Travel Tuesday: What's in your carry-on?

Welcome back to Travel Tuesday! This week's suggested prompt is "What's in your carry-on?" but as always, please feel free to link up any travel-related post. The more, the merrier. :)

Personally, I rarely check luggage when I travel, so I've learned to fit everything in a carry-on (or two). For the purposes of today's post, however, I'll be focusing on what I put in my "personal item." My most important items always include ample reading material, snacks, a water bottle, lots of chapstick and all my electronic chargers. Here's a sample peek inside my personal item from a conference I attended in southern California a few weeks ago:

Travel Tuesday Contributor: Just Another Smith

It's time for another Travel Tuesday guest post! Today Andi is sharing some quick packing tips for a weekend away. If all is going as planned with my trip, I'm on a plane to Athens, Greece, right now. :) Wish me luck!

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Hi there!  I'm Andi and I blog over at Just Another Smith.  Most of my posts are about my everyday style, with some random stories thrown into the mix and maybe a book review now and then.  I'm pretty jealous of Megan's adventures in Europe.  I love to travel, and would go on vacation every week if my budget allowed it.  My most recent trip was a quick weekend to Arizona with two of my best friends.  Here are some tips on what to pack for a four-day weekend adventure:

I've got the whole world ...

... in my bag!

If you've been following my blog for a while, you might remember when I posted about how I fit my entire life into 96 pounds worth of luggage at the beginning of this journey. Somehow, a lot of those items have migrated to a permanent place in my purse. You never know what you might need! On any given day, my purse serves as ...

... an actual purse. Of course I have the necessities: Wallet, passport, business cards (in multiple holders; I have quite a collection now), receipt pouch, assorted ticket stubs that haven't been thrown away and my Alpha Delta Pi badge.

... a drugstore. Some chapter members have called my purse the "Mary Poppins bag" because I can seem to find everything in there. A chapter member smeared her eye make-up during a meeting? Good thing I have some Neutrogena cleansing wipes! Someone has a headache? I'm handing out the pain relievers! Got a stain? I have TWO Tide-to-Go pens for that. Other items in this category include gum, mints, Tums, cough drops, assorted pieces of candy, a water bottle, Kleenex, a nail file, a compact mirror, various lip balms, sunglasses, hair ties, bobby pins, hand sanitizer and—of course—a small flashlight.

(#beprepared)

... Best Buy. Of course I need my basic technology: My iPad, various cords, a USB drive, my phone (and my work phone, which I used to take these pictures) and my iPod.

... a (post) office. I have this thing for stationery, so I always have a few cards on hand. I also carry a small photo album I've been using to collect postcards from each school, a pencil pouch with assorted pens and highlighters to color-code my planner, said planner, return address labels, an unfinished crossword, post-its and two notebooks (one big and one small; you never know what the occasion will call for!).

Other items that can often be found in my purse depending on the day include a TSA-approved bag of liquid toiletries, a bag of almonds (or other snacks), my padfolio, my Kindle and/or chargers for my various electronics.

So tell me: What's in your bag?

P.S. — I did a similar post back in May, but my life was significantly less interesting then.

Traveling Consultant Essentials

Wow; I can't believe I've already been on the road for two months! In some ways, it seems like way more than two months ago that I boarded my flight to my first chapter visit at Washington State University. In other ways, I feel like I just started! Now that it has officially been two months, I wanted to share some of the lessons I've learned this year. Today, I wanted to share with you the items I packed that have proven to be the most helpful on the road:

Travel Needs by mcszr3

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

1. I keep three different sizes of Ziploc bags rolled up in my suitcase and secured with a hair tie. You never know when you might need one!
2. I felt silly buying a black silk robe at first, but it has been so convenient. I thought the robe was a little sultry for my purposes, but it was a $50 robe on sale for $8 at Kohl's, so I could not pass it up.
3. Did you know that I love scarves? My infinity scarves even double as blankets on plane rides!
4. Did you also know that I love stationery? I have about three boxes in my suitcase. Priorities.
5. This is absolutely the number-one smartest item I packed this year: a compact multi-outlet extension cord. It perfectly fits my personal phone, PiPhone and PiPad chargers, so I can always keep my most important electronics fully juiced. I have no idea how I would find enough outlets to do this without this handy little cord. It was actually one of the last things I packed, too—purely on impulse.
6. These nude flats from Payless have been my lifesaver. They match just about everything and are so practical. I found them in leopard the other day and am thinking I need to expand my collection!
7. Finally, a traveler can never have enough dryer sheets. I put them in my shoes and between my clothes to keep my suitcases smelling fresh, and they are great for helping to de-static my hair in the morning. Oh yeah, and I do laundry with them sometimes.

What are your travel necessities?

My life in 96 pounds.

I did it! I managed to fit my entire life (for the next four months, anyway) into one suitcase and one carry-on. And a very large purse, of course. (I knew I could do it!) Before I left for my Leadership Consultant training, I took lots of pictures while I was packing so I could write a blog post about it. Unfortunately, I couldn't find my camera cord so I couldn't upload any of the photos. Boo! Luckily, I left for my first chapter visit on Wednesday, so I had to pack everything up again!

I already took a few items home when I went to a wedding in California earlier this month, including a pencil skirt and a pair of casual shorts, but I'll probably have to send more home soon because of all the gifts and goodies we got in Atlanta. It was way harder to pack all that new stuff than I thought it would be! So, here's the updated list of what I'm carrying with me now:

I didn't even know I owned eight pairs of shoes until I packed for this job. (I also packed a pair of brown riding boots, not pictured here.)

I basically packed a whole drugstore. You never know what you'll need....

bath products | dental care | hair care & accessories | skin care | make-up & remover | deodorant | razors | sunscreen | Tide-to-Go & wrinkle release | Q-tips, Band-Aids & other random necessities | medicine | vitamins | travel-sized toiletries for emergencies

Travel Tuesday: Week 8

Hello, and welcome to another edition of Travel Tuesday! (I hope you all look forward to today's posts as much as I do!) Today's suggested topic: What is one item you absolutely cannot travel without? What is one thing you’ve packed before but never will again? As always, you are free to write about anything travel-related; don't feel obligated to answer my prompt. And, of course, don't forget to link up below!

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Obviously, my answer would differ between long trips and short trips, domestic trips and international trips, trips when I'm staying in hotel and trips when I'm staying with family or friends, etc. For the purposes of this post, I'm only going to mention the items I consider to be necessities on every single one of those trips.

First, there are always three things (or sets of things) I check for obsessively on my way to the airport and before I get out of the car:

1. Driver's license. I'll admit, I used to lie and say I was under 18 when I was too lazy to get my I.D. out, but I'm afraid that won't work anymore.
2. Phone. I'm always nervous it fell out of my pocket on the car seat or something and I won't notice until I've gone through security.
3. Chargers/cords. I'm constantly checking to make sure I have the following chargers (in order of importance): phone charger, laptop charger, iPod cord, camera battery charger, camera cord, Kindle charger.

Source: leloveimage.blogspot.com via Megan on Pinterest

That being said, it is extremely difficult for me to travel anywhere without my laptop. I know, I know: it's pathetic. I should be able to take a nice weekend trip without needing to lug my computer along, especially because I have a smartphone. But I have to admit; I think I would have a hard time knowing I didn't have complete access to all my social media sites. Even last weekend, when I met my dad in Albuquerque for one overnight stay, I brought my laptop. (I mean, my book challenge was going live! I had to make sure it turned out okay!) I think I have spent the night at a friend's house a couple times without my laptop, and subsequently been very proud of myself, but that's a small victory, in my opinion.

I can't say I've ever packed an item that I severely regretted taking later, but once when I was in elementary school I had some scissors taken from my bookbag by the TSA agents. Whoops. I never packed scissors again. :) I would say I would never pack liquids that are more than 3 ounces (I have cheap little plastic containers from Target that I refill with bath products whenever I travel), but I will probably take full-size toiletries with me when I travel as a Leadership Consultant this fall, so that would be a lie. I really just included this question in the prompt to see if anyone had any funny stories to share.

If you're interested in reading some of my packing tips, check out my first Travel Tuesday link-up post, in which I described how I packed for a six-week internship in Atlanta and a three-week trip to Africa in a carry-on.

Next week's topic was inspired by this article. In it, the writer questions whether traveling domestically is really traveling. I definitely think it is, so I'm curious to know: What are some great day trips that you've taken? What has been your favorite domestic travel experience? Do you think domestic traveling is really traveling? I can't wait to hear your thoughts. See you next Tuesday!

Travel Tuesday: Week 2

Welcome to my first link-up edition of Travel Tuesday! I know I didn't give you much notice, but I'm hoping to get at least a few participants. Feel free to link up through next week, and also please link up any old travel-related posts you'd like to share if you don't have time to write a new one this week. The html code for my Travel Tuesday image is below:

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So, as I said, today I'll be focusing on the art of packing. I've mentioned several times before that I almost always pack in a carry-on, no matter how long the trip. There are three very simple reasons for this: 1. I don't trust airlines. I'm always afraid they're going to lose my bag or damage my luggage, and I'm simply too impatient to wait at the baggage claim after a flight. 2. I don't want to pay any more fees than necessary. 3. I can almost always fit what I need into a carry-on and a backpack/purse, so why bother with checking luggage?