Carry on or check?

Ah, the question that has spawned millions of disagreements among travel partners.  I’m a carry on girl, myself, but I wasn’t always – a solo trip to France in 2012 saw me sweaty and struggling with three bags in a train station with broken elevators… it wasn’t pretty.  I nearly missed my train and swore I’d pack lighter from then on.   Here’s what’s funny:  now, after lots of trial and error and practice, I can pack for this trip to Italy for three weeks and not check luggage… but a weekend in the mountains here in Colorado?  Forget it.  I’m like Paris Hilton going to the Hamptons.  In my defense, the weather can turn on a dime, so you really do need multiple outfits in that situation, but I digress…

It’s certainly not always possible to carry on – if you are traveling with kids, for instance, or if it’s super cold where you’re going.  I am convinced, though, that the less you pack, the happier you will be on your trip.  Travel demands so much decision making energy, don’t waste any brain power on what you’re going to wear.  Bring a good black dress that you can wear anywhere and save your mental capacity for figuring out how to say “I’d like another glass of wine, please” in Italian or Spanish or Greek.

So in preparation for this trip, I’ve pulled out some old favorites and am testing a new carry-on.  New thing first:  I have read lots of great reviews on a new luggage company called Away.  I’ve been a Tumi loyalist forever, but Away’s carry on seems to hold the same amount and is 4 pounds lighter.  Sometimes on flights overseas it’s the weight that gets you even if your bag is the right size – they’ll make you check it if it’s too heavy.  So having the bag itself weigh 4 lbs less is a big deal.  Plus it will charge your phone!  Seriously.  It will.  And they give a 100 day trial, so why not.  Here’s the link and I’ll let you know how I like it:

Away Carry On

And for the favorites…. here’s my thought:  I’ll list my favorite travel items here, and everyone please post yours in the comments.  I don’t know anyone who travels frequently that doesn’t love new ideas on products or ways to make it easier and more comfortable.  Or even just more fashionable.  As an aside, I was at a wine dinner a few months ago, and a friend of mine asked the winemaker, who travels something like 250 days a year, what his top 3 travel must haves/must dos were.  His answer:  1.  A foam roller.  He has a hollow one that he can stuff things in and pack easily.  Have to say I wouldn’t have thought of that.  2.  He drinks tons of water on the plane.  Yep, we all know we should do that.  And we rarely do.  3.  He works out asap when he lands.  Swears it helps jet lag.  I’ll vouch for that one. 

My faves:

I have a scarf that I bring on almost every long trip.  It’s not cheap but it’s soft, pretty, and can also be pillow or a wrap with a dress.  Here’s the link:  White+Warren scarf.  

Headphones.  I LOVE my small Bose noise-canceling earbuds.  I slept next to an infant on an overnight flight to Spain last summer with them.  To go with them, download an album called “Sleep” by Max Richter.  You can find it on iTunes. 8 hours of ambient music created with a neuroscientist to (somehow) mimic the stages of sleep.  I’m not sure how it works, but it does.

An extra battery to keep everything charged.  This one is small, relatively light, and can charge almost anything.  Nice for the flight, and for tossing in your bag to make sure your phone doesn’t run out of juice and leave you map-less when you are, for instance, lost in Paris with no sense of direction or idea where your hotel is.  Just for instance.

Compression socks.  Yes, mine are orange.  And my feet don’t swell and my legs feel great when I land.

For those of you who don’t know me or haven’t seen me in awhile, I have braces right now, so I have a newfound appreciation for really good toothbrushes.  I can’t see lugging my Water-Pik to Italy, so I was thrilled to find this Toothbrush.  The case charges it, which I think is just too cool. 

To pack for three weeks without checking, you do need to get comfortable with two things:  occasionally washing a few things in the sink, and paying up for dry cleaning at a hotel if you need it.  Neither one is a big deal at ALL, especially compared to, say, being without your luggage for 36 hours upon landing in Paris.  At which point you will convince yourself that you might as well go shopping at that Armani boutique next to the hotel – I mean really what choice do you have?  I think I am still paying off that outfit.

I pack a black dress, a jacket, two scarves (depending on weather), two tank tops, a skirt, one pair of jeans, one nicer top, black flats that I can also walk around a city in during the day, underwear, a bathing suit if I’m going someplace that I might want it, and workout/hiking clothes (two sets, tops – you can wash this stuff super easily and it dries fast), and I wear my running or hiking shoes on the plane.  That more than fits, even once you add in toiletries and gadgets, so I’m usually able to add another dress or two.  Obviously this is all easier the warmer the climate is wherever you are going.

I promised a review of cards, etc, but I found an Article on Travel & Leisure’s site that actually does a much better job than I would have.  I personally use the Chase Sapphire Reserve card – for my spending patterns (i.e. Pretty much all travel and dining, for which they give extra points) it works marvelously.  Just remember two cardinal rules:  make sure you have a card that doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees, and NEVER use a credit card at an ATM.  Only use a debit card to take out cash.  The credit card will categorize it as a cash advance.

That’s all the travel wisdom I have.  Every trip brings a little more, one of the many things I love about traveling.  Please share yours in the comments – I will consolidate all the recommendations into another post.

Cheers!

Traveling Girl