The bag in the front was only that full because this picture was taken on the way back, and it had a GIANT bag with 440 tea bags in it. I felt like I'd get in trouble from smuggling tea once I got to the airport. Rest assured, I may have gotten a few strange looks from airport security, but they let me and my tea through. I will have to highlight my tea obsession in another post. Needless to say, it's bad.
Now, you're probably wondering how I pulled this off. Don't worry, sharing is caring. If you don't want to pay for baggage fees, follow these simple tips:
~ ROLL your clothes. Not fold, roll. It creates way more space, and, generally speaking, I did not have any wrinkle problems...even after having major travel delays (32 hours total in travel, anyone?).
~ Remember that they are carry-ons, so you must have travel-sized toiletries, or the TSA agents will throw them away at the gate. I packed 4 of those little toothpastes that I get from my dentist every time I get a cleaning (my dentist will give me as many as I want of my preferred brand), and my shampoo and conditioner both come in travel-size - I brought 2 shampoos and 1 conditioner. However, my husband's shampoo, my husband's shaving cream, and my curling cream all needed smaller containers. I bought 4 travel-sized containers at Target for less than $2. My husband's hair product and one other hair product of mine were already the right size. I also already had a travel-sized contact solution. All of that fit into 2 1-quart ziplock bags, one for each bag. Pro tip: put the ziplock bags in the front pocket of your carry-on for quick removal at security points.
~ There are a few things you must par down for your packing to be successful. Find a favorite bar soap, and become friends. This means that you don't have to shove yet another thing into one of those ziplock bags. Explore some low-key options for your hair. Up until that point, in order for me to have decent hair, I had to use either a diffuser or a straitening iron. However, those tools take up a lot of room in your bag, and I also didn't want to shell out the cash for another adaptor. Like I said above, I packed a curling cream instead. I put it in my wet hair, scrunched, let dry, and scrunched one more time. Boom. Done.
~ I packed enough clothes for 1 week, and then I washed them and re-used them. I was fortunate to be with my family, so I just commandeered my Nana's washing machine for one load ~ with permission, of course. Even if you do not have family in the area you are visiting, you will be able to find a laundry mat in most cities you go to, and some hotels even offer laundry facilities or services. Remember: 1) You do not need pants/skirts for every day of the week. Generally speaking, these clothing items get soiled at a slower rate than shirts. I packed 4 pairs of pants for each of us. 2) Par down the shoe selection. I packed a pair of practical shoes and another pair of shoes that were both comfortable but dressier for each of us. 3) If you're going to a cooler climate, wear your cover-up on the plane, so you do not have to worry about packing it. It can get cold in the plane anyway, and it doubles as a blanket. 4) Wear your bulkiest pair of shoes on the plane to create room in your bag. 5) Think of packing your bag as doing a puzzle. Everything will fit, you just have to think it out. This especially goes for the way back when you have a few items that you bought while on your trip.
~ Even with your two bigger travel-sized pieces of luggage, each of you are still allowed a personal item. That's the one you see in the front of the other two bags. I was able to put my laptop (to help get a hold of family while over there), a book, the contents of my purse, and my folded up purse in that bag...and my giant stash of tea on the way home. My husband didn't use a second bag. He just had his wallet and phone (for emergencies) in his pocket.
I'm so glad I challenged myself to do this ~ even if my dad tried to convince me not to. It was less expensive, it involved less steps when at the airport, we were able to run to our next plane without worrying whether our bags would get there or not, and we were able to get off the plane and leave the airport immediately. No waiting around for bags at the other side. It was so nice not having to worry about lost luggage and the possibility of having no toiletries or clothes for the first few days (Anyone else experienced this before? The. Worst.).
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