Let’s talk about the other carry-on
Everyone who writes packing tips seems to focus on the carry-on suitcase — the one with your clothes and shoes in it. But for most women, and some men, there’s that other bag: the one with toiletries, medicine, paperback or Kindle, computer, etc.
Most airlines allow one carry-on that must fit under your seat (unless you pay for a second bag). That means that a purse or murse (man’s cross-body bag) must go inside that carry-on. I’m going to talk about my solutions, honed over 20+ years of extensive travel.
There are a lot of pictures in this article, to help with explanations. Sorry about that.
Here are my three bags:
Note: Eric’s carry-on is a backpack. I talk about it near the end of this article.
As I said, we travel a lot. Our trips generally fall into two categories: 1–4 day short trips and 10-day to month-long hauls. I now have two different-sized carry-ons because of this — it’s much easier than swapping things around. I’m not suggesting everyone have two bags, but I’m going to go over the contents of each. Remember, though, in addition to trip length, different airlines have a maximum carry-on size. If you only have one carry-on, it’s going to need to be sized for the most-restrictive airline you fly.
It stands to reason you’ll need much less of some things, but also some of the same things, for different length trips. Because I got tired of shifting common items back and forth between carry-on bags, I ended up buying two of everything. All I have to do before a trip is top off consumables (shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, cotton swabs, etc.) and add daily medication for the number of days I’ll be gone.
Some of the items I show below may seem an odd choice. Trust me — they were added over the years after particular situations required them or their absence proved to be problematic.
First, about my purse
The goal should be to carry as little as possible in a purse/murse, and the bag of choice should be secure. I used to travel with an expensive Travelon cross-body bag. It was definitely secure, but even it was bigger than I needed. I bought a tiny purse for €11 at H&M and it works great.
It has a cross-body, chain strap and a hefty zipper. The zipper has a round disk decoration that I can hold onto in crowded situations (like a subway or bus) so no one can slip the zipper open. Here’s what I carry inside, minus our passports, which slip in perfectly.
Contents: mask, a couple of sanitary wipes, adhesive bandage strips, emergency medicine for flying (including Sudafed to clear ears, aspirin in case of headache, and lozenges for coughing fits), earplugs for screaming babies, safety pens and toothpicks for accidents, glasses cloth, combs, hair ties for wind/eating (I have long hair), lip balm, nail file, pen, and tiny wallet (I transfer my Spanish ID card, one debit and one credit card, and my healthcare card from my regular big wallet into this one).
Pro tip: eliminate as much as possible from your purse/murse. First, it needs to tuck into your other carry-on. Second, walking around all day with a heavy bag on your shoulder gets tiring.
The carry-on for long trips
This was my original carry-on. It fits under the seat just fine, but it’s still bulky and heavy, and I just don’t need a lot of its contents on short trips.
I’m going to deconstruct it in steps. First, the outside front pockets.
Front left pocket
The front left pocket includes a tiny, lightweight backpack that folds into a pouch and a plastic card we use in the room. (Many rooms only have power if you insert your door access card into a slot — inconvenient when you go to breakfast but want your laptop to keep charging. The plastic card is a great replacement.)
Front right pocket
The front right pocket has ear plugs (you can’t have too many ear plugs if noise bothers you!), a note pad (pen is elsewhere), a spare phone charging cable, cheap headphones, and a nylon shopping bag that rolls up into a small tube-shape.
Inside the carry-on
Now let’s look at the inside. Very few items inside are loose, most are in small pouches of their own. These are the loose items:
Left to right: small pouch with lightweight scarf for visiting mosques and cathedrals that require head covering (so I never again have to use the “loaner” ones), bag of clothes pins and S-hooks for doing laundry in the room, small hand cloth in plastic bag for wiping down/cleaning off shoes and other items, small plastic grocery bag, sticky roller for cleaning off clothes, hand mirror in protective sleeve, and spare mask. (Some of our longer trips include performing arts like opera, so the sticky roller and hand cloth help keep dressier clothes looking nice.)
The rest of the contents of the carry-on bag are divided into task-specific pouches. Some pouches I bought for a specific use, but most are re-purposed from other things.
The main pouch
The main pouch is divided into three sections, with the center zipper section attached via velcro for easy removal (handy if airport security wants all liquids separated for scanning).
The center section is where all the consumables are. It includes: bar of soap in plastic box, medium-sized deodorant, shampoo and conditioner, flip-top box of cotton swabs, small sewing kit, lotion, small bottle of Neutrogena face wash (otherwise I break out like a teenager), toothpaste, and toothbrush with protective cap.
Eric and I used to each carry a smaller toothpaste, but we now share the bigger one. The rest of the containers have enough in them to last for up to 3 weeks. 4 weeks if I’m judicious.
The left and right sides of the pouch are zippered and contain a variety of unusual items.
Right side contents — Plastic grocery bag, combs, nail files, pen and pencil, nail clippers, small bag of various-size safety pins, spare lanyard for my camera, hair clips/headband/hair ties, and a tiny plastic box with some coins (the little box doubles as an ice scraper — one of the first things Dad gave me when I moved away and got my own car).
Left side contents — Adhesive bandage strips (I’m prone to blisters and sensitive spots), panty liners to use as wound covers, cloth wipe, fasteners (rubber bands and a twist tie), packet of laundry soap, and toothpicks (wood and plastic).
The rest of the contents need a bit of explanation. The wooden utensils are because we sometimes want to pick up something to eat in our room after a long day. If we buy things in a store instead of take-out, we have no utensils. Now we do.
The strips of ribbon came about because a couple of times we’ve needed to tie things together and had nothing. For example, we checked into our hotel in Brno Czechia only to discover that the shower head was hand-held with no way to attach it on the wall — inconvenient for someone with long hair. Not a big deal on a short trip, but we were there for a month. I cut one of those odd loops out of the shoulder of a sweater and used a hotel clothes hanger to attach the head to the shower wall. It worked great! Now loops are part of my standard fare.
The medicine pouch
The next biggest pouch in the larger carry-on is what I call my “hospital bag”. On longer trips, the likelihood of getting sick or having a health issue is greater, so I carry a much bigger variety of medicine than I do for shorter trips.
So what’s in my hospital bag? Dental floss, thermometer, toothpicks, anti-itch ointment, antibiotic ointments, pain ointment, sanitary wipes, and various medicine: laxative for starting, Imodium for stopping, aspirin, ibuprofen, decongestant for day, decongestant for night, prescription pain pills, and eye drops.
Makeup
I don’t travel with much make-up, and I highly recommend this. You don’t need a whole color pallet. Pick one simple color and go with that. (Note that my makeup pouch is an old Harry Potter Ravenclaw pencil carrier!)
I carry one color eyeshadow, mascara, eyebrow pencil, eye liner pencil, blush, and a couple of brushes.
3-pocket pouch
The final pouch in my large carry-on has three pockets and a zipper front. This one I bought specifically for traveling.
- The outside zipper has the safety pins, tweezers, and nail file.
- The front of the three pockets always has the two hair ties. Into it I also add hair clips, usually black, silver, gold, and white.
- The center pocket is where my travel medicine goes, so I add it before a trip. These are my daily medicines, and I count out what I’ll need for the length of the trip plus two extra days (in case of delayed or cancelled flights)
- The back pocket has all the stuff on the right in the picture. I have bad feet and use a lot of adhesive bandage strips when I travel (usually 7–10 per day). My podiatrist recommended the self-adhesive panty liners to use where extra padding is helpful. The little folding scissors are so I can cut the liners into various size pieces.
All of the above items fit neatly into the large carry-on, with room for my small purse on top.
Small carry-on
The small carry-on includes a few of the same items as above, but eliminates a lot of them. Many things just aren’t necessary for a short trip.
Front pocket
The small front zipper pocket only holds a few things. Inside is a small mirror, foam earplugs (did I mention I don’t like noise?), headphones, one clothespin, and a couple of ribbon ties.
Inside pockets
Inside the small carry-on are two pouch-style (non-zippered) pockets and one zippered pocket.
The small left pouch pocket holds my few makeup items and an old Advil tube with safety pins. The right pocket holds a very small version of my “medicine bag” — aspirin and antihistamine.
The zipper pocket inside the small carry-on has a pad and pencil, rolled up plastic grocery bag, and adhesive bandage strips and panty liners, as well as another pair of folding scissors.
The consumables pouch
The consumable contents of the small carry-on are in a clear zipper pouch (it’s a reuse from something but I no longer remember what). The contents are the same as in the large carry-on, just in smaller quantities.
Daily medicine pouch
My daily medications are in a small zipper pouch. Just like with the larger carry-on, I resupply its contents based on the number of travel days (plus two) before each trip.
Hair care pouch
The last pouch in the small carry-on contains things I need for long hair: headband, combs, hair clips, and hair ties. The pouch itself is a reuse of a bag that some support socks came in. I usually add a couple pair of hair clips before a trip.
Just like with the large carry-on, my travel purse fits neatly inside.
One movable pouch
I do have one small pouch that I move between the two carry-on bags. It holds earrings. These days I travel with very little jewelry, and I certainly don’t have spares to keep packed in travel bags. Instead, I use a little coin purse I got from a bank a long time ago. I put a few pair of earrings in it and toss it in whichever carry-on I’m using for that trip.
What about Eric?
As I mentioned, Eric’s carry-on is a backpack. Most of his responsibility is electronics, although he does have a small zipper bag with his few toiletry essentials.
His backpack includes: a portable power “brick” (especially good for recharging phones when out and about), multiple power adapters for different countries, multi-port USB plug and cables for simultaneously charging several devices (many older hotels only have one plug in a room), his Kindle, his camera and battery charger, Bluetooth earbuds, and his cross-body bag (murse). Not shown are our two laptops, which slip into one pocket of the backpack. The other items in the picture are his toiletries, which fit into the green bag.
I get that if you don’t have a traveling companion to help carry the load, you might have to put some of this same stuff into your own carry-on. It’s still possible to keep things to a minimum. And it’s a good idea to have pouches for these items — his backpack includes multiple built-in pockets, so he can segregate items without having to put them into pouches.
Now you know everything we carry other than clothes and shoes. I hope this article has given you good ideas on how to pack a toiletries carry-on for different length trips.
In addition to packing your own essentials, take advantage of what the hotels offer. Pretty much all hotels include a hairdryer in every room, or have one at the front desk that can be borrowed. I’ve never traveled with a hairdryer, but I used to carry a mini-size straightener (when I had short hair). Most hotels also offer shampoo and soap, but I choose to take those because I have sensitive skin.
If you have specific “musts” that need to be in your bag for every trip, by all means pack those. It’s still worth taking only the quantity you’ll need. Airlines get more and more strict all the time with bag sizes and weight limits, so cutting down where you can really matters. Remember, if you use pouches to hold categories of items, you can easily adjust contents (and weight) before a trip. It’s also easier to find things while traveling.
I hope you never get pulled out of an airline’s check-in line to have your carry-on weighed or measured. If you do, and you’ve followed any of the above advice, I hope the airline employee smiles and waves you on your way.
Safe travels and have fun!
