Travel Outfit, What to Pack in Your Carry On and Luggage

I love to travel. I would sooner purchase a plane ticket than the 'it' handbag any day! I'm excited to have some downtime, but excited for my trips to Lexington (for Keenland!!!!), Dallas and Raleigh in April/early May! While I love going to new places and having new experiences and making new friends, traveling as a verb can be exhausting or a hassle.

Unfortunately, Pittsburgh's airport is not the best and direct flights are hard to come by. Usually, I am stuck with connections and layovers; even going on the simplest of flights. When I was going home from Orlando, Delta had me flying from Orlando to Detroit and then Detroit to Pittsburgh (doesn't make too much sense, right?).

I've been traveling a lot lately (Sonesta Hilton Head Resort and Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas most recently!) and figured I would share some of my tips and tricks. I used to dress up for flights, but usually that doesn't happen anymore. I wear a variation of the above outfit and stow a dressier outfit in my tote for when I land. 

You can see everything here that I would throw into my usual carry on. I used to only carry my iPad, but now choose my MacBook over my iPad because I can be more productive rather than just watching Netflix. My friends sometimes joke that I'm always the 'mom' in the group because I also always have random pouches filled with:

• hair ties/bobby pins/
• bobby pins
• chapstick/lipgloss
• first aid stuff like bandaids/small sewing kit 
• Small lint roller
• Makeup wipes/lysol wipes/shout wipes
• gum/mints/listerine strips 
• KIND Bar 
• Travel brush
• Ear buds
• Lotion
• Glasses 
• Thank you notes/pen
• Advil/benadryl/etc. 

I actually carry the pouches daily in my tote. I also always carry on my jewelry (because if my luggage got lost and my jewelry was with it, I'd be super sad) and my makeup for touch ups when I land and usually either sandals if I'm going somewhere warm or dressier shoes for my change of clothes. 

I usually check a bag, which is super annoying, but I'm really bad at packing in a carry on. I usually only do a carry on if it's just a weekend. I got the entire suitcase set in the above collage. It has been an absolute lifesaver! I truly don't know how I traveled with luggage with wheels that didn't spin in all directions. It sounds like a silly, minute detail, but the spinner style wheels make ALL the difference. 
These travel pouches are also great. My friend Krista's sister Kim told me about these and I had to order them for myself. It compartmentalizes your luggage so it doesn't flop around and get wrinkly but also is a great way to condense things to conserve space! And the laundry bags are also a necessity. I have tons of bags like this for shoes and also for dirty laundry/wet bathing suits.  What are your travel necessities and lifesavers? Have a fabulous day!  Yours,