One Bag? Thoughts On Packing For Domestic Travel
I don’t travel a ton. But I did just make silver status on delta.
In my lifetime I’ve been blessed to travel to a lot of places though.
But living in one of the most remote places on earth means I’m hopping on a plane to go anywhere. And grandparents on the mainland wanna see their grandbaby and right now he flies for free 
I’m always thinking, trying to be strategic. Trying to find systems that will make life easier and better.
I think somewhere along the way, in fact, it was high school, when I was flying from Maryland to New York once a month because I was in a band with some guys from New York that I decided to tell myself even though I felt pretty special to be flying once a month, that it wasn’t cool to think it was cool. And it was at that time I decided to tell myself I didn’t like flying.
Isn’t it weird that we can trace back “vows” that we make that affect us years later?
I still don’t particularly love flying. Jess used to love flying, having time to just relax and guilt free watch movies. Now flying with a kid, I’m not so sure it’s as relaxing and enjoyable.
I don’t think my dog likes it when we travel either, his behavior changes when we start getting the luggage out.
Do you enjoy flying? There isn’t much that’s comfortable about airplanes. At least in coach. I wonder if those people in first class are living the dream.
So what is in my control that I can make the whole experience better.
I sat next to a grandmother aged lady on a recent flight and she had a large purse, and another like linen grocery bag that was full, plus her carryon that she needed help getting in and out of the overhead bins. For me that’s way to much stuff and makes traveling way more difficult.
Anyway, I’ve kicked around the idea that it’d be nice to have a separate bag that’s already packed and is my “travel bag.” I can just grab it when it’s time to travel and go.
Thinking about this made me question also, what else can I “stage” in my life to make things easier. One thing is our beach towels. There’s no need to put beach towels in our home. We only use them when we’re going to the beach, which means we’re going to take them out of the closet and put them in the car. What if those towels lived in the car, that’s one less thing we have to think about when we’re getting ready to go to the beach to relax. The beach trip suddenly becomes less relaxing when we’re packing up a million things and can’t find what we need.
Do you stage anything like this in your life?
A few years ago I read something that changed how I travel. If I was traveling for a week and a half, I would try to bring that amount of clothes.
I think I must have been following some one bagggers who took 3 pairs of clothes. That way they could always be wearing one, washing one, and having one line dry.
For me I’ve found that 4 days of clothes is the sweet spot for me. The clothes I travel in, plus 3 other days of clothing.
So maybe I could reduce some of the drudgery and anxiety of travel if I already had a bag packed. It would reduce some steps of packing.
I pretty much have a uniform. Gym shorts and a vneck tee. And even if I’m traveling to a cold climate, we’ll most likely be spending our time inside with the heat on, so I’ll still be okay with shorts and a tee.
Actually reducing this uniform down to about a week or week and half worth of clothes has greatly made life easier too. I don’t need any more than that.
So what if in my travel bag I had 3 sets of clothes ready to go. These would be my travel clothes. When I returned home I would wash these, and put them back in my travel bag so I could just grab them next time. I’d already have separate toiletries in the bag so I didn’t have to pack my at home ones.
I actually bought a $20 backpack at costco last week to be my travel bag. I liked it because it had a separate outside pocket for my laptop, which makes getting through the TSA line even easier.
The problem with cheap bags is that the zipper experience sucks. I think if I was a girl I’d totally be a purse person. I actually think I own more backpacks than my wife does purses. I’ve had a couple of more expensive bags throughout the years and the zippers on those bags a BUTTER.
I did a lot of looking into ONE BAG on my most recent trip to NYC. One bag is a movement of people who travel only with one bag. But I think I’ve concluded that I’m not a one bagger.
I don’t mind checking a bag, and I find personally, almost necessary, and it makes the travel on the plane and in airpots easier.
Here’s why.
I want to make my way through security as easily as possible.
I want my hands as free as possible when in the airport, I don’t want to be dragging a roller bag.
The only time I’m wearing shoes is if I’m preaching or on the mainland and it’s cold. But here in Hawaii, rubbah slippaz all day. Easy on, easy off. That cuts down on a ton of steps going through security. Even its cold and slushy returning to Hawaii, I can wear shoes to the airport and then fly with flip flops. But I usually want to pack a pair of shoes if I’m going to do any amount of walking.
So I could one bag it and put those shoes in my carryon, but suddenly my carryon bag just got really bulky and heavy. And I’d rather have a light back with me getting on and off planes and walking around in airports.
So what are my necessities when I’m on the plane?
Iphone wallet in my left pocket with head phones and charging cable.
Pair of socks in my right pocket for if my feet get cold
Hoodie for if I get cold on the plane or need something to use as a pillow
Flashlight clipped to my waist band.
MAYBE a liter of water. I’ve actually started experimenting with fasting while traveling.
I carry this flashlight with me everyday. Most people EDC knives, but I find I have much more use for a flashlight than a knife and you can get a flashlight on a plane and it can be utilized as a weapon if it came to that.
Other than that I don’t want anything extra with me in my seat, those seats are small enough already.
What else is in my carryon backpack? My laptop. Mostly because I don’t want it getting stolen or thrown around in my checked bag. One change of clothes. qtips with balm on them for my nose. These keeps my nose from drying out and keeps all the airplane germs from getting into my system. A nice tip we got from our midwives.
I also recently added a tourniquet and quik clot to my everyday laptop backpack and I think if I set up a dedicated travel carryon I will include these items as well. I also want to get some travel meds like benadryl that could save someones life if they are having an allergic reaction.
Toiletries are one more thing that I have to take out at security, so those are going to go in my checked bag. If my checked bag doesn’t make it or I’m stinking to high heaven in the airport, I can buy things in the airport or once I’m on the ground. This thinking about travel is basically for domestic travel to places where I can go easily grab items from a CVS or walmart once I’m on the ground if I need to.
My overseas to third world countries bag would be set up different. But right now we don’t have any of that kind of travel planned.
So in my checked luggage. A pair of shoes. 2 sets of clothes. A pair of pants and a collared shirt if the occasion calls for it (I hope not). My external keyboard, because I’m not going to be doing any typing on the plane, even if I get stuck in the airport, or have to stay in a hotel without my bag, I’d just use my phone. Yes I have a stupid external keyboard (my laptop keyboard doesn’t work, kind of defeats the purpose of having a laptop, but I haven’t found a good time that I can be away from my computer for a week while it gets repaired) If I was a billionaire I’d have a separate 13″ macbook air dedicated just for travel. I can’t quite make the jump to an ipad for some reason. I’m also thinking about putting some kind of travel water filter in here just for emergencies. And have been kicking around the idea of some kind of small EDC waist pack with some essentials to carry around while out and about.
There’s always this fine line between what you’d want in an emergency and how much you actually want to carry around. I don’t want heavy and bulky things to carry around, but I do want some supplies on me in case of a worst case scenario. Sometimes a little planning and carrying some extra stuff can save the day.
What do you think? How have you made packing for travel easier?
