The Art of Packing A Carry-On
- November 13, 2019
Traveling light has never looked more tempting than it is today: as the airfare gets cheaper with promos, it’s also gotten more and more expensive to check in your luggage. A light luggage will also allow you to be more mobile, a handy deal to have when choosing to get into town through public transit rather than the expensive cab, or handling your own luggage instead of asking a porter to assist.
With these perks in mind, we share some tips on how you can pack and travel with a carry-on:
Come up with a list of things you will need for your trip while keeping in mind your airline’s carry-on limit: clothes, shoes, underwear, toiletries, electronics. This will help you see if you’re missing out on something necessary or if you packed too much.
Make sure you write it down in one these notebooks!
Airlines will usually allow you to bring a carry-on and a personal handbag. Put your essentials in the latter for easy access: travel documents, wallet, gadgets, entertainment paraphernalia such as a tablet or a book, other important valuables like jewelry.
Remember that you need to keep your liquids just up to 3.4 ounces / 100 ml per item and that all liquid items must fit inside 1 quart-sized resealable bag. Instead of lugging around heavy toiletries for short trips, transfer the content to smaller plastic bottles from SM or Beabi. Another way to limit your packed liquids is to switch to solid toiletries, like the shampoo bars in Lush.
Get yourself this luggage weighing scale and prevent excess baggage at all times
Segmenting your clothes in different cubes will make it easier for you to identify which items should go where. You can keep one for tops, another for bottoms and another for toiletries.
Make sure you layer your items according to weight. The luggage’s content will shift once it stands upright, so heavy items such as jeans or shoes should be packed near the wheels. Alternatively, you can also choose to wear these items while in transit so they won’t take up a lot of luggage space.
You don’t need as much as you might think. Most of us will create scenarios in our head to justify overpacking, but you’ll be surprised with how you can cut down your items when needed. A classic example would be bringing too many gadgets for a trip. Most smartphones would be capable of storing ebooks and movies for entertainment, sending emails and office documents and shooting photos, so you can skip the laptop, tablet, and even a camera.
Safety is the best policy. Even if your carry on is with you, if it has a few valuables in it, make sure it has a lock!
Traveling with friends? We have tips for you!