Earlier this year, a friend and I took the opportunity to fly back and forth from JFK to London for only $300. This is half the cost of the usual $600 ticket. When we saw the $300 discounted price, we instinctively booked a week-long flight, then promptly bought a ticket on the $40 Ryanair flight to Portugal. But with every low-priced trip comes a ticket high in restrictions: It only had one “personal item” for me. Even hand baggage costs an additional $55 each way. Do you want to bring a travel bag? This will run you an additional $80 each way.
Here is my suitcase fully packed and ready to go on a week long trip abroad.
Charlotte Maracina/CNET
I realized that if I wanted to save myself an extra fee like that, I needed to put all my stuff in a personal item, bag that could fit under the seat in front of me and not exceed 18″ by 14″ by 8″. For reference, think of a school backpack or a tote bag.
Yep, that’s all I had to pack for a week-long trip.
While packing for the trip, I tried several types of backpacks that could all be considered a personal item. After several rounds of trial and error, I finally perfected the formula to fit all of my items for a weeklong trip into a personal item. Since embarking on my personal-only trip in February, I’ve used this backpack on several other trips on budget airlines, saving myself hundreds of dollars in baggage fees.
The only airline that had a hard time with this was Frontier. But every other airline, including Spirit and European discount airlines like RyanAir, has let my bag through for a personal item. My advice: buy this bag, don’t fly over the border.
Satchel
First, let’s start with the basics: the bag. There is a wide variety of bags for you to choose from – spinner bags, purses, backpacks or backpacks. I prefer using backpacks because they tend to be the easiest type of bag to carry around multiple cities and hostels. Here are the top two bags I would recommend for your next trip.
I should point out that the Lululemon bag is obviously quite expensive, but I’ve actually used the bag on six separate trips which makes it well worth the money. The idea that I would have to pay extra for a carry-on bag is outrageous, and I was willing to find long-term ways around all of this.
This was the bag I was using. Inside the bag I managed to fit three packing cubes and a pair of heels. The bag has two exterior zip pockets that can serve as additional storage for small toiletries or toiletries you may need; I used it to hold my travel size shampoo and conditioner along with my makeup.
However, my favorite aspect of the bag is the padded exterior pocket, which can fit a 16-inch laptop. One of the biggest challenges I faced while finding the perfect bag was finding one that could fit not only my clothes but my laptop as well. Since I’ll be working remotely on my trip, bringing my own work laptop is kind of a non-negotiable. While this bag may not fit seamlessly under the seat in front of me (I’ll likely have to push it around a bit), it is large enough to fit all of my belongings and more while counting as a personal item!
Need more space? I also got Lululemon belt bag To hold my most important items like my passport, AirPods, ID and sunglasses. (Let’s be honest, it’s a fanny pack; calling it a belt bag is all marketing.) Since a belt bag is small enough to attach to my person, most airlines don’t usually give me an issue with it. If the airline strictly adhered to their “one personal item per person” policy, the bag could easily be shoved into my carry-on and taken out once on the plane.
Well, this bag was pretty close. If you don’t have any packing cubes but still need a way to organize your clothes, let me introduce you to the Beis Hanging Backpack. This, my friends, is no ordinary backpack; Open it up and you will find a compact shelving system. It also has four interior pockets, as well as an exterior laptop pocket and two zip pockets.
The Hanging Backpack is a one of a kind backpack and by far my favorite travel bag made by Beis. Ultimately, the deciding factor between this Lululemon bag and this one came down to the laptop pocket size. I will definitely be using this backpack for future weekend trips.
packing cubes
For the longest time I was against packing cubes. Why? I have no idea, especially out of laziness. The idea of having to reassemble everything into tiny little cubes seemed like a waste of time to me. After traveling more, I now see the error of my ways. Packing cubes make your life easier when you have limited space. Here are the packing cubes I have used to help me stay organized while packing for my trip.
When I first got my Topo Pack bags, I thought, “There’s no way everything will fit.” Once again, I was proven wrong. In one of my 5 liter packing bags I put seven tops along with a long sleeve shirt. In the 10-liter packing bag, I managed to fit three pairs of jeans and one pair of leather pants. I used a second 5 liter bag to fit my relatives and smaller items of clothing.
Topo packing bags were useful for my clothes and larger items, but this zip-up bag from Compakt fits toiletries and smaller items with ease. If you have a bag that doesn’t have a lot of zipper pockets or extra storage space, this is where this bag set comes into play. The three-piece waterproof set will help keep you organized and eliminate any extra hassle of digging through your bag to find smaller items. (There’s nothing more annoying than having to get everything out of your bag to find a phone charger.)
Ready-made
The difficulty of packing really depends on where you’re going. Headed for a beach vacation? Packing personal items will be easy, all you really need are a bathing suit and a tank top. Are you preparing for a trip where you will be lucky if the weather goes beyond freezing? This is where the problem lies.
Strategic packing is the secret formula for making everything fit in a backpack. This means bringing clothes that can easily be layered and wearing four different layers of clothing on the plane. While packing, I always make sure to pack jackets that are designed to be packable so they don’t take up too much space in my suitcase. Here are just a few of the essentials I packed for my trip.
They say the best things come in small packages and this hoodie proves it true. It keeps you warm while also keeping your luggage light. I love the simple design and how easy it is to pair with other outfits. If you’re traveling to a cooler destination and need a warm, lightweight jacket, you need the Global Puffer Hoodie.
Over the past two years, my collection of these tank tops has grown rapidly. I now own about eight of them, all in different colors. Seamless tank tops can be dressed up or dressed down and layered with ease which is why they are a travel essential. Tank tops can be easily rolled up and packed into any size bag. Whether you’re planning to kick back or step out, these tank tops are great for every occasion.
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