Hello guys, and welcome to Be My Travel Muse.
I'm Kristin and today we're gonna talk about how to pack carry on only.
I wanna show you how to do this really quickly so that every time you pack up, you don't
have to take a bunch of time figuring out how to pack your bag.
And if you like videos like this, that make traveling a lot easier on you, make sure that
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We do new videos every Wednesday, and a lot of them talk about how to travel easily, like
a minimalist, and just how to simplify your life.
I've been traveling for about five years now and in my entire first year of traveling through
Southeast Asia, all I had was this carry-on backpack.
It was the best thing ever, you guys, because I basically never had to pay checked bag fees.
I never lost my bag.
It was always in the cabin with me, and it just saved my back.
And I just wanna show you today how I did that.
All you need is a carry-on size bag and my secret weapon, the packing cube.
This is a $12 purchase that I made over five years ago and I have brought it on almost
every single trip that I've been on.
So get yourself one of these and let's get started.
Alright, so, I'm on my way to Mexico.
So, I'm just bringing a little variety here.
It looks like, kind of, a scary mess, but it's only gonna take a few minutes.
I'm just gonna roll all this stuff up, so that it's easier to stuff into the compression
bag and so that it doesn't wrinkle, or at least, you know, minimize the wrinkling.
So I've got three pairs of shorts and this super cool pugs and skull overalls.
I can't really live without them.
And I've got a romper as well.
This just seems so appropriate to bring to Mexico.
Am I right?
All right, top-wise, got this cold-shoulder white top that I can pair with, basically,
any of the shorts that I brought along.
I got this shirt in Nepal, also like four years ago, and this is the best for wearing
on flights.
It's lightweight, but it covers me up completely, because flights can sometimes just have, like,
too much air going on or be a little bit cold.
So I'm gonna leave this one out here.
And then, these are, basically, my flight pants.
They're super thin.
They're made out of that, sort of, like, trekking pants material that dries within five minutes.
And this is perfect for wearing on flights too.
So I'm going to leave those out as well.
I'm really sorry for subjecting you to my singing.
So, yeah, now we've got the bathing suits.
So, I am bringing, like, four bathing suits along.
Oh no.
I'm bringing five.
Or actually, if I bring Batman as well, it's six.
You know, a lot of people say that you can just bring three pairs and then keep washing
them, but I don't wanna do laundry every three days personally.
So I don't skimp on the small stuff.
When it comes down to socks and underwear, I usually bring about 10 pairs.
In my last video people were all like, "Don't you bring underwear?
Where's the underwear?"
Well, you animals.
I didn't think my underoos needed to be on the internet, but rest assured, I do bring
them along.
And I recommend that you do as well.
Well actually, that's a total personal decision.
I guess it's not completely necessary.
All right, so these are my socks and I'm gonna wear a pair on the flight as well.
And then, I am bringing along a dress, a backless dress.
Got another white shirt here that, kind of, doubles as a bodysuit.
And then, I like to sleep in this shirt.
And, on the flight, I will also bring this lightweight rain jacket.
I think it's just nice to have a jacket along on flights.
Again, they can be really cold and even though they give you blankets, I tend to find that
it's nice to have more than one way to stay a bit warmer.
Plus this could come in handy in Mexico, if it rains.
You never know.
So, I'll bring this along as well.
And that's basically it.
I've got five shirts that I'm bringing along, I've got a romper and a dress, and I've got
a few different pairs of shorts and a bunch of bathing suits.
I really think that's gonna sort me out.
And I know it seems like this is not all going to fit into the packing cube, but it will.
So, let's do it.
All right, even turbo speed, that was really fast.
So then, I open up the other side and I, kind of, push down, and I continue.
All right, then, I still got some space here for my bras, and underwear, and all that stuff.
That was actually not too bad.
I often do even more.
And there we have a perfectly packed packing cube with plenty of outfits, so that I don't
have to do without variety.
Toiletries, generally, I bring enough razors along with me for the whole trip because these
are, kind of, hard to find abroad.
I bring along deodorant.
Sometimes, I bring along more than one because I tend to need the extra strength deodorant,
and that's not easy to find abroad either.
And then, I've got toothpaste.
Just to make sure that it's under 3 ounces, or 100 milliliters.
This one is 75 milliliters.
So I've got floss, always important, toothbrush, also important.
Ooh it's a stack, ooh leaning tower.
I bring along shampoo, conditioner, and body wash.
And that's pretty much all I bring as far as products for my hair.
And then, I just let it do its natural thing, whatever that thing happens to be.
Sometimes it's quite interesting.
I find that Pantene and Nivea is pretty much everywhere.
So, if you're cool with using those brands, you can refill on the road and it'll just
make life a whole lot easier for you.
I also bring along face wash.
And I usually bring along SPF 30.
This is an aloe-based solar moisturizer.
I use it in the morning...
And nail clippers and tweezers.
If this has a sharp nail file, you may have some issues with security.
So, if you can find one that doesn't have that, you'll be in better business, although
I have not personally had a problem.
I also bring blister bandages along.
It would probably be smart to bring along a little first-aid kit.
It doesn't have to be big, but maybe just some medical tape and Band-Aids.
I haven't brought one of those along with me in quite some time, but it would be smart.
It would be smart to have that.
And then, I still wear retainers every night when I sleep so I bring those along too.
And this guy can also hang.
That's nice to have, just in case there's nowhere really to put your stuff.
And you'll notice, in Asia, the whole room is the bathroom.
So everything gets, kind of, wet.
So, it's just nice to have a bag that can hang, if possible.
All right, this makeup bag has been through the worst, but I am pretty minimalist with
the makeup that I use as well.
I really like Bobby Brown, so I've got a palette here that covers pretty much all the colors
that I wear.
And then, I've got my brushes here, and I just wash them regularly.
Mascara and liquid eyeliner, and I've got some concealer and some bronzer.
I haven't really worn concealer on my face, like foundation, for about a decade now.
I just don't do it.
And that's basically what I use to stay clean and beautiful.
A quick word on the backpack, if at all possible, I would go try this on in person.
It's really important that the bag fits your body type and that it feels good when it has weight in it.
I went to REI. It's store in the U.S. to try this on.
If you possibly can, do that.
Alrighty!
So now that we've talked about all the essentials, let's talk about how we organize them in this bag.
First off, I usually put my computer in this little pouch here.
So I always put my Kindle in this part, put my chargers and my cords in my shoes.
And if your shoes are dirty, I would highly recommend just putting a shopping bag around them.
Putting my toiletries bag at the top.
Then, in go the clothes.
And I always bring this Pacsafe wire mesh bag protector with me.
You can put the rain cover on your bag and then just wrap this around it.
Basically, this makes you the most annoying person ever to rob because someone would have
to cut these.
I just feel a lot better, if I'm staying in a place that, maybe, doesn't have lockers
or doesn't have a safe.
I don't even know how many potential thefts this has saved me from.
I would say this is one of the most important purchases I've made in my travel career as well.
There we go.
And then there's still a little bit of room on the side here, so I'll just stuff it in
there along with my little makeup bag.
That's everything.
And I pretty much always bring a packed towel with me as well.
This is made out of microfiber, dries really fast, but it's useful because you never know
if where you're going, maybe, doesn't provide towels.
It doubles up as something to roll my telephoto lens in.
And then, I still have this little pouch at the top.
So that's where that goes.
I also think it's great to have a messenger bag along.
And, in here, I've put my camera which is shooting this video right now, but it would
be in here, and my wallet.
So this is big enough for me to fit my passport inside.
I can also clip it to something within the bag.
That makes it pretty hard to just lift and pull out of my purse.
Additionally, this has an RFID blocker in it.
So, if anyone tries to bump into me and scan my information, they won't be able to.
Apart from my phone and these guys, that's about it.
In this backpack and this messenger bag, this is pretty much all I needed for an entire
year of traveling in Southeast Asia.
I hope that you found this video helpful and that it gave you some tips to incorporate
minimalist packing into your travel style.
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See you soon.