I had the PERFECT bag planned for a carry-on. It was a Vera Bradley Traveler Backpack of dreams with all the pockets that one could want and all the space that I had planned for all the fun treats we’d be bringing back. Once our luggage was done being packed, I took out the backpack, the trip treat box, and began putting everything together. Want to know what did now work out?! If you guessed the backpack, winner winner.
The original backpack (left) and what I ended up going with (right)
Not only was the space maxxed out almost immediately just by the kids trip treat bags (#dontjudge), it was unbelievably heavy and by Vera Bradley standards considering how the material distributes weight perfectly, that is saying something. I had a freak out moment, took a big breath and tried to redirect my thought process. Normally I am the person pulling everything out and needing to figure out another plan immediately, but with feeling that two weeks was still a good amount of time even if that meant getting another bag and suffering more eye rolls from Sean, then so be it. I slept on it and went into the garage the next morning to check out some of the other carry-ons we had (we have a lot of Disney hard shells), but honestly when traveling over seas I do not like too much of the ‘foreigner’ vibe targeted on me. Even when traveling to Disney I tend not to post anything on social media until we return. I ended up finding an awesome Vera Bradley carry-on (I know I know) that I actually had a lot of matching pieces too so it was a kind of win in my book. Not to mention, it ended up being much better suited than the backpack.
The duffle bag on top is for me. I have snacks both for myself and the kids as I am a small child when on a plane and need all the sweet treats in gummy form. I have our vitamins, a vitamin container for my jewelry (Sean got THIS Star Wars Enso ring for me as I did not want to travel with my engagement ring and band and the Enso says the same thing in Aurebesh that is engraved on the inside of my band so it is really special), my mini hair straightener, my hair brush, the magnets for the Disney cruise door, my tablet, a journal and snacks for the flight attendants. I heard that when bringing young kids on board it is always something nice to do for them so I bought all the fun candies I could think of and a gift bag and that is in here as well. It will basically be empty once the FA candy is out, so I can throw my sling back (it only has my wallet and my lipgloss) in it if it becomes too much stuff for me to lug around the airport. I also have my Hufflepuff scarf and t-shirt as well as the t-shirt I planned to wear to the Royal Gathering and Sean’s Gaston shirt for the same day (EV has a Belle dress that you will see below and the Commodore has a Beast one from TJ).
As mentioned in the previous blog (HERE), For the last year, I was using the below storage container to collect fun trip treats for the kids. Pretty much two of everything since they are of the age where they still like to have what the other has and if they don’t they will request it which is pretty hard to accomplish in a plane.
When doing this, obviously not everything needs to be packed. I ended up for space not packing everything which will work out great in the long run. Having extras means that when the kids just need something fun, new and creative and I can just pull things out of container to give them. You know that mama loves a good label so that everything is it easy to find. Normally the treats in here (as you can see) are nothing major as it traditionally (big surprise) comes from the Bullseye section of Target and it is always something that focuses on learning or using their creative side or at least I try for it to be.
We are working on EV’s sight words so I bought a couple of the 1st Level reading books. Plus, they are really small and thin so they do not take up a lot of room. I ended up ordering several (and my ride or die bestowed some on us as well) that I thought both kiddos would enjoy (Blaze, Princess Sophia, Star Wars, etc. ) as they still like being read to at night and I do not have to worry about them getting ruined or damaged.
I talked about it before but right in the middle of Summer when the ‘teaching’ stuff for this section gets released it is really a prime opportunity to pick things up for extended trips, car rides, entertainment for restaurants, etc. I will buy multiples and set things aside. Above is a lot of what I packed into their trip bag along with things for their electronic devices that I thought would be fun, such as; cat headphones from the previous blog, water pen books and THESE pair of stylus for their tablets. I also got THESE I Spy rice bags from Etsy that are awesome, but I was a little concerned with cabin pressure in the plane that they might explode, so I opted to save them as more of a car ride treat or for a restaurant.
The Mickey Mouse cordurouy bag (Primark) is a fairly large cosmetic bag that I purchased two of so I could present each one to the kids on the plane. One thing that we got for each that can be taken with a grain of salt is THIS toddler video camera. The kids have loved taking pictures recently and EV has really gotten into it and has quite the eye, so I thought it would be fun to let them videotape some of the trip from their point of view. She literally starts all of her videos on my phone going “Helllooooo EV fans”. I wish I knew where she got it from, but I do know that I do not ever want it to stop. Goodness knows they are probably going to run the battery and SD card out super quick, so I also purchased a USB converter for my phone so I could download whatever they do on the video camera to my phone. THIS search on Amazon produced the best results if you are interested in getting a converter. I actually ordered two just to see which I like better and plus with Prime and spending $25 you can get same day delivery (#worthit). By 5pm they were in my hot little hands.
I ended up using the cheetah one (also Primark) for their Fish Extender treats.
THIS little Mickey look and find is perfect for the plane and something that the Commodore and I can do together when he will ultimately get bored with shows.
I also had a medium sized Baby Yoda cosmetic bag that I used for things that they could do together or with, such as; flashcards and such. They even had a memory game and EV just loves that game, so even for the hotel it would be something fun to do in the room later at night (who am I kidding).
As you can see, a lot more could fit packing this way as only the trip treat bags fit in the VB weekender backpack.
From left to right, the kids two surprise treat bags, the Baby Yoda Bag for family games and such, the matching Vera Makeup bag actually has two components, one side I put all my makeup (which is not a lot and you will see below) and on the other side I have charging cords, charging pods, dual plugs for international (I bought THESE that should have us covered for everywhere lol). I actually got this idea when I thought I was going to buy a travel charging cord case and I realized this was exactly the same thought and more. You will see below a little more detailed of how it was done.
In the mesh pockets I have the Marvel and Disney travel look and find cards as well as my tripod/selfie stick in case the suitcase goes missing and I am separated from my tripod. Judge me if you will, but this is what makes me a packing guru. I have EV’s hair accessories and just a few of my own in this small Disney Marie makeup case. It has dual zippers so you can separate different things and again if we are separated from our suitcases, I still want to be able to do EV’s hair and such. I have a mini spray bottle of her detangler and a little mini wetbrush as well. In the water bags I have a change of clothes as we will be getting to Denmark in jammies (that is what the kids will be wearing on the plane) and having them in wetbags is in case of unforeseen accidents and I have to put wet/dirty clothes somewhere. Yes, I do have a whole slew of ziploc bags, but they are packed in the suitcase.
EV is a creature of habit and will not travel without her Anna. It was the only thing she wanted on the last Disney Cruise and ever since it is the one thing she refuses to leave at the house when we go anywhere for the weekend, Nana’s, etc. She loves these soft Princess lovies. She also has an Elena one (actually two) that she has been attached to recently, so I will probably pack one last minute and strangely THIS WDW 50th castle pillow. Danny although loves his lovies, his main best buds and the ones he will not sleep without are his bear and puppy so I do not have to worry about anything. Unless I lose one and then truth be told, we are royally screwed. Another don’t judge me moment, but I did contemplate hiding one his ‘spare’ (yes I bought multiple just for this reason) puppies in a suitcase just in case. I am telling you, he is full on Linus when it specifically comes to that puppy.
Below the bags, I have two Bluey coloring books that I have to remember to pack crayons for.
EV actually has a dress that we are bringing for formal night that matches Anna so that will be fun for her.
In Danny’s wet bag, there are extra diapers and both kids have socks in case their feet are cold on the plane and there is also a pair of pants and shorts depending on the weather. It looks like we get in at 2am Denmark time so I am not sure how cold it will be. We already have sweaters that we are bringing with us as well.
If you are wondering, yes, I already tested it out and the suitcase closes comfortably.
I am the queen of maximizing space I tell you. Tetris had nothing on me as a kid…did I just date myself?!
In the front of the carry-on suitcase there is a really small zippered area and I have a plastic mask case that has a bunch of masks for ourselves and the kids as well as a TSA plastic zippered ‘small’ clear pouch that I put travel sizes of THIS purple shampoo and conditioner (I recently dyed my hair and this is the only thing that I can use, so now it is coming onboard with me lol), THIS spray primer for my hair, and my travel Keratase oil that keeps my hair from drying out. Originally I was like whatevs if I lose my luggage and the only thing in my bag is my makeup case, but then I went and did my hair and no longer can I let myself lose the hair stuff, so I put just the essentials in the clear bag and in the front zipper.
I mentioned that in the Vera Bradley makeup bag with the dual zippers that I used one side for makeup and the other side for charging cords and such. This was quite literally as mentioned the best idea I ever had and saved me from ordering another bag simply for cord and pod purposes. Give me a reason to order from Amazon, and I will take it.
It is a fairly good size bag, but it is nothing too extreme and you can see from above how easily it fit into the suitcase without taking up too much room considering how much is in there.
As you can see, it fit a bunch of charging cords and pods. I have two charging pod stations to charge miscellaneous things if we are not in the room. I have our luggage weight. My best friend bought me that adorable Minnie ring light for my phone (super extra, but it fit so its coming and then you can see all the white international plugs that came together (link above), Sean’s Iphone and Ipod cords and those two new USB to Phone converters that I got today.
The other side is makeup, I have perfected what I have taken and every single Disney Cruise I promise myself that I am only going to pack what I actually use and I stuck by it this time. Although the two eye palettes are kind of unnecessary, but I am sticking by my choice of bringing both.
The MakeUp Forever Palette to the left I have loved forever. It was the Jessie J collaboration, the colors are perfect and it has just what I need and use; bronze, blush, highlighter and done. I didn’t link it because it is not something you can order anymore, but it is the perfect size for travel. I still think Makeup Forever does one that you can put together yourself (the colors that you select are magnetic, so if I ever run out of a color or if I go with other colors, I can swap them out) with the palette container being metal it is durable and less likely to break in your bag. The ELF cosmetics Rose Gold Palette (HERE) is my all time favorite palette for traveling and has every color I could possibly want. Truth of the matter is that I tend to just do a fun wash of color or blend into the crease and I am done. I gotta say that 90’s Dana was sold on THIS Urban Decay Half-Baked travel palette and I do not regret the purchase one bit. THIS Revlon candid concealer I use as a spot foundation (a little goes a long way), the tan-medium shade matches my skin tone perfectly and honestly this is the best ‘foundation’ I have ever used. The concealer is ten times better than the foundation and the little tube makes it perfect for travel. I also love myself a good stick foundation as I can rub it on and then just use my fingers to blend out if I need just a quick look. THIS Thread It Complexion stick is the best foundation stick I have usedto date and boy have I been on the hunt for a good stick foundation. If you have olive skin, there is no comparison to anything else as it is not to yellow and not too neutral. However, it is very matte, so I tend to use this if we are going somewhere where I do not want or care about a natural glow and I just want it for foundation reasons. The Bobbi Brown Shimmer palette is actually a mini one of the large one and I think I got it with my Sephora points. It perfect to use as bronzer, highlighter, a wash over the ol’ eyelids, it is just awesome you know how I feel about anything mini. The pink wand thing is actually a facial shaver cause your girl here is Greek and Italian…nuf said! All in all I think as far as what I used to pack for makeup this is pretty darn great.
I know I should not let my fear of losing luggage overwhelm the amazingness of the trip, but honestly a lot of what we are now taking on the plane with us is, ‘if we were to lose our luggage what should absolutely be brought with us, so we can still enjoy the trip and worry about our luggage later. This is similar to the if you were stuck on a deserted island what would you bring, but worse because this could actually be reality. Hence remembering to pack makeup, hair care, etc.
If I am not reading one horror story after another about Heathrow airport and people losing their luggage then I am reading about people who are flying to their Disney Cruise, cruising around and contracting Covid when they get back. I know I can only control what I can control, which is why I am doing as much planning I can for what may be the inevitable, but the only REAL thing I would be heart broken about losing for the ship would be the kids outfits for the designated days on the ship and the WB Harry Potter tour. We took one of the storage cubes, used the compression part that truth be told took two of us because of how much was in it and threw it in Sean’s travel backpack. If you are interested about all we got in THIS powerhouse, here we go!
We have a couple variations of the Mirabel dress from several companies (ShopDisney, Presley Couture, etc.), but we opted to bring the one from Target. It is lightweight, fits her perfect and if it gets destroyed, it is not one of the nicer ones so whatevs. #sorrytarget
The Hufflepuff Dress, Robes, Triwizard Jersey, Kristoff, Prince Charming, and Belle Dress all come from Taylor Joelle and you already know my love for anything she does.
I love that EV and the Commodore can do Kristoff and Anna for formal night. The Anna dress we got from Target I think two years ago and I like that it is long sleeve in case she gets chilly, but we also have a short sleeved one from Taylor-Joelle (a last minute purchase hence it not being pictured) in case it is hot (because I have no chill with this stuff and you should know that already).
Here is everything that was able to fit into the compression cube. It is pretty darn impressive if you ask me especially considering the flounce of the TJ dresses. (pictured below).
Everything of EV’s is a dress with the exception of THIS gorgeous Snow White peplum top that she can wear with jeans or leggings. We also have a Tiana one that OLO did, but the flower on it looked super sensitive and I didn’t thinking packing it for such a long trip was a good idea.
The Belle dress is for when we do the Royal Gathering. EV will choose the provincial dress over the Belle gown any day of the week and Commodore has the Beast one that looks like the Prince Charming. I packed it last minute so it is not in the picture as well as the Princess Anna short sleeved that I ordered from TJ.
Without the compression you can already see how much can fit in this small little storage cube. With the compression it was incredible how small it was able to get. I will never not pack with storage cubes, they are any organizational lovers dream. I normally roll everything, but these outfits are just folded nicely on top of one another, so again it gives you an idea of just how much they can fit.
The amazing thing is is that even though we have added stuff to our carry-on that we had not intended of taking with us on the plane, it still has fit perfectly as though we had intended to bring it all along.
A couple of suggestions if you find yourself in the same boat…
- Reevaluate the luggage/bags that you do have and bring out additional options. What you might think is perfect may not best suit the situation.
- Make sure that you have a list of things that you plan to bring, a list of what would need to come with you if something arose, and are there souveniors that you plan to pick up on your trip and would they need to come back with you or could they be packed up. When we got our additional suitcase, we made sure it was carry-on size so that when it was empty on the way back (diapers, swimmies, pediasure, etc) we could filll it with what we picked up and take it with us on the plane without checking it.
- Assess if your carry-on would meet all these needs. If not, I would have an idea of how big of a bag you would need and start the researching bags that might fit that criteria.
- Pack early so that you can not only see how everything fits, but whether you can manage it. If you are traveling with kids or have a layover or even if terminals are separated by a huge gap, the last thing you want to be doing is struggle with everything and a bunch of little people wishing you had planned differently.
- Keep abreast of airport trends so you know what is happening and can make a plan that best suits your family. Of course Google follows your every move anyway and gives you only news that you have no idea how they were able to obtain that information, but its accurate so so be it! Had I not been paying attention to what is happening in airports (and by paying attention I mean all my news now surrounded around airports and Heathrow), I would not have thought about things that I should take with me on the plane that would otherwise have been in my suitcase.
Is the hope that all of our luggage makes it with us, that we are able to get our covid tests without a hitch and that we make it to the hotel with enough time for some much needed Z’s? Of course! but do I now feel that if this best laid plan goes to hell in a handbasket that we have things in place that will help us adjust to a new plan…absolutely! Or at least until it doesn’t and I break down in a sea of hysterics and cuss words. It is kind of a 50/50 at this point ::cue shrugging emoji::
If you have a horror story, I do not even want to know, but any tips and suggestions that got you through international traveling that ended with sunshine and ponies, I am open too!
