There are a lot of items that you could or should ALWAYS pack to take with you when you’re traveling, especially on a plane. And One of the Things You Should Always Pack in Your Carry-on Bag is MORE BAGS! In fact, if you’re like me, then you NEVER want to check your bags and might even insist that everything fit in your Carry-on ONLY! — YEP I’m THAT GIRL on the plane that will NOT LET MY BAGS Leave my side. I would even move seats to insure my bags fly with me. You would probably be shocked at the amount of bags I travel with ON THE PLANE (Legally — without breaking the rules).
And since I work so hard to keep my bags on board, I am also THAT GIRL who looks at YOU who try to sneak your oversized bags on the plane in an attempt to smuggle everything with you. ONE of my bags goes under the seat (aka my personal item) and ONE of my bags goes in the over head bin (my carry-on luggage suitcase). But they ALL fit in my space. I NEVER EVER put both of my bags in the overhead bin. and I get SUPER PISSED at those people who think it’s okay to “save space” or leg room under their seat by STEALING the overhead bins for their “personal items” — I might even take a pic or blog about you! So don’t be surprised when I do!
My Carry-On Luggage Must Have Travel BAGS…
So I’m sure you might be wondering, What’s in my carry-on bag… (which I told you about EVERYTHING I keep in my luggage from toiletries to clothes, as well as all my Digital Nomad Office Essentials in a prior blog post), but THIS blog post is dedicated to just my bags and my luggage list.
These are the Perfect size Carry-on Bags I’ve found for those who don’t want to check their bags and prefer to carry all their luggage on the Plane with them! (Assuming everything you pack inside is TSA Friendly) BUT these bags are also great for road trips and other forms of Traveling… like when I go RVing!
Since I usually Fly Southwest, I get to take on my carry-on luggage and a personal item (plus 2 bags fly free if I wanted to check them instead of bringing them on the plane or in addition to those two I carried on too!) — but every airline is different in the size and dimensions aka their luggage rules!
Either way here is what I do…
Monos Carry-On Plus Suitcase
Thankfully my boyfriend surprised me with this Monos Carry-On Plus Suitcase (along with ALL of my Monos Travel Gear) right before our trip! It even matched his! But it is the PERFECT fit for the airplane overhead bins and is TSA Friendly with tons of compartments, and zippers, it’s easy to roll, and the list goes on!
The ONLY thing I wish mine had that my boyfriend does is the pop-out charging port on the back so we can keep our devices charged. And I saw a newer model that has a pop-out slot for your computer making it even more TSA friendly! Meaning it would be easy to pull out my laptop quickly while in line at TSA. Hopefully, my TSA Pre-Check will eliminate most of those problems at many destinations going forward!
We ordered this Monos Carry-On Plus Suitcase directly from the Monos Website!
Vera Bradley Carry-On Bag
The carry-on bag that I used for my first 5 countries in 5 weeks adventure was the Vera Bradley Women’s Cotton Original Tote. We got this one at an outlet mall on one of our last van trips but you can shop Vera Bradley on Amazon (or directly on their website). I highly recommend checking out all the different styles they offer as some bags have more pockets than others. My bag is nice and big but it doesn’t zip up and since traveling I found a few other bags that I like for traveling by Vera Bradley even better!
Travel With Extra Bags Inside Bags
One other thing I love to keep are BAGS inside my Carry On Bags! Not only do I have my Suitcase and “personal item” but inside I also like to keep more bags for when I get where I’m going! They all fold up and pop out, compact, and lightweight so much so you wouldn’t know I had so many BAGS on me until you see I do! 😉
Extra Bags Inside Bags
- Packing Cubes
- Space Saving Bags
- Toiletry Bag
- Sling purse backpack
- Large Pop-Up Tote (Dollar Store)
- Insulated Cooler (Dollar Store)
- Small Tote Bag (Ikea Bag)
- Backpack (fold-up found at Airport)
- Small Black Side Purse / Wallet (Goodwill)
- Ziplock Bags
- Trash Bags
- Other Bags… Starbucks brown bags, I come across, plastic bags, anything on our trips, I might keep to use then get rid of, more or less, these are throwaway bags
** Another reason to travel with extra bags is because many places charge for bags! (typically, it’s minimal i.e. 10, 20 cents each, like when you’re shopping for groceries, or you can BYOB! Reusable bags are my jam!
Large Reusable Pop-Up Tote Bags
I like to carry a few different types of bags with me, especially those that fold up easily for things like shopping or just transporting things. I typically pick these up at the Dollar Store because they are cheap, and if something happens to them, I won’t be worried! I look for the LARGE reusable tote bags they normally keep near the register during checkout.
As I mentioned prior, it’s a GOOD IDEA to keep bags for shopping, especially at the grocery store, as they tend to charge you PER BAG in a lot of places if you don’t bring your own!
Pop-Up Insulated Cooler
I also like to pick up little pop-up insulated cooler bags for keeping food and drinks in. Either for the beach, or keeping grocery items cold in the hotel room (maybe even for traveling back home in) — YES I do take home food from the places I travel if I can!
I try to get these at the Dollar Store when they are in season and keep multiple of them around since they are cheap and tend to break or leak. Again, I’m okay if something happens to them!
Small Black Side Purse
I also carry a Small Black Side Purse wallet-type Bag (that I bought at Goodwill). This stays packed away until I get where I’m going, then I might break it out depending on what we are doing that day. I like to think of this as my “fancier” bag maybe for a night out or going to the Casino. It’s small, light weight and easy to pack away!
Packing Cubes (Monos)
I have other bag-type items like packing cubes to help keep everything organized. They come in different sizes. Depending on the trip and what I take with me, I use them to make sure everything fits, as they also compress to allow for more space. Plus, these match my suitcase!
Vera Bradley Make-Up Toiletry Bag
I also have a plastic-lined Vera Bradley Toiletry Bag for my liquids and makeup-type products. Either way, I still put any leakable items inside a plastic ziplock bag and then slip them into this bag.
Vera Bradley Women’s Cotton Sling Backpack
Since I’m only allowed 2 carry-on items I pack my Vera Bradley Sling Backpack aka my purse away in one of my other carry-on bags until I get to my final destination, then I take it out and rearrange some travel items to fit in the right bags, etc… So when I’m running around I have this as my purse.
Also, you should know this is what I use as my everyday purse even when I’m not traveling because it’s great to keep my hands free when handling all the furbabies over at Birdies Doghouse! (5 dogs + 1 Cat and counting… Plus it’s great for RVing and Van Life as well!
Vera Bradley Keychain Pouch
As of right now, I’ve been keeping all my ear gear in a little Vera Bradley Key Chain Pocket Pouch. I don’t keep it on my key chain, I keep it in my bag so I don’t have to keep up with a million little pieces! Plus, I know where everything is when I need it.
More Bags Inside Bags…
I also keep my Apple AirPods inside a Case I picked up at Lilly Pulitzer. Plus, my Loop Ear Plugs are inside the case they came with. Then I put all of those little cases inside of my Little Vera Bradley KeyChain Pouch to consolidate and keep up with them!
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- Best Travel Wardrobe Essentials: Clothing, Shoes & Accessories (Packing List)
- Travel Essentials: My Carry-On Luggage Must Have BAGS (That ALWAYS Fly With Me)
- Ultimate Travel Toiletries Checklist: What I Keep in My Carry-On Bag (TSA-Friendly)*
- Digital Nomad Mobile Office MUST HAVE Essentials (for working while traveling)
- [Carry-On Bag Packing List] Must Have Travel Essentials I Keep in my Bag
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