How to Travel With Only a Carry-On & Pack it Efficiently

I love being efficient in majority of the things I do in my life, from cooking to cleaning to whatever else. So it’s no surprise that when it comes to packing, I’ve gotten it down to a science (especially since we’ve traveled to 6 countries in the past 2 years).

This past weekend, I went on a 3-day Girls Trip to the city of Chicago with my sister and cousin. I packed only a carry-on bag and thought I’d share with you how I pack efficiently without taking 36352 outfits and clothing pieces with me.

First, I always make a packing list. I use the Reminders app on my iPhone to create a packing list that is saved on my phone that I can also refer back to for any future trips. You can also use the Notes app to create a packing list.

MY PACKING LIST

TOILETRIES

CLOTHING

OTHER ITEMS

For my toiletries, I only pack the essentials. Although my skincare routine is pretty extensive, I only pack my moisturizers because I know I will survive without my vitamin C serums and other items. Same goes for my hair, I can do a few days without a leave-in conditioner.

For the clothing, I put together my daily outfits and tried to coordinate my outfits so that they can fit both day and night looks. Below are the outfits I packed for Chicago and how I styled them into more night time looks.

I also allow myself to bring one extra outfit of my choice, whether it’s a casual or a more dressy look.

As for the “other items” category, there’s really no method to this list. It’s just items that I know I’ll need. When we traveled to Iceland, I added hats and gloves to this list. When we traveled to islands, I added sunscreen to the list. When we went camping, I added towels and bed sheets to the list. So it’s more of a list of random things you’ll need for wherever you are going.

How I Pack Items Into my Carry-On: 

For the clothes, I lay out each outfit and roll it into one roll. So in that roll are my pants, top, and blazer. Or a roll contains my skirts and top. Then I place the roll towards the bottom of my suitcase. This way, when I get to my destination, I know that if I pull out one roll, then it will be my entire outfit for the day and I don’t need to pull any other clothing pieces from the suitcase.

I place my shoes into bags and place them on top of my clothing. I love packing my shoes in plastic bags because I’d hate for any of my clothing to get dirty from some leftover dirt on the bottoms of my heels.

Then I pack everything else into the carry-on as I see fit, and just play a game of tetris basically.

CLICK HERE TO SEE A VIDEO OF  HOW I PACK MY CARRY-ON

If you loved this post, you may enjoy reading my travel recaps from our previous trips:

Aruba

Toronto & Montreal

Iceland

Antigua

I hope this post was helpful!

Nothing feels better than feeling organized and efficient for a flight!

♡ Alena