Carry-on

Packing review

/ edebock / Leave a comment

Logo by SamThough I still have one more blog post to write to finish up our trip to Mexico, we are home and for today’s post, I thought I’d do a quick review of what I packed. Once again, we found that traveling carry-on only was the way to go. It’s so easy and there are no baggage fees and no waiting around at airport luggage carousels wondering if our suitcases made it onto the right plane.

But what about the contents of that little carry-on suitcase? Did I pack the right things? Did I take enough of everything? First, let’s review what I packed:

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This was my original packing list. In addition, I put a swimsuit on the bottom of my bag just in case I had an opportunity to use it (I didn’t) and I tossed in one pair of shorts.

  • 1 pair of jeans
  • 2 pairs lightweight long pants
  • 2 pairs capris
  • 1 pair leggings
  • 1 camisole
  • 7 tops – 3 long sleeved, 1 with 3/4 length sleeves, 3 sleeveless
  • 1 dress
  • 1 dressy black jacket
  • 1 ultra light down vest
  • 1 lightweight hoodie
  • 1 light jacket
  • 1 hat
  • 1 pair sandals
  • 3 pairs shoes
  • sleepwear, underwear, and socks

Overall, I think I did a fairly good job of deciding what to take, but if I had it to do again, I might make a few changes. I only wore the top with 3/4 length sleeves once, so I could easily have left it at home. I wore the leggings to a zumba class with our hostess, but I could have worn shorts or capris for that and though I did wear the camisole once on a particularly chilly day, it wasn’t essential either. If I’d known how warm the weather was going to be, I probably would have taken one less pair of long pants and one more pair of capris or shorts, but we had to be prepared for the cooler days that often do occur at this time of year. I’m extremely glad that I did decide to throw in that one pair of shorts though as I wore them a lot. I only wore the dress and the dressy black jacket once for an evening at the symphony in Xalapa, but I definitely wanted to be able to dress up for that.

On our previous visits to Coatepec, we took most of our clothes that needed laundering out to a commercial laundry or washed them by hand. This time, however, we discovered that when the price per kilo of laundry had gone up as well as the price of the taxi to haul it to and from, our hosts had decided to purchase a washing machine. That definitely made things easier and meant that we probably could have gotten away with packing a few less things, especially socks and underwear. As we’ve done in the past, though, we packed mostly old worn out underwear that we could throw away before we came home. That left a wee bit of room to carry home the half kilo of macadamia nuts that hubby yearned for!

Good footwear is essential on any trip, but especially when the sidewalks that we walked on almost every day looked like this.

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But did I really need four pairs? Possibly not, but other than the dressy black pair that I wore only for a birthday party and the evening at the symphony, I put many miles on all three of the other pairs. The Clarks sandals that I bought at one of our local thrift stores last summer are very comfortable to walk in as are the little grey flats that have memory foam insoles.

Now that we’re finally traveling again, I’m looking forward to the next time I get to pack my teeny tiny carry-on suitcase. I don’t know when that will be or where we’ll be going, but I’ll be sure to let you know!

Packing again!

/ edebock / 4 Comments

For the first time in almost four years, we’ve purchased tickets, made our plans, and I’m busy packing our suitcases! This will be our first flight since Covid, but our third trip to visit friends who live in Coatepec, a typical Mexican town located in the highlands about four hours east of Mexico City. On both previous trips, we checked a large suitcase, but this time we’re going carry-on only. Everything we need for two and a half weeks has to fit into our two tiny suitcases, my purse, and hubby’s small backpack.

First, let’s take a look at what I was hoping would fit in my suitcase. The photo and list below also include what I’ll be wearing on the plane.

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Packing list:

  • 1 pair of jeans
  • 2 pairs lightweight long pants
  • 2 pairs capris
  • 1 pair leggings
  • 1 camisole
  • 7 tops – 3 long sleeved, 1 with 3/4 length sleeves, 3 sleeveless
  • 1 dress
  • 1 dressy black jacket
  • 1 ultra light down vest
  • 1 lightweight hoodie
  • 1 light jacket
  • 1 hat
  • 1 pair sandals
  • 3 pairs shoes
  • sleepwear, underwear, and socks

You’ll probably notice that this isn’t what a typical tourist would pack for their trip to a Mexican beach resort. That’s because Coatepec isn’t a tourist destination and doesn’t have a beach. At approximately 1200 metres above sea level, the weather is pleasant, but not always hot. It cools off significantly at night and the houses don’t have central heating so we need to be prepared to dress accordingly. Although I don’t actually expect to have an opportunity to use it, I did decide to tuck a swimsuit into the bottom of my suitcase just in case! I really don’t like to leave home without one. At the last minute, when I saw that there was enough space, I also decided to squeeze in a pair of shorts.

There are two keys to successfully packing light. The first is coordinating colours. As you can see from the photo, I’ve chosen a simple colour palette and pieces that will easily mix and match to create numerous different outfits. The second key is layering. For example, the dress is very lightweight. It can be worn alone or with the little black jacket. For a chillier evening out, it can even be worn over the black leggings. The light blue denim shirt on the bottom of the pile above can be worn alone or as a third piece over any of the sleeveless tops. Depending on the weather, the hoodie, down vest, and jacket can each be worn individually or I can layer them as I will be doing when we board the plane in sub zero temperatures.

Another trick to successful packing is utilizing space wisely. Can you see hubby’s sandals, a pair of my shoes, spare eyeglasses for each of us, and two pairs of socks in this photo? I can!

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Many travellers swear that you can fit more into your suitcase by rolling everything instead of folding, but that hasn’t been my experience. I prefer to fold basics like pants and tops, but I roll a lot of the other items. I’ve also never used packing cubes.

Our clothes pretty much fill the tiny carry-on suitcases. My laptop (a lightweight 13 inch MacBook Air), my camera, cords, chargers, our toiletries, and our prescription medications will be in hubby’s backpack. We’ll also tuck in a few paperback books for him which he’ll leave behind when he finishes reading them. That will give us a bit of extra space if we need it on the way home. I’ve loaded five books onto my Kindle which takes up hardly any room in my travel purse.

Hopefully I haven’t forgotten anything, but if I have, there are stores in Coatepec!

Why I’m taking my oldest underwear to Europe

/ edebock / 11 Comments

LogoToday is packing day, the day that I’ve been waiting for ever since February when we purchased our teeny tiny suitcases and booked our flights! I’ve been asked to reveal what goes into my tiny suitcase and today I’m going to do just that, but first I have to share a packing tip that I never would have thought of on my own. When I decided that we should try traveling with carry-on luggage only, I searched for tips online and that’s when I decided to take my oldest underwear to Europe!

Because we’re traveling light, I’ll be doing laundry in hotel sinks and hanging it to dry. Instead of washing that old ragged underwear the last time before we fly home, I’ll simply drop it in the trash! Less laundry to do and a wee bit more space in my suitcase to bring home a small memento or two! Genius!

And now, what else is in that suitcase? The photo and list below include what I’ll be wearing on the plane. Initially, I was thinking about taking only four tops instead of the six that are shown, but after packing Richard’s bag (yes, I pack for both of us) I realized that our little suitcases will hold more than I anticipated and I added a couple more.

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Packing list:

  • 1 pair jeans
  • 2 pairs lightweight long pants
  • 1 pair capris
  • 1 pair leggings
  • 2 camisoles
  • 6 tops – 1 long sleeved, 3 with 3/4 length sleeves, 2 short sleeved
  • 1 little black dress
  • 1 dressy black jacket
  • 1 ultra light down vest
  • 1 scarf
  • 1 lightweight hoodie
  • 1 windbreaker jacket
  • 1 hat
  • 3 pairs shoes
  • 1 swimsuit
  • sleepwear, underwear, and socks

There are two keys to successfully packing light. The first is coordinating colours. As you can see from the photo, every top I packed can be worn with every bottom. I can easily visualize about 30 outfits coming out of that little suitcase and we aren’t even going to be gone that many days! The second key is layering. For example, the little black dress is simple, sleeveless, and very lightweight. It can be worn over the black leggings or without and it looks good worn under several of the tops and/or the dressy black jacket. Depending on the weather, the hoodie, down vest, and windbreaker jacket can each be worn individually or I can layer them if we encounter chillier temperatures. The swimsuit is on the very bottom of the suitcase where it will probably stay as I don’t actually anticipate using it. I never travel without one though, just in case.

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Another key to successful packing is utilizing space wisely. For example, my extra pairs of shoes are filled with small items like our spare pairs of eyeglasses and our sunglasses. There’s even a pair of socks stuffed in that bottle of medication!

Many travellers swear that you can fit more into your suitcase by rolling everything instead of folding, but that hasn’t been my experience. I prefer to fold basics like pants and tops, but I rolled a lot of the other items.

We expect to have wifi in each of the places that we’ll be staying, so I plan to share some travel posts along the way. I’m not sure if Fashion Friday will appear every week or not, but I’ll do my best!