– from the girl who always packs too much
First off, I will never understand why when I get to the airport for a 6pm flight on Sunday nights, there are a bunch of men traveling in suits. Are you telling me these guys are all going straight to meetings when they arrive to their location? I think not. Did they just come from a meeting before coming to the airport. Maaaybe???
I personally choose to travel in comfortable clothes for ALL trips – business or pleasure. I have my go-to outfit that I’ll wear on my Sunday flights, and I’ll usually wear a work outfit on Friday that I feel more comfortable traveling in (or I’ll just change because it takes all of two minutes). Traveling in itself can be (and usually is) a pretty uncomfortable experience. Why make it worse by wearing stiff clothes that will be all wrinkled by the time you get to your destination?
Here I am – shameless airport bathroom selfie after traveling 7 hours. Go-to outfit – tee-shirt, oversized sweatshirt, leggings and converse or rainbows. Laptop bag and lunchbox in hand, headphones prepped to block out all the nonsense.
[Side note: I’ll also never understand how anyone walks on a plane practically empty-handed. I’ve forgotten headphones before or had a dead cell phone or kindle and didn’t know what do with myself for the few hours on the flight. It was miserable. Like I said, traveling is uncomfortable enough already – I’m all about doing what I can to make it better.]
I think one of the main differences in women and men when it comes to traveling is the packing factor. If you just carry your briefcase and bring nothing else, it’s one less thing to think about. Or if you wear your suit on the plane on the way to your meeting, it’s one less outfit you have to pack. I’ll pack the extra outfit for a little more comfort on the plane and a little more flexibility in getting around the airport if I have a tight connection. [I’ve done the run from terminal B to terminal F in Atlanta before in a business dress with my heels in hand, making the flight with about 60 seconds to spare before they shut the doors. It’s not fun.]
The packing situation
While I pride myself on packing for my AU/NZ trip (3 weeks, needing clothes ranging from 20 degree glacier hike to 95 degrees on a boat and everything in between) in a carry-on suitcase and a backpack only, that’s not my approach while traveling for work. One reason is that I have to bring at least my laptop bag and a purse on the plane with me, and that counts as my two carry-on items right there. It’s easier to pack a bigger bag, where I can make sure I have plenty of room for everything I need, and I’m not worried about hauling it around the airport and finding space for it on the plane. In my mind, that’s a win.
If you’ve read any of my previous posts, you’ve got a glimpse into some of the things that I’m packing with me. When you’re living out of a suitcase week after week, there are certain things you’re going to want to have with you to make yourself feel more at home, and those would likely be the first to go when space is limited.
The carry-on situation
Over the past four weeks, I have perfected packing my carry-on bag(s). You’re allowed two items, but I like to play fast and loose with the rules sometimes, and I’ve been bringing three bags (jk, I hate breaking rules and I consolidate before boarding every single flight so I don’t get yelled at!).
- I bring my lunchbox that contains any food I want to bring that I wouldn’t feel comfortable checking in my bag. Why would I waste a few of my precious 50 pounds packing sweet potatoes or take the risk packing produce that could easily get smashed in my larger bag? I can see it now – raspberry puree EVERYWHERE.
- I also bring my purse which is about 4 inches tall by 6 inches long. It’s bitty so I throw it on the top of my laptop bag before boarding any flight.
- I bring a laptop bag (that’s actually a Kate Spade baby diaper bag – you can thank my sister for that tip) that contains all of my treasures. This includes any work related items (laptop, charger, pens, folio, notebooks, etc.). I also will not travel without the necessities I talked about in 9 essentials every twenty something business woman should never travel without. Items 1-7 all get added to my carry-on.
The checked bag situation
In my checked bag, I’m packing everything else. I have a large roller that usually weighs about 60 pounds if it’s packed full, so I have to be careful not to pack too much. For a one-week trip, my bag normally weighs about 44-46 pounds, but for a two-week trip, I’m likely to pass that 50 point threshold by a few pounds.
Clothes: I use three packing cubes in one half of my suitcase to pack all of my clothes. The large cube contains all of my clothes for work or casual clothes for the week. The medium cube contains all of the clothes that I need to workout and the smallest cube includes my pajamas and undergarments. Because I’m packing a minimum of two outfits per day (at least one outfit for work and one workout outfit), the clothes add up, even when traveling for only a week. The cubes help to compress everything together (which I don’t need to worry about since I have my handy steamer) and save space.
Other: The other half of my suitcase is a free-for-all where anything and everything else gets thrown in. I have a shoe organizer and I try to limit myself to only the shoes that fit in that plus one extra pair of heels (and my sneakers). [I generally pack a pair of neutral colored heels and a pair of black heels so that one of the two can go with everything. I also pack a pair of flats and a pair of nice sandals.] Yes, this is a lot of shoes, but if I had my way, I would have two pairs per outfit to have choices. Sometimes you just have to compromise with yourself. I also pack my toiletries/make-up bags, my jewelry case, my straightener and my steamer. The last items that get added in are related to my staying healthy on the road – my workout equipment (resistance bands and strength slides), my portion control containers for food, a water bottle, a blender bottle and any food I need to pack that I can’t carry on (bottle of coconut milk, jar of peanut butter, etc).
I usually have some room to spare, so if I go shopping (like I did last week…and this week), I can still fit everything in. If that’s not enough, I always have my handy packable backpack that I can break out!
The toiletries situation
This is one of the areas that I tend to overpack more than anything. I often pack full size bottles of all of my products, which are heavy and take up a lot of space. I bought this cute little bag off Amazon, and now I limit myself only to what fits inside it. Even though I check my bag, I bring travel size bottles of all of my products, which allows me to pack much more. The small shampoo and conditioner bottles of the brand I use lasts me about two weeks, so if I’ll be gone for longer, I’ll just pack extra or rely on the hotel toiletries for a couple of nights.
Pro tip – purchase the travel size bottles once and then refill with your larger bottles when you’re at home to save some money!
In this bag, I’ve managed to pack any item I might possibly need for my trip including: shampoo, conditioner, leave-in conditioner, root pump, dry shampoo, body wash, hair gel, lotion, contact solution, face wash, hair spray, deodorant, makeup remover wipes, q-tips, ibuprofen, band-aids, about 100 hair ties, a razor, extra contacts, bobby pins, extra hearing aid batteries, hair clips, toothpaste, a toothbrush and some other random stuff. I really am able to bring almost everything I use at home on a regular basis and then some.
So there you have it – from the girl who always packs too much, I still bring quite a lot with me on a business trip, but at the end of the day, it’s really most of the essentials I need and a few other items to make me feel right at home.
