While most of my friends gathered up their 12 grapes to eat when the clock struck 12 this past New Year’s Eve, my friend and I grabbed our luggages and wheeled them around the living room screaming “HAPPY NEW YEAR!!” She told me that it would bring lots of new travels during the new year. I didn’t believe her but we’re not even halfway through the year and I’ve already traveled more than I thought I would with more trips coming up.

Because of all the traveling, I’ve gotten my packing list down PERFECTLY (at least for me). I used to overpack or forget things but with this list I’ve come up with, I haven’t forgotten anything since. If you’re going on a trip, hopefully this will give you a good place to start if you struggle with packing like I did for the longest time.

 

I’ve been using the app called AnyList mainly for syncing my grocery list with Leo but also to keep track of my travel essentials. There are a lot of items that go into it but by categorizing my items by where they go in my carry-on, it’s much easier to go through and make sure I have everything I need before I head off on my travels.

 

Header Titles

To keep things clean and clearly sectioned off, I’m very bold with my headers. I make a new list item and in the title area, I type out 23 underscores like this. This makes a long, solid bar. Next, I create a new list item. This time, I title the section. For example, if it’s for bathroom items, I type “b a t r h o o m” in the title section and in the notes, I type out another 23 underscores (notes are a smaller font size than headers so bars come out to about the same width. That gives you a section title that looks something like this:

________
b a t h r o o m
—————–
hit the space bar once to make an empty list item here
· List Item 1
· List Item 2
· List Item 3

 

Groups

Over the span of a few months, before I’ve run out of a makeup product, I’ve been buying new ones and stashing the almost used up makeup product in my travel bag. I’m proud to say that I don’t have to pack ANYTHING for my bathroom bag anymore! The older products stay in my travel bag and the newer products stay with me at home. If I ever run out of a product in my travel bag, I put the my newer product I’ve been using at home into my travel bag and buy a new newer version for myself to use every day.

For the bathroom category, I make groups like “Makeup Compartment,” “Brush Compartment,” and “Bathroom Compartment.” Under each compartment group, I list the items that should be in each. That way, when I’m looking through to make sure I have everything, I don’t have to cross off individual items. I can review each section, double check to make sure those things are there, and then cross the whole compartment off the list.

Singles

I use single list items for things I need to run around my apartment to get and pack away into my suitcase. This includes things like outfits, camera equipment, my laptop. Things that I don’t have duplicates of and that live outside of my carry-on rather than in it all year long.

Now that I’ve covered my little system, now we can go into everything on my packing list. Feel free to use this as a guideline if you’re looking for an essentials packing list! Keep items or change them out according to your needs preferences. Let’s begin…

 

Makeup Compartment
· Sunscreen
· Primers
· Concealers
· Beauty Blender
· Powder
· Two Faced Foundation
· Two Faced Bronzer Blush
· Highlight
· Brow Gel
· Kylie Palette
· NCLA

Brushes Compartment
· Powder Brush
· C Brush
· Blending Brush
· EyebrowPencil
· Smudge Brush
· Lip Liners

Bathroom Compartment
· Shampoo & Conditioner
· Shaving Cream
· Razor
· Cotton Pads
· Mask
· Deodorant
· Eyelid Cleanser
· Trip Sec Texturizing Spray
· Dry Shampoo
· Apple Cider Vingar
· Oil Moisturizer
· Toothbrush
· Toothpaste

Period Essentials
Straightener

Once again, the bulleted items are my “grouped” items. Unlike the single items I don’t have to run around to pack, they’re already in my carry-on luggage and I have them listed just to double check that they’re all there.

 

Outfits
Tops • Bottoms

Shoes
Heels • Sneakers • Sandals • Flip flops

Undies
Tops • Bottoms

Socks
Jackets
PJs

 

Tech Bag
· iPhone Cable
· MiPow Charging Cable
· Earbuds

Hard Drive
· Extra memory cards just in case

iPhone
MiPow Charger
Laptop
Laptop Charger
Canon G7x
Canon Wall Charger

_____

I create a small bar list item and list things under that aren’t essentials on every trip I go on but might need for certain ones. In that case, I drag the necessary items above the bar so that I know I have to pack them on that trip. For example, if I’m going on a business trip, I’d move “Work Laptop” above the bar then cross it off when it’s safely packed away in my suitcase.

Work Laptop
iPad & Apple Pen
Sony A7s + Batteries
GoPro + Batteries
Drone + Batteries
Sony Wall Charger
GoPro Charging Cable

 

Wallet + ID
Purse Essentials Pouch
Vitamins
Glasses
Sunglasses
Bath Bombs
Keys

The items under “misc” are things that don’t go into a specific category but are essentials that I keep in either my purse of my carry-on.

 

And that is everything on my packing list! These are my go-to items and I never find myself overpacking when I go on trips. I also never forget anything which is a HUGE plus!! Wallet “+ ID” was added after the Hawaii incident, lol…

If you’d like to see a live version of how I pack everything into my carry-on, I have a video on it here.

Hope you have an amazing week
and happy travels!