January 2020
Packing in a Carry on: Wintertime in Chamonix, France
This was certainly a conundrum – how to pack for full fledged winter trip in a carry on. From fine dining to skiing, it was going to be a challenge.
Generally packing for wintertime is actually easier than warmer climates because your top layer really is unchanged and layers underneath are changed out. While layering clothing certainly had advantages for packing less, the clothing is larger and heavier. And how could I possibly fit ski clothing?
Just when I thought a checked bag was in our future, I found a ski rental place that actually rented ski clothes as well. What a life savers and well worth the 15 euro for a ski jacket and ski pants. With that, winter packing is almost easier than the summer because you know one thing for sure – it will be cold! Often times, you wear your jacket a large majority of the time so no one really can “see” what you are wearing (or in my case, re-wearing). As long as you have enough clothing to circulate as your base layer, clothing is the easier part of packing. Now making sure you can commit to one pair of shoes could be a bigger problem! I was able to find a pair of boots by Xero Mika boots that would be comfortable and stylish. What was the final weigh in?
The bag: EBags TLS Mother Lode Weekender Convertible
Packing cubes (Amazon or Ebags) size small, medium and large
Small Packing Cube: Toiletry Bag
- Medications
- Deodorant
- Bar of solid soap
- Contacts
- Lush solid shampoo
- Toothbrush with sanitizer pod
- Hair Brush
- Band-Aids and Q-tips
- Jewelry
- Makeup bag (foundation, brushes)
- Eye makeup bag (shadow, liner, highlighter)
- Hair accessory bag (headband, hair ties, hair clip)
Quart Bag for 3 Ounce Liquids
- Tooth paste
- Travel size body lotion
- Travel size conditioner
- Travel size face wash
- Face moisturizer in repurposed container (Lush as the best sample containers for traveling!)
- Aquaphor
Medium Packing Cube: Small Clothing Items
- Bras- one Coobie, one sport
- Underwear
- Wool socks
- Bathing suit
- Adventure Bands
- Two tank tops
Large Packing Cube: Clothes
- Fleece lined leggings
- Active leggings
- Two thermal long sleeve shirts
- One sweater
Front Compartment
Electronic Bag
- GoPro
- Tripod
- Strap mount
- Spare GoPro batteries and charger
- Extendable waterproof hand grip
- SD card reader
Front Compartment
- Travel umbrella
- Electronic Bag
- Sunglasses
- Day bag
- Ski goggles (apparently the only item the ski rental place does not have!)
- Glasses and case
- Small packing cube
Laptop Compartment
- Chromebook
- Notebook/Paperwork/Pen
Bag checks in under the 8 kg / 17 pound limit. Even though I had extra room in the packing cubes, I still had a bit of weight in the toiletry small packing cube that I could have cut out if I had too.
Sling
What I wore on plane
- Basic tank top
- Basic long sleeve shirt
- Sweater
- Wool socks
- Fleece lined leggings
- Black pants
- Xero Mika boots
- Winter jacket
- Winter hat, scarf, gloves
I wore a lot of clothes in travel which helped take some weigh out of my bag. It helped that it was cold at home as well but don’t underestimate layering!