No carry-ons, no luggage allowed. Just one personal item such as a purse. And these instructions for a 4-day trip. For some people, this is second nature, but for most, it is not.
After packing several clients this year for trips, and using a capsule concept of 8-12 pieces for 1-2-3 weeks, it was my turn to pack for a 4 day trip to Massachusetts via NYC this past April. As in the redeye to NYC, a train to Boston more travel to New Hampshire where my daughter and new granddaughter live.
With only a backpack. Albeit a nice one (I used this one from. To uncomplicate things, I wore one pair of pants and carried a 2nd, along with 3 tops (wearing one counted as 4), a puffy jacket (for New Hampshire), some underwear and a small bag of toiletries and my computer. I wore a small over shoulder purse with cash, credit card, and some lip balm, and that’s it. It felt strange not having a suitcase, even a small carry on.
But it did force me to think about just what is essential and necessary for 4 days of travel and mostly outdoor time. For one – a washing machine on the other end, the ability to borrow some pajamas, and a substantial amount of hope that I could remember why I had booked this red-eye flight that did not allow luggage.
Granted, if I had been traveling for business, and had to dress up much more than I usually do, I would have paid for the carry on – which by this time looked like an excessive amount of space.
What I did notice is that the trip became much more about other people, sights, food stops, and crucial pay attention moments than it did about keeping track of bags, belongings, and stuff.
How about you? Do you need to pack for a short trip? Do you need a small capsule wardrobe and some idea of how to keep your bag reasonably small to fit under the unreasonably small space on the airplane?
Check out my article: How to build a capsule wardrobe when you have no idea where to start, here.
