How to Pack for 4 Days with Just a Carry On

I leave for New Orleans on Friday (woohoo!) so today I wanted to share with you how I pack for a 4 day trip with only a carry-on.

Traveling carry-on is no small feat – especially for a fashion blogger. haha. But; I have honed my packing skills over the years and today am sharing with you exactly what I packed for my 4 (actually almost 5) day trip in the hopes that it will help your own packing in the future!

Step One: Plan Your Travel (Flight) Outfit

The first thing I do when preparing to pack a carry on for a trip is to select all of the clothes and shoes I would ideally bring. From here, I pick a wear-in-flight outfit based on items I know would be bulkier or harder to pack, while also keeping in mind the need to be comfortable in-flight.

For this trip, I am therefore wearing jeans (the only pants I’ll be bringing – yay for warm weather!), my coziest tee, and a denim jacket. I selected three pair of shoes for my trip and am wearing my black wedges because they are the bulkiest and, therefore, I want to avoid packing them! (I also always pack a pair of socks in my purse so I can keep my feet cozy in flight)

Step Two: Clothes

Since I’ve already got my giant pile of “clothes I would wear i had 5 giant suitcases.. or a pack mule” I then start narrowing down what outfits I actually need. Think about the types of things you’ll be doing – do you need a ‘night out’ outfit? Do you need a dressy outfit? etc.

For this trip I need 2 ‘going out at night’ outfits & 3 daytime outfits. The day time need to be both semi-fancy and casual for various touristy activities. For this purpose, I packed:
– 1 skirt & tee
– 1 casual dress
– 1 ‘night out’ dress
– 1 ‘night out’ romper
– 1 pair of shorts
– 2 tops
– pajamas/undergarments

Tip: the most space-efficient way to pack your clothes is to roll them (as you can see in the photo above)

Step 3: Shoes & Bags

For this trip I packed two pair of shoes – the converse you can see in the above photo, and these embellished blush flats. In addition to the larger purse I’ll be carrying on the plane, I also packed my tory burch cross body for every day activities. I always recommend cross-body bags for travel / tourist-ing as you definitely want to be hands free!

Tip: stuff a cotton tee or other small item into your cross body bag to make sure the bag doesn’t get crushed and loose its’ shape being stuffed in your  carry-on bag.

Step 4: Toiletries / Jewelry

I pack makeup & toiletries last because you know you may have to remove these items when you go through security. Best to not have to dig through everything to do so!

Tip: pack any liquid makeup and toiletries in a separate ziplock bag; again it makes it easier going through security and it gives you an extra bit of protection in case anything leaks.

Tip: I swear the ONLY way to pack your jewelry for travel is with a weekly pill box dispenser (…not sure if that’s what they are called, but you know what I mean!) This way you can put earrings and necklaces in separate compartments so they don’t get tangled or mixed up. I then use old jewelry bags for any statement pieces that don’t fit in the pill box (in this case I am bringing this new choker, and these new earrings)

Eh Voila!!

4 days worth of stuff in one tiny carry-on! I also always bring my Tory Burch Tote as my purse when traveling on a plane because it is by far the roomiest handbag I have. In it I pack my laptop, at least 2 books, a notebook/pens, snacks, comfy socks and my phone charger.