Tips for Traveling with Only a Carry-on

Traveling is expensive. There is no way around the cost of flights, transportation, hotels, and excursions. If we are not careful, the cost can continue to rise and blow over our budget. This is why here at Ondina’s Odyssey, we prioritize budget planning, deals, and ways to save money while on vacation. One of the best ways to save money on a trip would be to travel using only a carry-on. This way you avoid costly baggage fees and weight restrictions. Before you suggest the impossibility of traveling with only a carry-on, know that many have done it, and you can too. In fact, during my trip from London, Paris, Rome, and back to Miami. I fit twelve days of clothing, shoes, coats, and souvenirs into a single carry-on and personal item. I saved quite a bit of money with each airline too. If you like to save money on travel and flights, keep reading to find some essential tips for traveling with only a carry-on. 

Pick the Right Carry-on. 

The first and most important of your tips for traveling with only a carry-on is to pick the right carry-on. Picking the right carry-on will set you up for a successful trip. It will be your home for however long your vacation is. Treat your carry-on as your home. When it comes to your home, you don’t want to sacrifice quality for a cheaper cost. Skip the department store discounted suitcases. They are discounted for a reason. You will find out how quickly the wheels and handles break. Even more, most generic brand suitcases aren’t from travel companies that understand consumer needs.

You want a carry-on with multiple compartments for maximum storage and organization. You also want one with sturdy handles and sturdy rolling wheels. To make the most of your carry-on, you also want one that expands, that way you can use up all possible space in the carry-on compartment. Then, be sure yours is TSA and airline approved.

This LEVEL8 Carry-on is TSA approved, Airline approved, has all of the above necessities, and is the highest rated carry-on suitcase on Amazon. You can click the link above or the image below to get yours and ensure you have the perfect carry-on for your trip.

Wear Your Bulkiest on the Plane

Next on your tips for traveling with only a carry-on, you want to wear your bulkiest items on the plane. Jeans, puffy jackets, and sweaters will take up the most space. The worst part is that all the space is usually air and yet, takes up so much. A simple puffer jacket could take up the entire side of your carry-on suitcase. This is where you want to take advantage of your flight outfit. There are very few rules for what clothing pieces you can wear while on the plane.

As long as you are comfortable, you should wear the largest pieces on your way to your destination. The good news is that airplanes are usually freezing cold anyway. Wear the big puffer jacket, drape it around your arm, or use it as a blanket once you get onto the plane. Wear your jeans as well. I do not advise any skinny or uncomfortable jeans, that would be a nightmare situation, however, if you have any thick, big, and roomy jeans don’t waste space in the suitcase, wear them instead. 

Pack Items with Multiple-Day Uses.

On the topic of thick jeans and puffer jackets, another of the best tips for traveling with only a carry-on is to pack items with multiple day uses. If you had the extra space, it would be fine to pack one piece per day, but when on a space crunch, you want to be strategic about the pieces you are packing. I use the example of jeans. Jeans are thick clothes that we can wear for multiple days, as long as you aren’t a super sweaty person.

If you are going on a week-long trip, it is completely acceptable to pack only three to four pairs of jeans and wear a pair twice during your trip. Even more, most jeans go with most outfits, on camera, no one will notice or care. This is the same for jackets and plain shirts as well. Make sure to bring solids and basics, that way you can mix and match outfits without having to pack more clothes than you need.

Plan to do laundry 

Another tip that aligns with the last is to plan to do laundry. I can face the facts. Accidents happen, spills happen, sweat happens. That shouldn’t make you fear and cause you to pack emergency clothing though. Plan to do laundry on your trip. Most likely, you aren’t staying in the middle of a desert thousands of miles from civilization. No matter where you go in the world, people will need to do their laundry, therefore you will have the means to.

When booking your hotel, make sure you stay in a place that has laundry services, and laundry machines or is located near a laundromat. This is simple to do. Just search for the city or hotel you are staying in and look for laundromats in the area. Google Maps will do all the work for you and show you the many places you can do your laundry. Doing your laundry is one of the best ways to travel with only a carry-on bag, as it allows you to only bring a few pieces and be able to wear them multiple times and feel fresh as you do. 

Compression Bags, Compression Bags, Compression Bags

The next and most exclusive of my tips for traveling with only a carry-on bag is compression bags. Yes, like that commercial from the early 2000s where they stuffed everything in their closet into small bags. These compression bags are TSA approved and you don’t need a vacuum to use them. They come with a hand pump, similar to one you blow up a balloon with but it sucks air out instead of pushing it in. It shrinks even your biggest and thickest clothes into small thin folds, allowing for the space to pack what you need.

These bags took my family and me through two weeks across Europe with a single carry-on and personal item. With this, you can pack even more clothes and accessories and still have the space for more. I always recommend this to travelers on long-haul trips with only a carry-on, it saves you so much space and allows you to bring so many options. 

Minimize your liquids 

Next, when traveling with only a carry-on, you want to minimize your liquids. The worst part about traveling anywhere is the TSA restrictions on what liquids you can ring on the plane. You can bypass this by picking and choosing what liquids you can bring. You know that everything must fit in a Ziploc bag-sized square, but did you know not everything has to be a liquid? If you can, switch out liquid for solids when traveling, so you can use that little bit of space on liquids you actually need. For example, bring bar soap instead of liquid soap, chewable toothpaste instead of liquid, and makeup remover wipes instead of the gel.

Then you also want to know where you are going and acknowledge that you can buy some things there. For example, if you are traveling to London or a city, there are many locations where you can purchase small-sized Listerine, deodorant, and toothpaste. If you can buy it at your destination, there is no need to use up the little space in your bag for it. With this hack in mind, you save so much space for the essential liquids. 

You can give the eco-friendly and TSA approved Hello Travel Toothpaste Tablets a try here.

Use packing cubes

Lastly, you want to use packing cubes for all other items that don’t fit in the compression bags or available pouches. I used to think packing cubes was a waste of space. That was until I discovered everything in my carry-on was tossed around and unable to fit in its original shape once I was repacking to fly back home. Packing cubes are the perfect way to organize everything and pack sure it all fits when traveling with only a carry-on. It ensures that every item packed fits in when flying out and flying back home. When traveling, most people only ever discuss getting through the airport on their way out, but everyone neglects coming back home. You want to utilize packing cubes to make sure everything is going to fit the way it did when you left.

These are the ones that saved me on my return trip from London and ensured everything fit in all the available space left in my suitcase. You can buy these special packing cubes below. 

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