How to (over) pack for a few days in NYC.. using only a carry on!

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So the whole not checking luggage and only using carry on bags is super popular right now. It's so much easier - you don't have to wait for your bag, worry about it getting lost, stolen or mixed up.. Not to mention sometimes airlines charge you to check a bag, how rude. So, all the wannabe cool kids are on the carry on only bandwagon. Yep, me too.

I showed you how you could do it for a 2 week 'winter' trip to Australia and there are countless other posts in bloglandia for more or less time and different destinations. Now we all know that where I'm from doesn't get super cold, so I use the term winter lightly. But anyway. I still managed to fit all that in a teensy tiny suitcase, so I thought it would be easy peasy to do it for our (real) winter trip to NYC, and for Europe later this year.

You know how you feel like you know everything there is to know about something and you couldn't possibly learn more? I mean I packed 2 weeks worth of clothes in a carry on suitcase, I could pack a few days with no problem, for Pete's sake.

Obviously I was wrong. Well, not quite wrong, just not very smart.

Here's what I packed (most items were old or sold out, so items are just similar options):

// Grey sweater // Striped top // Snowflake sweater // Grey cowl neck sweater //
// Striped sweater (actual in other colours) //
// Black vest // Cardigan // Blazer //
// Blue jeans // Black jeans // Leggings //

// Beige infinity scarf // Beige fringe scarf // Beanie // Red Scarf // Plaid Scarf // 

// Grey coat // Bow dress // Combat boots // Booties // 

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Ok, here it all is (used a maxi dress in lieu of RTR dress):

All in the bag.. doesn't look like it's gonna close...

Magic! Ok, maybe some pulling, swearing and thanking the designer person for making the bag extend. It's kinda open in the below picture, but I promised it closed all the way.

Ok, now as you saw I put everything in there - including the clothes I wore on the plane. There are no camis, pjs or underwear in the photos (cause that would be weird), so you can just assume once you took out your outfit to wear, you'd have enough room for those things. Plus, I didn't roll or do anything fancy except sit on the bag to help it close. Just kidding. I also packed my makeup, hair stuff, the backup RTR dress and a gift - I promise it all fit.

The best thing about these bags is that they can be carried as a back pack, a messenger bag or even by handle. They are super comfy, I mean not as comfortable as wheeling a suitcase behind you, but comfortable enough for what they are. They fit in the overhead bins just fine - the real test will be if they fit in the overhead bins of the planes in Europe.

Here are the outfits I had planned:

Here's what I should have packed:

// Grey tunic // Striped top // Grey sweater // Grey cowl neck sweater // Bow dress // 

// Leggings // Blue jeans // Beige beanie // Grey beanie // Black coat // Grey coat // 

// Black scarf // Plaid scarf // Red scarf // Booties // Nikes // Hunters //

The above links are affiliate links, meaning if you click, I get like 2 cents. Thank you!

What got the cut and why?

- A pair of jeans. I didn't need 3 bottoms, thick leggings and one pair of jeans would have been fine.

- 2 sweaters. I had my London sweater, which I love but it wasn't comfortable under a coat and it wasn't very warm, so it would get cut. The snowflake sweater was cute but so chunky and took up so much room, plus it was very similar to the grey cowl neck sweater. So cut the snowflake sweater, keep the cowl neck and the plain grey sweater.

- The vest. Vests and I are done. I know everyone loves them, but they don't work for me, no matter how hard I try. If I am cold enough for a vest, I am also in need of a coat or jacket and then I can't get the blasted thing over the stupid vest. So I didn't wear the vest once. It's now in the eBay pile.

- The blazer. I only wore it to dinner and Wicked. I don't love blazers and I am stupid because I keep trying to make them work. Also in the eBay pile. I wouldn't have needed it - or my booties - if I didn't rent the dress from RTR which I don't regret - though it was a pain to find a UPS drop box (ended up begging a UPS driver to take it for me). I could have just worn my coat over the dress, seeing as I had to wear it over the blazer anyway.

- My long cardigan. Fine in theory, too hot with a coat, too cold without.

- The JustFab boots. They took up too much room on the way home (wore them on the way there) and I should have known they wouldn't have been comfortable for all the walking we planned on doing.

- A scarf. I would have gotten rid of the beige scarves, neither were thick enough on their own and it was silly to wear them together when I could have just brought a thicker black one to be worn on it's own.

What would I have added?

- Another coat. Since I got rid of the cardigan, some sweaters, jeans and the vest, there'd be plenty of room for another coat.

- Another beanie. The only things that are going to be photographed are your beanie, scarf and coat. Hence why all my pictures look like they could have been taken on the same day.

- An extra top. I brought sweaters because I thought they were the best option, but they took up too much room and it would have been better to bring another top like my Ann Taylor tunic (love!) because it's comfortable under the coats, but still cute when you inevitably go inside where they are blaring the heaters.

- Rainboots and maybe sneakers. I ended up buying some sneakers when we were there because my JustFab boots killed my feet. I don't care if I looked like a tourist, my feet were on clouds after that. However, because it rained so much, my feet were sopping wet the whole time. I don't own Hunters, or any rainboots, but they would have been brilliant. Comfy to walk around in and waterproof.

It's not like photos are the only thing that matter, but it's nice that's all. Call me vain. I probably could skip the other coat if it came down to it, but the other beanie would have been a good idea.

2 rules I always try and stick by, carrying on or checking:

1. make sure you have enough room for the shopping you are inevitably going to do
2. bring a boy, they always pack less and you can put some stuff in their bag

So after all this, am I ready to pack for a 2 week summer holiday in Europe? Of course, I mean seriously... how hard can it be?

Are you a carry on only-er? Or a dedicated bag checker?