Effortlessly Travel with One Suitcase: 15 Space Saving Tips!

I'm always on the lookout for a good travel deal. One of the best ways to reduce your travel costs is to travel with carry on luggage only to avoid extra baggage fees on a plane. One bag travel (although truthfully my husband and I usually travel with one carry on and a small backpack as our personal item) also gives you the flexibility to use cheap public transportation than pricey taxis or Ubers. 

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I've always been pretty good at packing clothing and accessories that I can layer, mix and match to create at least a week's worth of outfits that fit into a carry on suitcase. I used to reduce space by rolling my clothes in my suitcase which worked fairly well. I didn’t think packing cubes would make much of a difference. Boy! Was I wrong! I packed a week's worth of clothes (including a pair of jeans and sweaters) in a packing cube set similar to this one for a trip to England and Scotland. (Disclosure: I am including affiliate links for your convenience.) My clothing only filled half of my carry on suitcase in packing cubes instead of taking up all of the available space like before. My husband’s carry on was completely full because he refused to use them. So guess who had room for the souvenirs on the trip back home? This gal. That’s who. 

 

Packing cubes also allow you to keep your clean and dirty clothes separate in the same suitcase.

You can also save suitcase space by doing a little sink laundry of socks and smalls in your room during your trip. If you'd like to give it a try (or like me, you find out that Tide pens are useless when you drop food on your shirt) I recommend these Summit Trek Travel Pocket Laundry Wash sheets . They are compact and best of all a solid so you don’t have to give up precious space in your liquids bag (glares at Tide pen again.)

One of the more difficult parts of packing for airline travel is trying to cram all of the three ounce liquid toiletry items I need for a trip into an itty bitty clear zip lock bag. I've bought travel size toiletries. I've decanted my full sized liquids into travel size toiletry bottles I've gotten in hotels (since I had them, why not clean them and reuse them?) but the different shapes and sizes don't always fit neatly into my TSA bag.

One way I eek out a little extra space for my liquids and still be TSA compliant is to switch from a clear zip lock bag to a clear zipped toiletry bag with a gusset similar to this  Lermende Travel Size Toiletries TSA Approved Travel Toiletry Bag.

 I used this type of clear bag for domestic and international travel. Security was more interested in what was in the bag than the bag itself.

On our recent trip to the UK, I was determined to find a better way to fit all of my toiletries into my TSA liquids bag with hopefully room to spare. I did a bit of searching and asking for recommendations and found the holy grail of toiletry containers that actually work and do not take up a lot of space. I've used every single travel item in the post and wouldn't recommend it unless I found it useful.

I used to pack my full sized liquid foundation makeup in my clear bag because it met the TSA size requirement. On my last trip I got a tip to decant my liquid makeup into these three milliliter squeeze bottles which held more than enough makeup for a week long trip. I got so much more space back in my clear liquids container! The bottles come with an funnel to make them easy to clean and refill. 

If you need a slightly bigger travel bottle for things such as sunscreen or conditioner, I recommend these travel pouches over any type of travel toiletry bottle including the cute silicone bottles. The refillable travel pouches hold as much as my repurposed travel bottles but the pouches pack flat inside my liquids bag giving me more room in it.

The shape of most travel and toiletry spray bottles can be a bit bulky. I now use these 3 ounce refillable spray bottles to carry eyeglass cleaner, hair spray, and fabric refresher spray because their shape is more streamlined and they sit closer together in my liquids bag, taking up less space.

Now that the liquid situation is sorted, it's time to look at the other travel gear you might like to take with you. This is where most travel lists get a little crazy (do you really need a portable espresso maker when you can buy it in a restaurant?) While I am all for traveling with the regular thing you use at home, it is sometimes nice to pack a smaller version to give you the room in your suitcase for those cute shoes you just had to buy as a vacation souvenir.

This folding travel toothbrush saves space and protects your gear from wet bristles when you are on the road. 

This MiniTravel Makeup Brush Set with Case and takes up much less space than packing my full size makeup brushes. I also like how the case keeps any powders left on my brushes contained and not on the stuff in my suitcase.

I used to use empty pill bottles to store jewelry, bobby pins,  and the like for travel. I got a recommendation to use these pill pocket bags to organize necklaces for travel (one per pouch.) I really didn't need this tip for my jewelry but I did find that the pill bags were a less bulky solution for organizing bobby pins, barrettes, and hair ties. Oh, yeah. They probably work for vitamins and medication too.

I got a folding travel mirror hair brush similar to this one as a gift. It sat in a drawer for the longest time because I didn’t think it was very useful as a brush for long hair. I popped it in a suitcase after my previous travel hair brush broke. I figured if the compact brush was awful, I could always buy a bigger hairbrush during my trip. I was pleasantly surprised at how well it works! It it now my go to travel hair brush. 

Whenever I think about packing something extra for just in case, I remind myself that if I really need it, I can buy one at my destination. More than 90% of the time, I don't need or wouldn't use that thing anyway. However there are a few little extras I like to pack in my suitcase to make traveling a little easier or more comfortable.

If you are traveling internationally, you will not only need travel adapters for your plugs but also a power converter. I bought this exact 30-Watt Step Down 100-220V to 110V Voltage Converter and travel adapter for a trip to the UK on a recommendation and I quickly learned why! You can use it for more than 150 countries and can charge up to 5 devices at the same time if you have USB. My husband ended up sharing one during a one week trip without an issue when I realized I forget the correct wall adapter for my converter – oops. 

 

 

As a bit of extra security, I like to use these mini S-biner locks to lock the zippers on my backpack together. It won't stop someone from breaking into my bag, but it will make it more difficult so they might just move on to their next target. AND IT WORKED! An unassuming little old lady tried to open my day pack and take what she wanted by distracting me with a question in a train station. She couldn't get the zippers open far enough to reach inside my bag and the locks were too fiddly for to try to unlock them.

I use this exact Nite Ize Hitch Phone Tether to keep my phone secure in my front pocket (because women's pants pockets are not deep. Why?) and around my wrist when I am using it to take photos. I often use it in everyday life because, again, the women aren't allowed to have functional pockets thing. 

 

  

Sometimes I need a little more suitcase space on the way back home for souvenirs than my carry on and personal item  can hold. I pack this exact ChicoBag folding duffel bag that allows me to check my carry on if I need to but also have things the I don’t have to get lost in check baggage with me in the duffel. (Fun fact: you cannot take a boomerang on a US aircraft. You have to put it in a checked suitcase.)

If you like to travel with a neck pillow, I use this inflatable travel pillow because you can customize it to be as hard or soft as you like and it takes almost no room in your bag when it is deflated.

And finally, the travel item I wish I had for my last trip and am now enjoying at home. I was very envious of our traveling companion who had these Soundcore Anker Life Hybrid Active Noise Cancelling Headphones that allowed him to block out the cacophony of two children (and their loud parents) treating the place like it was a playground for.the.whole.four.hour.trip. 

My husband and I could still hear them through our regular earbuds. Our friend turned on the noise cancelling feature and did not. I just bought a pair and use the noise cancelling feature to listen to white noise when my husband has a day full of meetings in our shared home office. In fact, I am wearing them now as I write this post. Worth. It.

Looking for more one bag travel and space saving ideas? Check out the following options – and more! below!
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