Long Haul Flight Carry-On Essentials
My journey to get to Australia was a long one. I took a train from Windsor to Toronto, spent a night in Toronto and then set out for the airport. The flight from Toronto to LAX was five hours and then I had to kill 10 hours at LAX. From LAX to Melbourne, it was a 16 hour flight.
I tried my best to pack essential items in my carry-on suitcase so that I would be comfortable on my long journey. Here is what I did well and what I missed out on:
Organize! Organize! Organize!
Since I knew I was going to be traveling for such a long, long time I wanted to ensure that the items in my backpack and carry on would be easily accessible. I often just throw things into my purse and then I get flustered when I have to take everything out just to find chapstick or something similar. I was determined to alleviate the stress of a mess and I did well.
I went to TJ Maxx in Pittsburgh and found three beautifully patterned mesh bags by Isaac Mizrahi. They were only $8 and worth every penny.
The smallest of the bags held my iPhone headphones and my workout headphones. The medium bag held my iPhone charge, Macbook charger, and one US/Australia power adapter. The largest of the bags held the most important items for such my 34 hours of travel and you can read about them below:
What to Bring (In the Largest Bag)
Since I was traveling for so long, I made sure to bring a lot of entertainment. I had my iPhone, Macbook, Bose headphones and two books. Since I had so many electronics it was imperative to bring all of the chargers in my carry on! If I’d packed them in my checked luggage, I either would have been without a phone for 20 hours of my journey and my laptop would have died after writing my post about Toronto.
- Hand Sanitizer: I brought The Honest Company hand sanitizer spray in Lemongrass. The scent is light and doesn’t permeate. There is nothing worse than being in a confined space with a smell you don’t like so why subject fellow passengers to smelly hand sanitizer? Keep the scents neutral and natural.
Lotion: flying dries out skin and will cause your hands to crack if you don’t moisturize. I used Eucerin Calming Daily Moisturizer and it kept my hands smooth and comfortable.
Face Wipes: I had a 10-pack of Burt’s Bees Facial Cleansing Towelettes with Cucumber and Sage Extracts. These have a cleansing smell that made me feel fresh while sitting in the airport and then once I got off of the plane.
Hand Wipes: Wet Ones Sensitive Skin Hand Wipes are what I found at the travel section of Target. Any hand wipes would do. Now, I use them obviously to cleanse my hands but also so wipe down my tray table before the flight. I learned the tip from my older sister who travels a lot for work.
Deodorant: Any travel size deodorant will do! I used Secret in the Powder Fresh scent.
- Lip Balm: I used trusty old Chapstick. Can’t go wrong with it.
Dry Shampoo: Since I knew I wouldn’t be taking a shower that soon after landing, I packed travel-size Chi Dry Shampoo to use once at the Melbourne airport. It has a basic, fresh scent and it absorbed the grease that my hair created during my long trek to another continent. I don’t know if it gave my hair much life but it gave me life and confidence.
Face Mask: Not necessary at all but worth it if you have a super long haul flight. Also, worth it if you have no shame. I’d never used a mask before but my good friend, John, recommended I use one. I went for it and, thankfully, I had befriended the ladies next to me so they laughed with me instead of at me as I sat with my headphones in for 15 minutes with a white sticky mask on my face. The Garnier Moisture Bomb Hydrating Sheet Mask for Anti-Fatigue sounded the best for a 16 hour flight and it didn’t disappoint me.
What I Forgot
A change of yoga pants. Don’t ask me how this one slipped through the cracks. I had four extra pairs of undies, a shirt, sweater, socks, shoes and sports bra but no fresh pants. That was a major bummer. I wanted nothing more than to land and change into all fresh clothing so missing clean yoga pants made that a bit hard.
Before clearing customs, I rolled myself into a bathroom and spent 10 minutes refreshing. The sports bra I’d worn for over 28 hours came off to be replaced with a t-shirt bra. My trusty Ed Sheeran concert tee was replaced with a crewneck sweater. Fresh deodorant and dry shampoo, too. I felt significantly better in fresh clothing but couldn’t shake the fact that I had forgotten clean pants. Yikes.
What Do You Want to Know?
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#PeaceLoveEd
