darkest shade if I needed eyeliner) and a sample size mascara. My NudeStix crayon (dual ended) worked for both lips and cheeks- multi-use products rock! I made sure I had enough room in my liquids baggie for the few lip glosses I planned on buying while I was there. 






Bring a fabric shopping tote to put your purse in. I brought my Kate Spade bag with me, and on the plane, I put it inside a fabric shopping tote so it was protected from the "under the seat in front of you germs". I also put my liquids baggie in the tote so I had easy access to it for security checks. The tote was small enough that I could use it as my personal item if my suitcase was too full on the way home and I had to pack some clothes in it too. It wasn't, because I didn't buy very much. 

Overall, I totally enjoyed travelling light! It was so nice to not have to wait at the baggage claim and pay baggage fees. I will defiantly try to travel carry on whenever possible. It was pretty easy for a short summer trip. It would be interesting to try to do it for a week-long winter trip. 

If you have an carry-on travel tip, be sure to share them!

XOXO
Glitterary Girl