14 Days in Europe in a Carry-On! How I Packed + Travel Essentials!

Hey guys, today I'm gonna be sharing how I packed for my 14 day trip to Europe completely out of carry-on bags. My boyfriend and I did travel to France, Italy and Greece and we did jump around quite a bit throughout our stay. So we took a lot of different flights. I think we took about nine flights in total and we also stayed in hotels as well as Airbnbs. So I'm gonna jump into my roller bag which held pretty much all of my clothes and some other essentials like hair tools and things like that. And then I'll get into my tote bag. This was the bag that I was actually able to fit underneath the seat in front of me or considered like my personal item for the plane. But it is pretty large, it holds a lot and this has like more of my in-flight essentials, makeup, shoes, different things like that. So yeah, that being said, let's go ahead and get started. So this is the roller bag that I brought with me for the flight. I did get this one from Nordstrom and I really did like it. The only thing in hindsight now I would say is that I wish I wouldn't have picked such a light color. I wanted to go with a bag that had either a color or a pattern just in the event that it ever got lost. It would be something that I could describe and someone would be able to like easily find. But unfortunately, there were a couple of times where I was forced to check my bag, not because it was over the weight or over the size limit, just because the flight was so packed that like 80% of the people on board were forced to check their luggage. So because of that, it did get scuffed up and kind of scraped up a little bit. The paint was scratched off. So yeah, I would recommend when picking out a roller bag, go with something either darker or that you're just okay with getting banged up and kind of scratched up. Also too, I did get this little luggage tag neon colored thing from CVS, which was super helpful just in case, like I said, I did have to check my bag. All my information was on there. So starting with this side of my bag, the first thing I have is my travel hair straightener that I brought, which is by T3. It's just a mini hair straightener. I really like this one because first of all, it's super compact, but it gets really hot really fast. So it definitely did the trick and I was able to straighten my hair and create like waves and things like that with it. I also have a couple of gel pads for my heels. I ended up not using these, but I still feel like these are smart to pack if you have some around. I got these ones from Target. I think I walked more than I ever could have imagined I was going to, but I brought these just in case my sneakers were wearing down or just were basically struggling. I could have these to kind of help my feet out a bit, but here's that. I have some shapewear for my dresses. It's just like a pair of like Spanx shorts for dresses. And then I also have, oh, it's kind of stuck, but I have a lint roller as well. Not really going to get into this section because it's pretty much just bras. I have a cardigan here that I got from Brandy Melville. Neutrals are definitely key. I would recommend that 110%. You want to pick out things that are going to mix and match well. So this was just easy and lightweight to throw on my backpack or my bag throughout the day, but be able to slip on at night when it did get a little bit more chilly. I also have this little travel light up mirror that I brought with me. So on this side, I have my large packing cube, which held more of my bulky items. I'll go ahead and link below anything that I share in terms of like what I purchased, like my packing cubes, as well as the compression cubes that we got. I really liked the packing cubes for my roller bag because it just allowed me to see everything at once. With compression cubes, I think it's great that it does save you size, like, or I'm sorry, space in your bag, but I think it can also get kind of dangerous with that because you can easily overpack. And then every time you need to find something, you have to unpack everything and it's just all over the place. I like with packing cubes, you're able to just pull it right out and see everything right in front of you versus like compression cubes. So that's just my personal tip. But in here, I just brought some jeans. I have some dresses. One tip that my boyfriend actually taught me while we were traveling is that if you do have any items that do get wrinkly, interestingly enough, the hotels out there don't have an iron and an ironing board readily available in the room. So one thing that we did was we would just douse whatever wrinkled fabric we would have, douse it in a wrinkle release spray and then hang it in the bathroom while he or I would take a really hot shower. And the steam from the shower would actually steam the garment, which was such a cool tip. And we actually used that trick with this dress here and it worked perfectly. So if you need something ironed, but you don't have an iron, put some wrinkle release spray on it, take a hot shower, hang it in there, and it will be perfect. You'll notice here too, that I didn't bring 14 outfits for 14 different days. I packed about, I wanna say seven or eight tops, a few dresses, things like that. So we did wash our clothes about halfway through the trip, that way we could wear them over again. Underneath my packing cube, I also did bring this really lightweight rain jacket because it does rain completely unexpectedly over there. Definitely bring an umbrella. There's a really cute mini one that I found on Amazon, which I'll go ahead and link below. But even if the forecast shows completely clear, just know it may rain like crazy, completely out of nowhere. So this is just a little lightweight rain jacket that I picked up. In this little divider bag here, I pretty much just have like hair brushes. Another quick tip I have as well is to bring extra Ziploc bags, just because even though you might like the way you organize things before you left for the trip, when you're actually over there, you might find yourself reorganizing things totally differently. So bring extra bags in case you do want to kind of compartmentalize things differently. So in this first little bag, I got this from Forever 21 a while ago. I just have like chargers, adapters, things like that. In this little Ziploc bag, I have some random things. I am gonna be doing a separate beauty video just sharing all the beauty items that I brought because if I were to go through everything in this video, it would just take too long. But yeah, in here I have some underarm deodorant wipes just to kind of like refresh throughout the day. I have some laundry detergent from Belite, some dry shampoo. I have like bobby pins, some gel, hair oil, some Shiseido cotton pads, things like that. So yeah, this is just kind of random miscellaneous things. In here, I do have the makeup wipes that I brought with me, which were the MAC ones. Next, I have this towel, which you can see here. And I brought this just in case the Airbnb we stayed in didn't have any towels or I just wanted my own little mini towel. So that is why I brought that guy. Next is my dirty laundry bag. I recommend for dirty laundry to get something that has something breathable, like a breathable fabric. If you try to use something like a large Ziploc bag, it's going to stink like crazy and make everything else smell. It's just not good. So get something that is breathable. Next, I have this packing cube from Eagle Creek. I loved this one. It just fit perfectly in here. And this one just held pretty much all of my underwear and socks. And then in here, we have my medium packing cube, and this held all of my tops. And I'll go ahead and just unzip it. So I have a lightweight sweater, again, from Brandy Melville. Love this. This was perfect for layering, again, for those nights where it did get a little bit more chilly. And then here are the tops that I brought. I would recommend to try avoid packing white only because we did wash our clothes midway through the trip. If you ruin that white shirt on the first half of your trip, like I did with this shirt in particular, you can't wear it again later on in your trip, which kind of sucks. So just try to maybe avoid whites if you're clumsy like me and you tend to spill things because if you ruin it, you can't wear it again, which kind of sucks. Very lightweight, all very breathable type of fabrics as well. I really recommend that because it does get very, very hot. There were only a couple of things that I had to keep in my boyfriend's bag because there wasn't enough room in my own. And the first being this little Eagle Creek compression bag, which held my pajamas. Now this, I feel like, was absolutely perfect because I only brought three pair of pajamas. I wasn't having to like unload the whole bag every single time I needed something. So it was perfect for that. And then I also did have an extra bag of liquids in his bag because I brought a lot of liquids with me. So I had my own in my tote and then this extra one I kept with him. Another thing I brought with me on the flight was this neck rest, which was amazing. I 110% recommend this. I picked this up from Bed Bath & Beyond. It is kind of like a memory foam material, but it offers a lot of support for your neck. It's also customizable. So if you need a lot of support, you can really like tighten it up really tight like that, or you can loosen it up. But yeah, this was a godsend. I fell asleep so fast when I had this on. As for what I wore on the flight, I pretty much wore the exact same uniform every single time just because it was really comfortable. It was just kind of like my go-to on every flight. And the first thing being these pair of joggers that I picked up from Old Navy. I really love them. They were super comfortable. As well as my Adidas. I wore these on the plane because they were my more bulky tennis shoe. And then I have just this lightweight T-shirt that I picked up from Zara. It's kind of just like this pewter grayish kind of color. And then also this hoodie from Brandy Melville. This is super soft. It's very lightweight, but very warm at the same time because some of the flights I was literally freezing. So this definitely helped out a lot, but just really neutral. Everything really comfy and just easy to wear. So here's the tote bag that I brought with me. I picked this one up from Low and Sons and I really, really loved it. It has a lot of great features that make it just very easy to travel with. So let's go ahead and open it up. So here is the inside of the bag. The first thing I have is this toiletry bag that I got from The Container Store. This has my shower cap. I have my Memebox headband, a little nail kit, razor, deodorant, soap. One thing too about the soap is I did bring like just a dove bar of soap to help me on the liquid situation. That way I wouldn't get in too much trouble, but I would recommend getting like a citronella soap or some kind of bug repellent with you on your trip because I got bit up like crazy, even just like in the hotel rooms, just like mosquitoes and different things like that. So yeah, I would recommend bringing some kind of bug repellent with you for sure. Next, I have my makeup bag, which just looks like this. I will get into all the contents of this in a different video if you guys wanna know about it, but I did like this bag because it was easy to roll down and it's a very deep makeup bag. So you're able to put a lot in there, but when you put it on your countertop, it just makes it easy because it has these little holders for your makeup brushes. You can kind of just grab them and then reach for your makeup in there, but I'll get into all the contents of this guy in a separate video. In the bag, I also have my purse that I brought with me. Next, I have my liquid bag. So technically this is my second liquid bag because I kept my other one with my boyfriend. He and I kind of split our liquids between us. Wow, that sounds terrible. You guys know what I mean, but this is the one that I kept with me and I like it. It's from The Container Store. I was able to pack a lot in it, but I would recommend to not try to push the limit with your liquids like I did. Even though this was able to pack a lot, I did have to empty this bag into a smaller Ziploc that the airline provided me because they wouldn't accept this bag as my in-flight bag. Even though I was able to get away with it on every single flight, there's always that one flight where they're gonna make you empty your stuff. So I would recommend just packing some cheaper items. If you wanna pack nice foundations and creams, I get it, but lotion, shampoo, anything that can be cheaper quality, I'd recommend bringing that in case you do need to throw it out. I also have a little first aid kit. This I got, I think, from Target for 99 cents. It just has Band-Aids, Advil, antiseptic wipes, things like that. I also have a little bag of jewelry down here. I did not touch this jewelry at all, so that I probably could have gone without packing. And then this little bag was part, again, of the packing cubes that I got. It was just this little, kind of large envelope-sized bag, but it was perfect to keep in the pocket in front of me on the plane. And in here, I just kept all of my in-flight stuff. So I have my earphones. I have these little Wisp MaxiFresh portable toothbrush type of things. I have some tissues, some hand cream, because my skin does get very dry on planes. I also brought some eye masks with me. And then the mask that I kept with me in here was the Glam Glow hydrating mask, the one that comes in the blue packaging. And I just slathered that all over my skin at the beginning of the flight, and it kept my face feeling really soft and smooth. I also have some melatonin gummies. Just in case I couldn't fall asleep on the plane, I thought that was good to bring. I have some Emergency, as well as Dramamine, which I did crack a few of those open. Antibacterial wipes, gum, lip balm. So that just kind of had everything that I needed at my fingertips, which was nice. Now, another thing I love about this bag is that it has a pocket here on the side, but it also has this feature, too, where you can zip it and just leave it as a pocket. Or if you want, it allows you to actually slip it over the handles of your roller bag to keep it really secure. That was one of my favorite features about this bag, is that it made it very easy to travel with because it just sat right on top of my roller bag and it didn't fall over or anything. Now, another favorite feature about this bag is the bottom of it, which is where I pretty much kept all my shoes. So at the bottom of the bag, you'll see I have all my shoes here. I have a couple, or I'm sorry, a pair of New Balance sneakers, which I wore to death. They're just very light, neutral, pretty sneakers. I have one pair of more dressy shoes, and these are just some wedges that I picked up from Zara. And then I also brought just one pair of super beat-up sandals. Okay, guys, so that is pretty much it for this video. If you did find this helpful, which I hope you did, please be sure to give the video a like, and if you're new to my channel, definitely don't forget to subscribe. I am gonna be making a separate video just totally dedicated to the beauty side of this and tips and tricks when it came to that. So stay tuned. Otherwise, thank you guys again so much for watching. I love you so much, and I'll see you next time. Bye.