#pack light

Just kidding! Don’t bring lemon juice (unless you pack it in your checked luggage.  That little lemon juice would not adhere to TSA’s 3-1-1 rule.)

When thinking about packing toiletries, you need to sort out what you want to pack in your checked luggage and what you want in your carry on.  In your checked bag, you can put have any size liquid.  Want to take that huge bottle of shampoo with you to Italy? You can if you want.  In your carry on, you have to follow the 3-1-1 rule:  Each passenger is allowed in their carry on 1 clear, 1 quart bag for any liquids, jells, or pastes, as long as it is in a container 3.4 ounces (100 milliliters) or less.  

I’m going to show you how I packed enough toiletries for a week in my 30L pack I used for a carry on.  Then I’ll create a list of tips and resources below to help you pack.  

Two notes before I go on.  The first is that I packed what I needed.  Everyone’s needs are different so if you need to bring something specific, as the kids would say: you do you.  The second note is that I’m preparing to pack for a pilgrimage.  While for work I may need to take an hour to get ready and create a 10 step make up routine, for a pilgrimage, my mindset is different.  I’m going for simple, not extravagant.  OK… here we go.

Here’s the bags/loose items I took with me on my last trip:

Let’s go with the non-liquids bag first.

I got this makeup bag a few years ago from H&M.  It’s about 7 inches by 5 inches and has two compartments (one main and one on the side.  Inside looked like this:

I had with me:

-eye lash curler
-travel toothbrush
-bobby pins
-small comb
-makeup brushes (one fluffy, one eyeliner)
-clear lip liner
-travel size eyeliner
-simple, neutral eye pallet (Naked Basics from Urban Decay, but I could have gone with a smaller thing of eye shadow)
-travel hairbrush that folds up and has a mirror in it
-travel kabuki brush (that silver tube.  Guys, it’s for your foundation makeup)
-lots of hair ties
-tinted chapstick

This is my usual travel makeup bag, and I didn’t take anything out of it when I packed for Washington.  I did add the toothbrush and travel hair brush.  After looking at this picture I realized that there were a few things I didn’t use and probably will not take on the next trip.  I did not use the travel kabuki brush (I just used my fingers for my foundation), the clear lip liner (I’m a lip stick lover, but I didn’t even bring one on the trip so why I would need a lip liner is beyond me), and the travel eyeliner (I did use the black eye shadow in the pallet for eyeliner, so eyeliner was redundant).  

My quart size liquid bag looked like this:

I ordered this bag from Flight 001, a travel accessory store.  It’s 5x7x2, and is structured.  More like a box.  That’s why I liked it, but a quart size bag would work as well.  Whatever floats your boat.  

Inside, the bag held all of this:

In this bag, I had with me (I’ll try to go by rows, left to right):

-a contact lens case holding my BB cream (tinted moisture)
-eye drops
-hair care product (I get frizzy hair, and found that the Redken satinwear product helps)
-travel toothpaste
-travel mascara (yes, mascara is considered a liquid)
-all purpose soap (I took with me Dr. Bronner's Pure-Castile Liquid Soap.  It’s supposed to be good for all things). 
-contact solution
-spray toner (spray bottle with white cap, it’s a little luxury from home.  Smells good, refreshes skin, and can combat dry air). 
-sunscreen
-conditioner
-sea salt hair spray (spray bottle with blue cap, since I didn’t take a hair dryer, I sprayed my hair with the sea salt spray at night after my shower, twisted my hair and pinned it up before I went to bed, and awoke with wavy-ish hair.  My bangs were a different story).  
-face moisturizers (small plastic containers, one for the day with SPF, and one for night) 
-Concealer (not pictured, I had unpacked my concealer from this bag, but I also brought it with me)

Besides the eye drops, I used everything in this bag.  The best thing you can do when traveling is take either travel size products (under 3.4 oz) or decanting your products into smaller containers.  Instead of taking the large bottle of sea spray, I put it into a smaller spray bottle.  The bottles I used for the moisturizers, conditioner, and one of the spray bottles came in a set from Target, and I had the other spray bottle from something else.  I picked up another set from a church rummage sale with lots of little containers and smaller spray bottles, but you can also find them in most travel sections of Target, Walmart, Walgreens, or Amazon.  

Contact lens cases also work wonders.  I used mine for my BB cream and it worked wonders.  They are also thin, which makes them great for playing Tetris with your toiletries.   

The only other things in my pack were some loose items:

-Full size solid deodorant (if I had brought gel, spray, or roll-on, it would have had to follow the 3-1-1 rule. Solid deodorants are ok in full size.)
-an eye mask (in case I had a roommate who liked to read at night)
-ear plugs (in case I had a roommate who snored; they are in a blue, travel case)
-eye glass case (in which I also stored some cotton balls for just in case emergencies)
-eye glasses
-travel alarm clock (I got this one from Flight 001, too.  I wanted something small and ran on batteries in case my phone died).  
-EMPTY contact lens case (I am probably going to take an extra pair of contacts, which means I would have to put them in my clear quart bag).
-shampoo bar & tin (to save space in my quart bag, and because I’m obsessed with travel blogs, I invested in a shampoo bar from Lush Cosmetics. Shampoo bars are just what they say: shampoo in bar form.  They are supposed to last up to 80 washes.  I was skeptical, but  was presently surprised.  It worked well on my hair.  This particular one I have is supposed to condition your hair too, but I didn’t trust that with my hair.  The only downside is that I had to let it air dry completely before putting it back in the tin, otherwise it would stick to the bottom of the tin and be impossible to get out.) 
-Face wipes (not pictured, I did bring a travel set of face wipes/makeup remover wipes.  I used them up so I threw away the package before I left.  If you use them, but don’t want to buy travel size, you can put them in a plastic bag. You can also do this with baby wipes)

Other Travel Tips, Resources, Bits of Wisdom

-Less is More: Packing less means you have less to worry about, less to stress about, and more room to pack what you really will need (and gifts and treasures to bring home).  Only bring what you can justify bringing.  I’m not going to bring a blush because I know I wouldn’t use it much.  I’m not bringing an umbrella because I don’t know how much I would use one.  I can always buy what I need overseas.

-You can always buy what you need overseas.  Who knows?  You might find something you really like in a little shop in Poland. While browsing travel tips videos, one traveler said that it’s her family’s tradition to not pack soap, and then buy it when they get to their destination.  I love this because you are already setting yourself up for an adventure.  (Yes, buying soap can be an adventure!)

-Multipurpose items are awesome. One of the reasons I wanted to try the Dr. Bronner’s soap is that you should be able to be used in so many ways (see link).  Ladies, bring makeup (if you want) that pulls double duty (BB Cream usually has SPF in it, so use it like sunscreen, mascara applied very close to the eyelid can look like eye liner, tinted chap-stick can also, if you are daring, be used as a cream blush). 

-Rethink how you use things. Shower caps are great shoe protectors.  Contact lens cases can be used to store moisturizers.  If you see a plastic bottle and like the shape, but hate the product inside, you can always empty it out and fill it with what you want. You can cut or break items to make them smaller.  Don’t want to take a whole roll of duct tape? Repack it.

-Practice packing.  A few days before your trip, pack.  See how heavy your suitcase gets.  Pull it around the house or town.  See how easy it is to maneuver over stairs.  Do you have room for extra items?  Last time I packed to go overseas, I intentionally packed a shoe box when I first packed.  That way, I knew I was saving room for extra items.  

 -Use your technology wisely/Apps can be your best friend.  In my obsession with traveling, I’ve found some great apps that have helped me while I was packing. 

-My TSA (Apple and Android): Run by the TSA, this app helps you do two things.  The first is lets you know the latest security checkpoint wait times.  For the second, it will answer your question, “Can I bring…?” Enter anything you can think of and it will tell you if you can bring it in your checked luggage, carry on, or if it is prohibited.  Sunscreen? Has to follow the 3-1-1 rule for your carry on.  Applesauce? It’s a liquid, so it also has to follow the 3-1-1 rule.  Throwing stars (for the well traveled ninja)? In your checked baggage only.  

-SmartTraveler: Run by the US Department of State.  This is the app that goes along with Smart Traveler Enrollment Program that everyone should register with.  

-PackPoint Packing: Sponsored by Sheraton.  Plug in your destination, activities, and length of stay, and it will generate an example packing list.  Very useful as a jumping off point if you don’t know what exactly you might need. 

-XE Currency: I first started using XE Currency’s website when I was in high school and just geeking out over currency (how many India Rupees make up one US dollar? About 67.5.) I like the app because you have quick access to the current currencies you are interested in and it’s clean looking.

-My bank: I bank with Centier and the app is wonderful.  Very useful to make sure you have enough money.  (Use your own bank, of course. Most banks now have their own apps.)

And last, because I’m obsessed with travel videos…

Tortuga’s guide to minimal packing, part II.

And their video on how to pack a quart size bag.  

And because I love Rick Steves, here’s his TED talk about the value of travel.  Check out his awesome podcasts (both audio and visual).  You will want to quite your job and become a professional traveler.  

Let me know if you have any questions or need to work through packing problems.  I would love to help you find a solution.  

Happy Travels!

(one more video.  Pilgrims, we will be here!)

*I’m not sure if I need to put this, but I haven’t been paid to recommend any of these products or services I mentioned in this post.  I just really, really, really like them.