How To Pack For Winter Travel With Only A Carry-On Bag: 4 Packing Tips

This winter, as your holiday draws closer the anticipation and excitement build. What will you see, what will you eat, and who will you meet are the questions that are likely to be running through your mind in the weeks running up to your trip. This would be fine if it were a normal year, but unfortunately, 2020 has been far from that.

While the pandemic swept across the globe countries went into lockdown resulting in airlines having to ground their entire fleet of aircraft. As we slowly get back on our feet after such a turbulent year, we are beginning to feel the fallout in the form of increasing costs to travel so as a result, we are now seeking ways to save money when traveling.

So an excellent way to cut costs is by finding deals on airline tickets and opting not to pay fees for checking your luggage.  This will limit you to only traveling with only a carry-on bag.  Carry-on bags are ideal for traveling in the summer, but winter travel requires a little extra thought as you need to pack for the cold days and nights.

Let's take a look at how to get the most out of a small piece of luggage and packing for the cold winter weather!

4 Packing Tips for Winter Travel

1. Start with Your Bag

As you may know, finding the right luggage to hold all your belongings is extremely important.  You need plenty of space inside the luggage and external pockets are always a bonus. Of course, durability is also just as important as you want to make sure your items are secured safely.  Unfortunately, things like handles and wheels can sometimes take up key storage space and limit how much you can place inside the luggage. 

2. Plan Your Outfits

Unfortunately, packing light for winter travel can be difficult as clothing items are bulkier and take up more room in your luggage. So, if you know exactly what outfits you will be taking, you can easily plan whether you have enough space in your carry-on bag. I can't stress this enough, planning in advance will really help you fit what you need in your bag.

When I pack for winter travel, I prefer outfits that are comfortable and give me the freedom to move around in the confined space of the airplane.  I love the personalized hoodies and leggings at Banana Moon Clothing as they are super comfortable. However, as it is winter, so you may want to travel in your bulkiest outfit and winter boots instead of packing as this will allow you to have more room for additional items in your carry-on.

3. Coordinate Your Outfits

When you are pack carry-on only,  you may well realize how difficult it is to fit a number of bulky and heavy clothes into a small piece of luggage. To cut down the number of items you will need for your trip, I recommend coordinating your winter clothing and base layers (long underwear, wool socks, etc). This will allow you to create multiple outfits from a limited number of clothing items which will save you space and time when packing.

To make the most of a coordinated winter wardrobe, stick within a color palette to make choosing and styling your clothing easier.

4. Organization is Key

If you are planning on making a winter trip with only a carry-on, keep your traveling stress free by being well organized before you travel. Usually, when traveling, we have the luxury of hand luggage which we can use to keep our valuable safe, and our travel documents intact. 

Please make sure to check if your airline allows carry-on and hand luggage as some airlines do not permit them at all and require you to check all of your luggage items. If you are unlucky to find that only 1 bag is allowed then a separate sealable folder is a must-have to keep your travel documents together and secure, which makes retrieving documents from your carry-on much easier.

We hope you enjoyed Simply Amazing Living's “How to Pack for Winter Travel with Only a Carry-On Bag: 4 Packing Tips” post.