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Pack with Her: Carry On


So having done several long-haul flights from Australia to the Americas and Europe, I certainly have made all of the mistakes, with overpacking and bringing way WAY too much stuff on flights. Here is my checklist and some tips that I utilise to ensure I have a swift departure on any international flight. Also this is the first of my 'Pack with Her' series, so stayed tuned for more.

For international flights I recommend taking two bags, the first, a roll on or larger backpack that contains all of those important items that you don’t want to check in, ie. laptops, cameras, ect. This bag you can immediately put above in the overhead storage and forget about it (until the end of the flight obviously). The second bag is classed as the ‘personal sized bag’ and is where all the magic happens.

First of all, get yourself a decent sized bag that will fit under the seat and isn’t ridged, personally I either use my Longchamp bag or my Monopulse, if you are backpacking you may want just a smaller backpack (pictured below). The goal of the bag is to only contain items that you will actually need during the flight or in the airport, anything else should go in the overhead storage. I recommend planning out your flight, which ultimately will come down to how far you will travel and how long you will be in the air. Questions like will you be sleeping, will you want a change of clothes, are you planning on getting work done on the flight and what do you need to make yourself comfortable, will determine exactly what you pack. Listed below is what I bring on International flights in my ‘personal sized bag’.

Here is my list:

  • Phone/Wallet/Keys

  • Travel Wallet

  • Passport(s) and Visa(s)

  • Bank and Travel Cards

  • Pen

  • Travel Sim

  • Passwords Book

  • Itinerary and other Travel Documents

  • Ziplock Bag 1 - Deodorant and facial cleanser

  • Ziplock Bag 2 - Cotton pads/Makeup wipes

  • Emergency Kit

  • Small First Aid Kit

  • Sanitary Products

  • Hair ties

  • Ear buds

  • Tissues

  • Lip Balm

  • Ear buds

  • Hand Sanitiser

  • Small Compact Mirror

  • Panadol/Nurofen/Allergy Medicines

  • A Change of Clothes (My Perfect Traveling Outfit Here)

  • Fresh Underwear/Bra

  • Eye Mask (The fluffier the better)

  • Empty Drink Bottle (to fill once inside security)

  • Electronic Bag

  • Earphones (Larger Headphones could have a separate bag)

  • Phone Charger

  • Fitbit Charger (or other chargers as applicable)

Tip 1: Smaller bags.

Separate items within the personal sized bag using those small sturdy bags that seem to go hand in hand with bath and shower gift sets or make up bag sets. What’s great it that once you have gotten off the plane, you can just transfer the small bags into your other luggage and always know where to find your smaller items.

Tip 2: Less is best

Nothing is worse then lugging tons of stuff around an airport, think critically about every item that you are packing into your carry on and checked luggage. My two questions to ask are:

1. Will I use this/will I wish I had it on the flight?

OR

2. Is it valuable/fragile?

If the answer is no to both of these, put the item with your checked luggage. The point of your personal item bag should be to allow you to grab things during your flight easily.

So that’s really all there is to it, don’t overpack, know your needs and pack accordingly. Look out for future blog posts to help you make the most out of International travel. Thanks for all of the support so far, I'll be back next Monday.

With Love R xo

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