Hand Luggage

It will be an exciting day when my hand luggage for a flight looks like this:

However at the moment when I travel my hand luggage is predominantly taken up with snacks and toys for the girls. On a 30 hour flight from Geneva to Auckland last year I didn't even pack any reading, not even a trashy magazine to flick through as I knew I wouldn't get any time to do this!

I normally carry a big shoulder bag stuffed full of things that has to go into the overhead compartment. A good tip my sister in law gave me once was to put all the essential things that you will need into a little bag that you can keep under your seat. I came across Baggu which makes cute little bags that would do this job perfectly as they are so compact and light. They are made of ripstop nylon which makes them resistant to tearing and ripping. I love this striped one which could double as a beach bag as well. The Baggus come in a variety of sizes in lots of fun colours and patterns. 

As airlines become stricter with luggage allowances I find it's also handy to carry a bag like the classic Longchamp Le Pliage bag. The girls get a hand luggage allowance which we rarely use on the way out to somewhere but on our return trip we always tend to be a over the weight limit so we transfer some heavier items into this bag which we end up taking on as a carry on.

My brother lent me one of these Skypak bags quite a few years ago and I have never given it back and used it countless times since! They are light to carry but super strong and hold a ton of things in it. They come in a carry on size as well.

All this talk of packing makes want to be going on a holiday! MP

Images: 1, 2, 3  4, 5