Ladies how is this possible? Using carry on only...

I LOVE my eBags Motherlodes! I've got the 19" and 22", both in the green that you have there in your photo. It really is nice that they scrunch up so little when you are not using them. Instead of tags from The Mouse, I've got my smartass women from Anne Taintor on them. My newest one is on the 19"er - a woman laying out on the ship's deck by the life preserver: "Ever wish you could shoot some people with more than a camera" :D

Absolutely, everyone should pack how it makes them happy.

 

Not so sure gate checking completely defeats the purpose of traveling carry-on. Many prefer to carry on to avoid bag check charges, but usually when the overheads fill up and you're forced to gate check, there is no charge. Obviously you still have to wait for your bags at baggage claim, but the cost savings, which is very important to a lot of people, is the same either way.

 

I, for one, appreciate those "picky" flight attendants. The rule that under-seat items must fit completely under is for safety reasons, similar to the reasons aisles must be kept clear, those seated in the exit row must speak English, and be over the age of 15 etc. Flight attendants who insist that under-seat bags be completely under the seat aren't being picky, they are doing their job! ;)

 

I'm impressed that you were able to pack for a 17 day trip, including a cruise, in a 19" backpack. I'd love to see an inventory list of what you packed for that trip!

I travel with carry on only for a few reasons, but one of them is to keep my things in my possession at all times. I can't imagine having to pull out all my essentials at the last minute because I have to gate check. I can surely see how many people carry on to avoid charges - especially when it delays take off :( I am a rule follower and appreciate why bags can't stick out from under the seat. I am also a "worst case scenario" thinker, so there is no way I would use the longer bag LOL. So, please take my use of the word "picky" in the non negative way that I intended it. The trip to PR was a couple of years ago so I don't think I can come up with a packing list for you from memory. I did take some pics before our last trip. I wonder if I still have them...

I LOVE my eBags Motherlodes! I've got the 19" and 22", both in the green that you have there in your photo. It really is nice that they scrunch up so little when you are not using them. Instead of tags from The Mouse, I've got my smartass women from Anne Taintor on them. My newest one is on the 19"er - a woman laying out on the ship's deck by the life preserver: "Ever wish you could shoot some people with more than a camera" :D

I hate the mouse :( BUT we had this family reunion trip in remembrance of my mom and everyone met at Disney. She loved Disney, but clearly didn't pass that down to me. Those tags are history now. I love how they have the built in/hidden tag holder in their bag. My kids travel with a tag that has their photo ID inside of it ( for easy retrieval) but I don't usually have one on mine.

The green bag is mine :D We missed the first dark green one that they had or we would have them all. We haven't traveled altogether since Jan 2014 ( minus that Disney trip this year) so I may not bother buying a 10th one when a new color comes out. My 2nd oldest will be getting married soon so I figure we probably won't need 10 packs again :(

I couldn't find pics of an unpacked bag =(

With the PR trip we had 7 days in PR, then the cruise and then 3 more days in PR. We did do laundry before we boarded but not after we got off the ship. I generally pack 3 shorts, 2 capris, enough shirts for everyday, a pair of chicos travelers black pants, a slinky black dress (long but takes less room than the travelers) and a few dressy tops. Also 2 swimsuits (which take more space than the dressy outfit), a week of underclothes, sandals, flops, and I wear jeans and tennis shoes on travel days. I have a pair of shoes from lands end that is a combo tennis shoe/ water shoe and that saves me that space in my bag. If we plan to do a lot of hiking (like the rainforests in PR) then I wear my sneakers and pack the water shoes. Between my husband and I we split up the toiletry pack, electronics and chargers, hammock and straps and snorkel gear. I wear a size large so my clothes aren't tiny. If we bring our fins then we will usually toss the snorkel gear in our crushable tote bag. We more often drive to port than we do fly so its not as much of a deal with the extra tote. We CAN fit it all in the backpack, but its nice to lighten it up if we can. I have a 7 night cruise coming up in Jan so I will try to remember to come back and share pictures.

I don't like to do laundry at home, so I certainly do not want to waste my time when I travel doing laundry. Just me...

Tina

I don't like to do laundry at home, so I certainly do not want to waste my time when I travel doing laundry. Just me...

 

Tina

I have done some of it on our cruise with Princess. Now we are elite and they do all of our laundry and pressing for free. I love going home with clean clothes.

We booked our air through Air2Sea today for Aug 19. We booked a nonstop flight to Copenhagen from Newark. I only saw nonstop flights from Boston, JFK, and Newark. We are flying out of Cleveland on United to Newark.

Shak

We booked our air through Air2Sea today for Aug 19. We booked a nonstop flight to Copenhagen from Newark. I only saw nonstop flights from Boston, JFK, and Newark. We are flying out of Cleveland on United to Newark.

 

 

 

Shak

Sorry I posted on the wrong thread.

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I don't like to do laundry at home, so I certainly do not want to waste my time when I travel doing laundry. Just me...

 

Tina

Hi Tina, nope you are not alone.:)....I don't do laundry on a cruise either.

I don't like to do laundry at home, so I certainly do not want to waste my time when I travel doing laundry. Just me...

 

Tina

I don't mind. I do it all the time on vacation. It takes a couple minutes at in the morning or at night when I'm doing other things in the bathroom. Maybe 5-10 minutes tops. But, then, I also don't spend 20-30 minutes in the bathroom putting on a ton of makeup. I'd rather do that little bit of laundry than drag a huge bag with me. Just me...

Laundry? Not a big deal. I don't do loads in the self-laundry, if that's what you're referring to. Generally I wash out a couple things at a time, often when showering. It's not any more trouble than rinsing out a swimsuit.

I may send a few things to the ship laundry but I'm pretty fussy about my clothes, so only really sturdy things get sent out.

We just did a 7 night cruise out of San Juan. I only carried a 20 inch carry on plus my phone wallet in my pocket. We did drop off everything for wash and fold service in Old San Juan before boarding the cruise, and I did wash out my delicate things in the sink at the hotel. I tried washing out a couple of tank tops on the ship and it took 2 days for them to dry completely.

The overall results of my pack lite experiment were I wished I had packed my hair dryer. I could have fit it in the case, but in the interests of experimenting with packing lite left it out. The hair dryer on the ship left a lot to be desired and the one in the hotel never worked properly. I wished I had another couple cotton trapeze shirts as they were the most comfortable thing in the humidity. I was clothed in clean clothing every day, except I did re-wear a pair of crop jeans for the flight home. I was able to pack an additional four bricks of coffee, three bottles of Caribbean hot sauce, and a package of Blue Curacao filled chocolates into my carry on for the return.

We did purchase sunscreen in San Juan.

Partner and I pack with one roller bag each and a backpack no matter the length. And the extra secret is..... Send a load midway to ships laundry. I travel weekly for work and use hotel laundry for everything. For the price of your specialty cocktail, you can get your unmentionables cleaned, and don't have to look like you have been backpacking across Europe or wear "used" clothes. 3oz bottles for everything, with a sunscreen and shampoo purchase onshore or on ship. Wear blazer on plane or suite in suitcase. Easypeasy

Partner and I pack with one roller bag each and a backpack no matter the length. And the extra secret is..... Send a load midway to ships laundry. I travel weekly for work and use hotel laundry for everything. For the price of your specialty cocktail, you can get your unmentionables cleaned, and don't have to look like you have been backpacking across Europe or wear "used" clothes. 3oz bottles for everything, with a sunscreen and shampoo purchase onshore or on ship. Wear blazer on plane or suite in suitcase. Easypeasy

Secret is.... men have an easier time than women :D

Ever see Jenna Marbles youtubes How Men Pack and How Women Pack. Very funny NSFW

I wash my bras, bathing suits, and silk tops in the sink, even at home. I spend under three minutes a day on it. The rest goes out for laundry. When we do land based travel we tend to book flats with a washer dryer. I throw a load in before bed most nights and put it on dryer mode as soon as I wake up. By the time we are ready to leave for the day, it's time to take things out and hang them up. They are sometimes a bit damp still, which is OK, it keeps the deep dryer wrinkles away, and they are totally dry before we get back anyhow.

I say pack however it makes you happy :D

 

 

We are light packers. We use only 1 backpack each ( Ebags 19" Motherlode convertible Jr ) and nothing else - especially when we fly. If we are driving to the cruise port, then I may toss my snorkel gear and hammock into a small tote and lighten my pack a bit. We use packing cubes and pack-it-flat toiletry organizers.

 

One thing I wanted to mention is that we use a sunscreen stick. Neutrogena has several choices. We use their 1.5ounce stick either in the 50 or 70spf. We have been using them for several trips now and love them. They don't cut into your liquid packing allowance when flying and they are neater and easier all around. They last a long time ! For example: I brought 2 new sticks to Disney for my family of 10+1 and we only used about half of each stick over 3 days in the parks. I usually order on Amazon, but have also seen them at Walmart. They hide well amongst the sunscreen bottles so look carefully.

 

 

I cannot say enough about the Ebags backpack. We have the 19" variety because it will fit under the seat in any aircraft we have taken them on. With as often as the overheads fill up, we just didn't want to take a chance on losing our bags to gate check which defeats the purpose of traveling with carry on ! We did not buy the 22" packs because of under seat factor. The 19" will at times show out from under the seat a little and I just knew that a picky flight attendant wouldn't allow the 22" to stay there. We are a family of 10 but we rarely travel altogether anymore since we have grown children which limits availability of all to coordinate travel.

 

A side bonus going to carry on only is that your bags take up very little closet space ;) We went from 3 sets of giant nested suitcases to one small stack of packs. Here is a fun pic of our bags all set out and waiting for our Disney trip this past July.

 

Ps. Our longest carry on only trip was 10 days (7/3) in PR with a 7 night cruise attached. Did laundry in PR but not on the ship.

 

I also use stick sunscreen. highly recommened,

Secret is.... men have an easier time than women :D

That's stereotyping that's blatantly untrue in my household. Nor can I use any of my husband's 3-1-1 kippy because it's filled up with his stuff.

We have both improved over time with the specificity of our packing (not saying we're light or heavy or any of that - just better than we used to be at thinking about what we will need, what can be mixed & matched, what our laundry opportunities will be and then packing accordingly)

Yes, I prefer to pack light because I need to manage my bags up & down stairs and around public transport etc. But I also pack a nylon duffel for souvenirs on the return:D And while I use a 22" bag, I'll often check it so I don't have to worry about it during layovers....Depends on the variables of each trip!!

That's stereotyping that's blatantly untrue in my household. Nor can I use any of my husband's 3-1-1...... ............!

But it's very true for our family!

DH packs in a small duffle, his 311 consists of a tube of tooth paste. His father does and my father (obm) did pack the same way.

I have been working on lighting up my load. As I posted before, we carry our luggage on board and off.

I do some sewing and now I am making a second pair of very wide leg pants out of light weight fabric. The first pair came out great and fold down to nothing. The fabric is silky like and does not wrinkle. So, my mission now is to cut down the number of cases between up to three carry on. We each get one and a half. Reading this thread I now know I have to pack smarter. I can still have plenty of changes if I choose the fabric weight more carefully, lighter fabrics. I now use the ships laundry (being it is free for us), so now I can cut down more on the packing. What I find take space it the toilet articles, meds etc. We do drive to the port, so I could pack what I want. But for me, I hate the packing and in packing. I think planning is the key and sending it out to the laundry.

Keep an eye open for holiday sample sets or variety sets which go on sale around this time of the year.

Sephora, for example, has a great mini mascara set - Lashstash in the "Sephora Favorites" section around this time of year. They usually sell out before Christmas (a friend had to drive around looking for it!) though things do occasionally get restocked

http://www.sephora.com/sephora-favorites.

Laura Mercier offers nice mini sets, too http://www.lauramercier.com/new/holiday-2016/

Makeup stocking stuffers are also on sale around this time of year. A few of the retailers also do more gift with purchase or bonus goodies with regular purchase.

Paula's Choice offers single packet samples on a lot of the products year round and offers free shipping without a minimum a few times a year.

I actually tend to buy mini sizes, samples, and value sets of makeup and new skincare - even in multiples rather than full sizes because I don't use makeup enough to get empties before the expiration is up. I'd prefer to stock up around the holidays so I can use fresh product when I need it. Good skincare isn't usually cheap, either, so I'd prefer to try out a slightly more expensive sample (price per oz) rather than buying the full size and not liking it.

For decantable things like lotion, the holidays also bring great buy 1 get 1 deals. Skincare staples sometimes also provide gifts with purchase.

Feel free to re-use travel/sample containers. I only take home hotel toiletries if I really like the product or like the bottle :) Cosmetic and skincare companies also have access to a lot more small bottles than the average Target shopper. If you don't like the product, scoop it out and wash the container, sterilize it, and stash it for use again later. You can refill a lot of things with a tiny funnel, coffee stirrers, plastic pipettes, plastic makeup spatulas if you have the time and inclination to do so.

I take traveling light pretty literally- I weigh my stuff on a kitchen scale. You might be surprised at how heavy some synthetic "travel clothing" is. My bag might fit another pair of shoes but if the bag is getting heavy for me to lift, I should leave those shoes at home.

You can buy those value sets online. I do this every year when they come out with the sunscreen set. The Lashstash is online right now. I had one of these (in a different permutation) before; I LOVED the Better Than Sex mascara for how it made my lashes stand out. However, my eyes did not like it (made them scratchy and watery) so I couldn't continue. If your eyes don't have a problem with mascara (I can't stand most - I use BLINC), try that one.

I don't think I ever updated with how I ended up packing.

I did a 9 day Caribbean cruise and ended up with just my carry on! Ok, so I had some shoes in hubbys luggage, but that was it. I surprised myself!

Next cruise will be 15 days in colder temps. Luckily the airplane allows 2 free checked bags. Have a feeling I will be using both!