As I wrote this post I was flying home from my business trip to New Jersey. Unfortunately, I was packed into the back of the plane like a sardine. I had a window seat but my view from the last row in the plane was the jet engine. The good news is that I was traveling light. I didn’t check my bag so I don’t have to be held up at baggage claim and could get home sooner to see my family.
This was a 4 night business trip and is a little bit longer than usual. However, I still managed to get my stuff into one duffle bag. While it didn’t save me any money (my company pays for travel expenses), my packing tips apply to personal travel which definitely saves some bucks by avoiding the airline baggage fees. So, how did I do it? Read more to find out -
Shoes – I took two pairs of shoes. One pair was my dress shoes for the office and one pair was my running shoes for working out and traveling. Shoes take up a lot of space so don’t travel with more than two pairs. You can save more room if your business shoes have rubber soles and can be worn with jeans for a more casual look when traveling on the plane.
Pants – I took 5 pairs of pants on the trip which included 1 pair of jeans, casual pants and 3 pairs of slacks. 4 of them were easily folded in my bag. You can save more room by rolling them.
Shirts – aside from a few t-shirts I packed 4 shirts. One shirt is getting worn twice for the p,and trip home. But, in my judgement, it’s clean and just needed a little ironing.
One jacket – It’s really a nice sweat top that doubled as a jacket to the office and is what I wear on the plane for comfort when it is a little cool.
Other items – my duffle bag easily held my other items which included rolled socks, undies, one pear of workout shorts and a shirt and toiletries. I just packed these items in between my other clothes.
Computer bag – I carry a backpack that easily holds my computer, iPad business notebook, and other electronic equipment. Backpacks are better than briefcases, in my opinion, because they don’t require your hands to carry. They work great when traveling and commuting and can be more stylish too.
Over the years I think I’ve become quite the savvy traveler with the exception of avoiding the last row in the plane and bad window seats. :). In summary, here are my rules of thumb to avoid baggage fees:
- Don’t pack more than you need
- No more than two pairs of shoes
- Always find ways to use items for more than one purpose. Do you really need a new outfit for them plane?
- You can roll clothes to save more room
- Use a backpack for work and electronics
- Consider dress shoes that can serve as casual shoes too (rubber soles are key)
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