The BIG Carry-on Guide
As you may know, we at Bag-all are pretty savvy packers. This comes from years of trial and error, and tips from our amazing customers. In this guide, we’ve gathered all of our best packing tips for packing carry-on bags. Throughout the years, we’ve seen some impressive, creative packing solutions, both from our customers and from our Bag-all team. packing light can be difficult, and these pro tips will hopefully make it a little bit easier for you on your next trip.
The Personal Item / Smaller Carry-on
Your personal item/smaller carry-on is a great place to store items you’ll need throughout your flight/train ride/car ride, etc. It will stay close to you during your trip and is, therefore, perfect for storing items like your wallet, travel documents and passport, snacks, essential toiletries, chargers, headphones, books, magazines, laptop and so on. When packing your smaller carry-on, we’ve learned that the following is good to keep in mind:
The Mini Beauty Box is perfect for storing smaller, essential toiletries during your trip.
Separate your items into different organizers so that you can easily find what you’re looking for without having to turn your bag upside down.
Bring an empty, reusable water bottle that you can refill on the other side of the security check.
Bring plenty of snacks! It tends to be super expensive in airports.
We like to pack a Mini Beauty Box filled with essential toiletries like Advil, hand sanitizer, face misting spray, lip balm, hand cream, sanitizing wipes, and Nuun tablets. Nuun is a natural supplement that helps the body prevent dehydration.
Drinking a Nuun will make you feel much more refreshed and hydrated throughout your flight. According to some, jet lag is less noticeable if you stay hydrated during your flight.
Bring a sleeping pillow if you’re traveling far! Sleeping is key and will also help prevent jet lag. Of course, our favorite pillow is the Bag-all Travel Pillow! It’s truly the best. Also, a good sleeping mask and noise canceling headphones will up your sleep game even more.
The larger carry-on
The larger carry-on is a flexible travel partner as it can be used to store items like the ones we mentioned above, or clothes and accessories for a shorter trip. If you’re using the larger carry-on bag as your main luggage during your trip, we have some great packing hacks for you!
Start off by making a packing list. To make things easier for you, we’ve made a Weekend Trip Packing List that we’d love to share. Check it out here.
Pick out what you think you’ll need and cut it in half. When you get back from your trip, it’s a good idea to review your packing list again and think about which clothes you actually used. Maybe there are things you didn’t use that you can leave at home on your next trip?
The small gaps that run along your suitcase are actually perfect for storing soft items like your stockings, tights, pajamas and yoga pants. Roll them up and tuck them into the gaps for maximized storage.
Can’t close your bag because of all your sweaters on top? Expand it by unzipping the expansion zipper (that other zipper that doesn’t unlock the bag). But now it won’t fit in the carry-on compartment you think? Well, when your bag is shut, close the expansion zipper again and voila! Your bag is closed and back to carry-on size.
Place a dryer sheet inside your bag to ensure that your clothes smell fresh and clean throughout your trip.
When packing a smaller bag, packing cubes are key! They really do maximize space. We suggest planning your outfits in advance and then placing one day’s full outfit in one separate packing cube. If you’re going on a three-day trip, that means your three outfits can be planned in advance and packed in three different cubes. Also, by mixing and matching different pieces and by using them for more than one outfit, you can get away by packing less.
Wear the heaviest outfit while traveling.
Place your toothbrush and toothpaste in a separate Toothbrush Case for an easy access during your trip. By keeping your toothbrush in a separate case, it’ll stay nice and clean while allowing you to find it at your convenience if needed.
Since a carry-on bag will only allow you to pack toiletry liquids that contain less than 100 ml per bottle, we recommend placing them in our Mini Beauty Box. The mini box naturally has a size that won’t allow you to bring bottles that are too big.
Bring a small tote for beach days and shopping sprees! Personally, we prefer a foldable tote.
General Tips:
Always take a picture of your travel documents and passport, in case they get lost.
Bring some local money in case they don’t take cards and let your bank know you’re traveling. Otherwise, chances are they might cancel your card thinking it got stolen.
Download a couple of movies and podcasts. Occasionally, you’ll get that last minute notice saying that your airplane broke down and that they’ll be leasing a plane from a different company you never heard of before, and of course, they don’t have screens. Been there, done that ;)