In this modern day of worldwide independent travel, trunks are long gone and carry-on luggage has become the preferred baggage of the frequent traveler. By carrying your luggage with you on the plane, you save valuable travel time, and you never need to worry about the airline losing your luggage or having it miss the plane. Just have this happen to you once when you’re in a hurry and you’ll be a carry-on traveler for life. Here are some helpful tips on how to choose the right bag, what to bring with you and how to pack it.

When looking for carry-on luggage, make sure you get something that will fit under the seat in front of you. In general, try to select a bag with dimensions not exceeding 14″ x 9″ x 22″, including all straps and wheels. Policies may vary, so always check with the airline for its limits on the size, weight or number of carry-on pieces. If you are using more than one airline, you might want to call ahead to find out all baggage requirements.

Good quality, softsided carry-on bags are lightweight, sturdy and washable, and they absorb shock better than hardsided luggage. Look for durable, waterproof nylon with a high-density weave, strong double zippers that can be locked, and comfortable handles and shoulder straps. It’s good to have a removable shoulder strap in case you do need to check the bag so it won’t get caught in the luggage carousel. A great bet are carry-ons with two or three separate compartments and three-quarter zippers that allow you to open the bag up and lay it flat like a suitcase.

We highly recommend the carry-ons with wheels and retractable luggage handles which will save you from having to carry your luggage long distances in airports. There are also some convertible backpacks on the market which are quite good, particularly if you expect to do a lot of walking with your luggage or are traveling by train through Europe. If you’re not using a rolling carry-on or convertible backpack and plan on walking a lot with your luggage, consider a luggage cart.

Remember, you’re going to be carrying your own bag through airports, train stations and looking for hotels. Make sure you can carry it comfortably for at least a mile. If you’re still don’t know what to bring and what not to then take the luggage hike test. Go for a mile-long walk with your bag. When you get back it will be a lot easier to decide what you don’t need!

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When packing your clothes, you don’t want to neatly fold them individually as you would in a dresser. If you do, they will crease when compressed. Here are a couple of alternatives:

Rolling Your Clothes
Backpackers swear by this method. Rolling works well with pants, skirts and sports shirts. Lay the item face down, fold back the sleeves and then roll from the bottom up.

Fold Clothes Together
Take two or more garments, for example trousers, and lay half of one pair on top of the other. Fold the one on the bottom over the pair on the top. Then take the other and fold it on the top. This gives each pair some cushion where you’ve folded it so it’s less likely to crease or wrinkle in the folds.

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If you are going to the lake then you would need some additional items like swimsuit, coverup, sunscreen, umbrella to keep the sun off of you, beach chairs, beach towels, mesh beach bag, frisbee or something else for entertainment, and a life preserver. You’ll also want to think about a fishing pole if you want to go swimming.

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On your first camping trip? Don’t forget these items:

• Hunting knife
• Compass
• Plenty of water
• Waterproof matches
• Portable Stove
• Pots/Pans
• Cooler
• Snakebite kit
• Medical Kit
• Non-perishable food
• Lantern/Kerosene
• Battery charger
• Hiking boots
• Sleeping Bag
• Air Mattress
• Backpack

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There’s a new product out that lets you draw power for any USB-chargeable device from the headphone jack on your armrest while in an airplane. Sounds pretty cool huh? It’s called Inflight Power and the adapter for the headphone jack.
You plug the cord into your seat’s audio jack, turn the dial to a channel with consistently loud music such as rock music, put the volume all the way up and plug in your device. It doesn’t look like they will work for laptops unfortunately.

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