Friday, August 28, 2009

Bag mania....packing a carry-on for a long trip

If someone had told me 10 years ago I could travel for 2.5 weeks overseas with one carry-on bag I would have laughed! I always took more clothing than I needed, along with too much of everything else. A few years ago I traveled with one bag for the first time, and I swear I won't ever go back! Many people have asked how I do it, and since I am packing for this trip I decided to photo-document the process. Here goes:

I use an Eagle Creek "Load Warrior" 22 inch carry-on. It weighs 6.5 pounds empty.

The empty bag....nothing fancy here

Since it has a retractable handle, I pack small items in the ridges such as my umbrella,
anorak, and a small roll of t.p. (my experience in Europe is that toilet paper isn't a sure-thing).

For the first time I will be carrying a large digital SLR camera and 2 lenses. These additions have presented a packing challenge! I broke the camera down into the smallest components for travel, packing the body in a foam envelope.
Each lens is packed in a sock!

all my clothing is in this packing envelope, also made by Eagle Creek.

I have 2 pashmina scarves, 4 tops, 1 dress, & 1 skirt.
I carry one extra pair of shoes.
Note that everything is black and white! Each item works with everything else.
It all dries quickly. I still might cull a couple more things from the pack...

This cube (also Eagle Creek) holds a couple changes of underwear and socks,
a foldable water bottle, quick-drying towel, 2 moleskin notebooks,
a small set of watercolors, & double-sided tape.
I write and send postcards to myself as I travel.
It is a treat to receive them after I get back!

This is my "liquids" clear plastic bag, found at the Container Store.
The surface-area is the size of a one-quart ziploc, but this bag has a base so it holds more.
I purchased several one-ounce flip-top bottles for shampoo, etc., and I have several packets of Woolite for washing out my clothing as needed.
This is what I pull out for my friends at the TSA to look at when going through security. Grrr.

Another of the plastic bags holds all my cords. Sheesh.
I can't help it: I'm a nerd.

My cute little MacBook Air in a lovely red Speck protective cover.
I just bought the padded Incase sleeve. So cute! So lightweight!

The liquids case and the laptop are situated on the surface so I can quickly pull them out to go through security. Grrrrr. Oh well......

See how nicely it all fits inside?
For this trip I plan to use a small daypack and travel wallet in lieu of a purse
since I'll be carrying my larger camera a great deal of the time.

My dog is not happy to see the suitcase.
Don't worry: she stays with close friends of ours who
spoil her rotten while we are away!

2 comments:

  1. You did well! I tried to bookmark the url again, and for some reason it does not work, so will be typing it in each time...no wonder I could not find it before! Have a wonderful trip. Mary Ann

    ReplyDelete
  2. I wonder why it doesn't bookmark. Perhaps I need to change my settings. Thanks for pointing that out. I'm sitting at the San Antonio airport gate awaiting the first flight out of here (to Detroit, then on to Westchester County).

    ReplyDelete

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