Travel: Luggage (Small)

When I travel, I like to travel light. As in, just a carry-on.




I almost never go on vacations longer than a few days. The last time I did was a mountain vacation with my best friend's family. For a week. Even then, with hiking gear and various nature necessities, we could each only bring a backpack each.




So when it comes to parsing the absolute necessities for a vacation into one small bag, I am a pro.




For my cousin's wedding, I've already been mapping out my plan of attack. Packing small and efficiently means you absolutely have to know your needs and available room. Just like you wouldn't buy a BarcaLounger for an ant, you wouldn't try and cram a giraffe into a lipstick case.





Ladies, to save space on the plane, pack a bag that can double as a purse, or vice versa. It's the most effective way to judge how much room you've got to work with. Another thing I do, I roll my clothes into tubes instead of folding them. Forget about wrinkles, that's what irons are for. It saves tons of space in big suitcases, and you can eek more out of the small one this way.




The biggest room killer is shoes. I love shoes, and if I could, I would lug a trunk full of my shoes with me everywhere. Just in case. Men don't understand what I mean, but the ladies do. Alas, for time conscious traveling, this cannot be. The easiest solution is to wear one pair of shoes during your trip.


Another obvious tip is to pack for the length of your stay. A lot of men will hear this and think, "Well, no shit. Who packs more than they need?" These men have not travelled anywhere with a woman for longer than three hours.

The smartest and most devious inventions of the fashion industry are purses and skintight clothing. Ladies, we dress to show off our curves, or the most part. And even if we don't, our jeans generally have five microscopic pockets which are only capable of carrying lint. Since we can't fit our stuff in our pockets, we buy purses. And purses can hold more stuff than just a wallet and cellphone, so we carry things we think we need with us every day.


I'll admit, I totally fall for this fashion conspiracy. In my purse right now are: wallet, huge keyring, camera, lighter, loose change, crackers for lunch, and a bajillion coupons. The worst part is that there's more room I can fill it with. So, for ladies, it's hard to pack lightly.

The above bag is my goal. I'm going to fit four days worth of clothing, jewelry, makeup and toiletries into this. 15" x 4" x 4.5"

It's gonna be fun!