Can you pack for a week using just a carry on?

[aubriee]

With the airlines situations being what it is, I think we are all probably going to have to start packing lighter. I measured my carryons the other day and even though they've always seemed to be just average size, I see that for some airlines they are right at the limit, so I am buying new luggage that is just below the limits, in order to make absolutely sure I don't go over the limits. OK, I admit am an overpacker. Sorry, but I have no idea how I could possibly get everything I need for a week in a carry on. I have a hard enough time getting everything into one stuffed carry on and one large checked bag. The thread about summer packing tips got me to thinking. Would people who are light packers give us folks on the other side of the fence some pointers?

I always carry travel size products of my favorite shampoo and conditioner, as well as travel sizes of my bath products and lotion, plus travel size toothpastes, etc. I do carry several cans of sunscreen, but usually use most of it. I wear mineral makeup, which I put in little connecting 5 gram jars, so they are small. I do carry things like mole skin, Body Glide, bandaids, cold meds, antibiotics, pain meds, Pepto, peppermint foot lotion, foot soak, etc for 'just in case'. I don't carry blow dryers, but do sometimes carry a curling iron or flat iron. I also can't sleep without a white noise machine, so carry that. I don't like to do laundry on vacation, so I do carry an outfit for everyday with one or two (or I admit maybe five or six ), extra outfits, so I'll have choices . I use ziplocks and roll my clothes, so they take up less space. What am I doing wrong? How do you people get a weeks worth of everything you need into a carry on?

I'm going on a cruise in January and with two formals, see no way I am going to get everything into one carryon and one checked bag , much less a single carry on. I need some packing tips!!!

 

[kiteri]

The formals might make it rough on you!!!!!

I have traveled to Disney twice, and a cruise once. Each time I only used a carry on, and a personal item (admittedly my personal item is a HUGE purse... but it fits on my lap so it still counts!).

I did do laundry on my vacation though. It just seemed so much easier than having the airline loose my luggage, or having to wait an extra hour for a shuttle when I "just missed" the bus because I had to wait for my checked luggage to show up. The cruise ship also didn't deliver luggage to people's rooms for HOURS. I would have had to wear my travel clothes to dinner that night if I wouldn't have carried on.

Easy on the plane, easy off the plane! Easy on the shuttle, easy off the shuttle. Easy on the boat... etc.

I also can't tell you the number of people that had put their paperwork in their checked bag, and couldn't pre-register for the cruise boarding on the bus to the dock because the cruise line had automatically loaded their checked bags into the cargo hold of the shuttle bus. My paperwork was right there in my carry on!

When the lady beside me on the plane spilled her ENTIRE glass of Coke on me during turbulance.... I could just go to the bathroom at the airport with my carry on and change into something clean. (I can't imagine that picture of me as we were getting on the ship with Coke all down the front of me!)

I made sure I packed clothes that were wrinkle resistant, easy to hand wash and would then air dry pretty much wrinkle free. (or at least loose their wrinkles with the blast of a hair drier) My formal dress was an "itty bitty" little black sheath that I had two different cover ups for that made it look like a different dress both times and both cover ups were very small when folded up, and he just rented a tux on the ship.

Sometimes though... for someone that takes security in "things" you may stress more over what you didn't pack than it was worth saving in baggage fees.

 

[VAN]

We routinely pack 1 week into carry-on. The key is to only take what you will actually need. Always remember that you tend to buy a shirt or two on vacation. Most places you will vacation to will have stores where you can pick up items that you may "find you need".

Unless you are a really messy sort of person, you should be able to wear shorts/pants more than once during the trip (unless you don't wear underwear ... Ugh). For a 6 day trip, we will usually only pack 3-4 pants/shorts and then 6-7 shirts. I take "thin" PJ's. I'll also usually just have one zip-up hoodie for colder weather and a long-sleeved shirt in case it is extra cold.

I don't take a robe or slippers. I wear my tennis shoes on the plane and then just pack flip-flops or other smaller/compact shoes. I have travel-size hair rollers and a travel-size hair dryer.

If I need a beach towel, I'll take a really thin one.

Any items like band-aids, etc. I'll take out of their original packaging and put in plastic ziplock bags. Any over the counter meds (like daily vitamin, baby aspirin, etc), I'll put in one of those weekly cases.

Now we also take a coffee pot/cups with us and I'll put that in my "personal item" which fits under the seat.

My carry-on consists of a 22" with wheels (this goes in the overhead, wheels first) and then my "personal" item which goes under my seat. My 22" is an expanding one, but I find that it won't fit in the overhead (too fat) if I use that feature. I am careful not to put too much stuff in the outside pockets.

Believe it or not, I do usually find that I have still taken a shirt or two too many!!!
------------
Now the last time I flew to WDW, I ordered bottled water and had it delivered to the hotel. If you need lots of sunscreen, etc, you may just want to ship them ahead.

 

[Stacy's a freak]

I just want to say that I am completely impressed with you minimalistic packers! I'm always afraid of going over the weight limit with my bag.

 

[suzimar57]

whenever i've gone solo for a week, i can pack everything in a carry-on

of course, it's always been during F&W when it's hot out, so skorts and tank tops don't take up much room!

 

[KJ Luvs Pluto]

I'm not sure I could pack just in a carry on if I had to pack formal clothes, but to go to WDW or to visit my in-laws when they go to Sanibel we do pack for a week with just a carry on. Although the year when we wanted to bring food, snacks and the coffee/cups etc to WDW I shipped it ahead.

 

[timzagain]

My goal is to pack for a 10 day Disney trip using ONLY my carry-on and my personal item!

DH and I are going to Mexico for a week in July, so that will be my test-run for the carry-on luggage only approach!

Here's my plan:

* Keep make-up to the minimum, i.e. powder, lipgloss and eyeliner

* Travel sized bottles of my favorite toiletries, multi-purpose where possible; I have a bottle of lotion from a perfume set that DD gave me - that will take care of scent and moisturizing
* 4 pants - white, khaki, brown + one dark skirt that I can dress up with a nice top for the evening if necessary
* 6 tops in coordinating colours - majority of clothes are quick-drying (dri-fit tops, board shorts); hand wash and hang in the room to dry overnight
* Maybe, one summer dress
* Travel in a pair of dark jeans, just in case I need them
* Travel in sneakers & pack one pair of go-with-everything sandals, one pair of gold sandals for evening
* Undies, socks etc - I only wear the "invisible" ankle socks that don't take up much room; bras with detachable straps to convert to strapless bras for tanks, camis etc. My mom's theory re: undies - wash as you go and you'll only need three - one on, one off (clean and dry, of course) and one in the wash. I probably won't cut it so close though!!
* 2 swim suits (learned a trick from the teen DD's last year - swimsuits dry quickly when squeezed out in towel and left to dry on the A/C unit!)
* Phone & camera charger


If I've forgotten anything, it'll give me an excuse for some retail therapy!

 

[disneyfan2]

i don't think i can do it. So i plan on checking a old bag with all the stuff i don't intend on bringing back. I put medicines etc and small 2 cup coffee maker that i leave. I pack snacks, juice boxes and then plan on not having a checked back for the day back. Although we are going for less then 1 week each of the DD's will have their own rolling backpacks for the plane so we should be ok. We also won't be buying much this trip in terms of souvenirs. Decided to buy pins instead for gifts as we are going before Xmas.

 

[jellybeans0607]

just be careful, the airlines are weighing soem carryones as well. they dont wnat people taking advantage of the policy(yes i do understand theya re taking advatage of us).

if it were just me, sure i could. but i usually fly southwest, so no need to here.

 

[tooh8ful]

I hope I can, I leave for Africa in 3 weeks to pick up my daughter and I need to just rely on my carryon, checked luggage is notoriously lost!

For this years trip to WDW we squeeked in before the DOT ruling so I can still take 2 checked bags per ticket

 

[Handbag Lady]

I just can't. I need to have full-sized shampoo and conditioner as I have very long hair. Plus comb, brush, hair-ties and hats, and swimsuit and towels, plus clothes and robe and slippers plus crocs plus flip-flops plus clothes and I can't stand wearing clothes twice without washing plus socks with sneakers. I can't wear the same shoes two days in a row (give them a day to rest between wearing). And then make-up and face lotion and contact solution and lens cases...

We also go for 10-14 days at a time to WDW and I hate washing while on vacation, although I will do it if I need to for clean clothes.

I can't do it and I don't want to do it!

I'm glad we fly SWA.

LONG LIVE HIGH MAINTENANCE GALS!

 

[honeysuckle_rose]

This relates more to cruise packing than Disney, but I swear by knits similar to Citiknits by QVC for the evening dining room on cruises. I have a black jacket w/ slacks, knee length skirt, and ankle length skirt. I have tops that coordinate. You can even find sparkly tops that would do for formal nights. I do one pair of dressy black sandles. All of these clothes pack away to almost nothing. I'll admit to wearing the skirts and slacks more than one time.
I have scaled back on what my idea of "formal" wear is in order to be a lighter packer. I don't do sequined gowns anymore.

My daytime clothes take up much more room than my night time clothes. I've used this strategy for several cruises and it works great for me.

 

[PatsGirl]

I can use a carry-on for warm-weather trips of 7 days or less . Now, for cruises or cold weather (ski trips, that sort of thing) it's impossible to do, but beach vacations are not a problem. Now with ME I don't bother. I take a normal size suitcase and share with DD11. If I don't have to lug it around or wait for it when I get to my destination, I don't worry about it. With ME, I'm loading it into my car once and into the airline once and done. WDW is also one of the only trips that I don't take my laptop (there's never time to play online, too busy at the parks...) so that leaves me with a decent size carry-on (really a personal bag/backpack) as well.

For a 6 day Disney trip we pack 6 of everything (tshirt/shorts/undies/socks), a couple of bras, 2 bathing suits, 2 capris, 4 nice tops, beachbag, umbrella, flipflops and toiletries. In my carry-on I carry my camera, meds, reading book, extra tshirt. DD brings a backpack with an extra outfit, bathing suit, camera, DS and reading book.

That's it.

 

[fsmith2845]

any try to use those "space Saver" bags to try and get more in a small suitcase.. i realize that EVERYTHING will like end up wrinkled and all just a thought.. although if the airline is Weighing carryon's too, then that would be foiled as well.

 

[Kaler131]

I have always been a "low maintainence" kinda girl, so I can do it for sure! But....my sister on the other hand has problems getting all she "needs" into two FULL-SIZE (large) suitcases. Good luck! I bet you can do it!

 

[nemomama]

I just want to say that I am completely impressed with you minimalistic packers! I'm always afraid of going over the weight limit with my bag.

I highly recommend a Luggage scale. We brought one for $9.99 from Samsonite for this last trip and it was a lifesaver! After weighing one of our bags on the way back home I realized that one of the bags was overweight, so we were able to move some things around between the bags so that it was below 50 pounds. Saved us a huge hassle and/or $$ at the airport. $10 is nothing compared to what the airlines are charging for overweight bags these days.

 

[YayDisney!]

These tips are really useful for me! I just returned recently from a 13 day trip to WDW and I overpacked so bad. I really need to scale back to just the necessities and I really think I could have packed everything I actually used in one carry-on plus handbag even for the 13 days. Thanks for the great tips!!

 

[naf917]

I am sure that I could pack everything I need for a week in one carry-on. I am equally sure that there is no way that my DW would be able to do the same

 

[erin.w]

The bf and I have made 3 trips, carry-on only. We stay for 9 days. Now we are DVC members and will be able to do laundry once in the middle if we need to. I'm getting better at taking less, as I always end up with clothes I don't wear.

 

[TheTXTaylors5]

We've come to the conclusion, we'll be paying the $$$ to check our bags for our upcoming WDW trip (AA). There's NO way we could just use our carry-on bags. Maybe, if it were just DH and I (and we weren't going on the cruise too). But, the kids always need more changes of clothing each day (especially DS2). We have scaled back some. Since we are DVC Members too. I love having a washer and dryer in our room. I have saved many stained outfits by washing them when we get back to the room. DS2 is a terror to his clothing sometimes.

We're using the Magical Express this trip. Can we leave our carry-on bags with the porter, if our room isn't ready when we arrive????

I'm tempted to bring our bags to the gym and weigh them on the scale there before our trip. However, don't they just put ALL your bags on the scale together? So, it is a combined weight?

- Jennifer