16 August 2022

15 days in a carry on? The trick that made it happen!

15 days in a carry-on? The trick that made it happen!

No one thought I could do it! 😂

By the time you read this in your inbox, my son and I will be in London where we’ll be staying for the first three nights of our trip. Since London’s Heathrow Airport made the news earlier this year with record numbers of lost luggage, I decided not to take any chances. So, I decided to squish all my clothes into a carry-on! Even my son couldn’t understand why, and he was quick to tell me I did not have overflow rights in his suitcase — hah! In fact, even I can’t actually believe that I did it 🙂 Read on to find out the trick that made it happen!

Today’s post is about what all I packed for a 15 day trip to Europe. The tricky part is the differences in weather between the Italian Amalfi coast, London and the British seaside. London is forecasting rain (what in the world!) and the Amalfi coast is going to be in the high 80’s (perfect). For packing inspo, I selected pieces from my capsule wardrobe boards for both summer and pre-fall (see here and here) And, keep reading to see which items made the cut, some of the outfits I hope to wear, and how I got it all into one carry-on!

P.S Full disclosure: I’m not a packing expert, and as I’m writing this on the plane, I realize there are some things that should have stayed behind. But that’s what happens when you pack the night before, and don’t take the time to think through every outfit 😉 I’m just like many of you — figuring it out as I go. So, the bottom line is I still over-packed … and there’s a little part of me wishing I had checked luggage 🙂 Oh well!

My Favorite things

Years ago, on my very first website called “The Susie Wright Project,” there was a “My Favorites” section. I loved this website very much, but it needed to go once I started my blog, So Susie, in June 2018. I’ve included some photos above that I lovingly selected for the favorites section on that first website because they remind me of the trip that Jack and I are starting today.

The lower middle photo is one of my grandfather’s paintings, many of which I have hanging on my walls at home in Portland. There’s a special story around them, and on this trip I will finally get the rest of paintings that I’ve longed for since my 20’s! We are also here to visit my family — both of my parents are British, and they immigrated to the US in the early 1960’s and left behind their entire family. I spent summers here as a little girl, and have visited regularly since!

Best Travel day outfit

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13

On long airplane trips, I always wear either leggings or joggers. This trip I decided on Vuori joggers, and funny enough my son is wearing Vuori joggers as well! Also, since I’m always cold, I’m layering up with this hoodie, this new Rag & Bone blazer and this t-shirt. This way I’ll have a few warmer pieces for chilly nights in London. Layering is a great trick for bringing several items that go together, but that you can also wear separately.These Golden Goose Ballstar sneakers keep everything looking cool, and I’ll wear them with dresses too.

The basics (and the trick that made it all work)

Luggage, packing cubes and travel gadgets

The one trick that made this all happen? Compression packing cubes! Thanks to an Insta friend, I decided to try them, and even my skeptical engineering brain son agreed: they’re amazing. As a matter of fact, there’s no way I could have fit everything in a carry-on without them. I went with the Paravel suitcase, and my son is using the Monos one. Of course, the Beis Weekender is coming along as well, and the trick there is to not overpack it so it squishes under the seat.