Minimalist Packing: A girl and a carry-on
What to wear? What to pack? Do I need this? What am I bound to forget? What can I buy there?
There are so many questions and such little time. With our trip to Hong Kong on the horizon, I’m sure we are all scrambling to make sure we have the international adapters we need as well as picking out the right clothes to accommodate all of our different needs.
For this trip, I have challenged myself to pack for this two-week study abroad and another trip immediately following Hong Kong (24 days total) in one carry-on suitcase.
Guys might not see this as a worthwhile experiment but for a girl who is used to packing things “just in case” and bringing the entire bathroom, this is a hefty challenge. I have to find clothing items that are 1) multi-purpose 2) easy to clean and 3) just the right amount of simple and interesting to avoid looking like I am wearing the same thing over and over again.
So like anything else I do, I’ve been researching like crazy to find the most practical and applicable tips specifically for this trip. Much of this blog post comes from a collection of various travel blogs, so I take no credit for coming up with any of these ideas.
First, packing necessities:
- Carry-on bag
- Pack-it cubes or compressible bags ( I found a whole pack of them at Marshall’s for $6)
- Toiletries bag
- Backpack
Packing categories and items:
- Passport
- Credit cards
- Printed Flight confirmation
- Printed accommodations info
- Maps
- Chinese-English dictionary (Tip: know how to use it before hand)
- MacBook Air and power cord
- USB thumb drive
- Tablet/reader and power cord
- Phone and charger (will be music player, camera, etc.)
- Headphones
- Adapter plugs
Clothing/Shoes/Accessories
- Shoes
- Accessories (wear as much as you can comfortably)
- Clothing
- 3 shorts
- 2 swim-suits
- 3 pants
- 10 tops
- 1 skirt
- 1 dress
- 2 cardigans
- Light rain jacket
- Running shorts
- Running tee
- PJs
- Socks/undergarments
- Eyeglasses (contact lens and solution if applicable)
- Dramamine
- Allergy pills
- Band-Aids
- Moleskin
- Neosporin
- Tylenol/ibuprofen
- Pepto-Bismol
- Imodium
- Prescription meds (in original bottles)
Misc.
- Tide-To-Go pen
- Hair ties, head bands, pins, safety pins (you may need to McGuiver something!)
- Umbrella
- Exercise band
- Reusable shopping bag
Extra Tips:
I worked through our schedule and came up with outfits for each day based on the activities from the syllabus. Then I tallied up the items and removed anything that was only worn once. I also kept a pretty universal color scheme to ensure everything could easily be mixed and matched.
Roll up your clothes, place them in the compressible bags or pack-it cubes for organization and added space.
I plan on having most of my document and electronic devices in my backpack. Toiletries will be in their own case with all of the liquids pulled out into a separate, clear, quart-size ziplock bag with containers less than 3.4 oz or 100 ml.
I haven’t packed yet, so this list is still subject to change; however, I am excited to see if this idea of just me and a carry-on for three weeks will actually work. Hopefully this list was somewhat helpful even if it just reminded you to pack something you would have otherwise forgotten.