A holiday trip asks more of a bag than an ordinary one. You need something nice for the big dinner and something soft for a day on the couch. There are gifts to carry there, and more gifts to carry back. And you're traveling on the busiest days of the year, when lines are long and checked bags go missing more than at any other time.
It still fits in a carry-on. The trick is to plan the bag around the days you'll actually have, not around every outfit you might want.
Count the days you'll actually have
Most holiday trips have the same few kinds of day, whether you're going home for Thanksgiving or to Paris for New Year's:
- The travel days, in clothes you can sit in for hours.
- The big day itself, with one dinner or party that asks for something nicer.
- The days at home, where comfort wins: a sweater, soft pants, socks.
- A day out, for a walk, a market, the shops or a show.
That's four outfits, not seven, and the pieces can overlap. The sweater you lounge in also goes over jeans for the day out. The pants you fly in come back for the walk.
One dinner outfit that does the most
The nicest outfit is the one people overpack. Bring exactly one, and make sure every part of it works on its own with the rest of the bag.
A silky shirt or a fine knit, a skirt or tailored pants and the shoes you already have can do the job. The top can go under a cardigan the next day. The skirt can work with a sweater and tights. That's two pieces doing four jobs, instead of a dress that only gets worn once.
If the dinner needs a dress, pick a dark one that layers. A dress with a cardigan and boots works for the day out too.
Gifts that get through security
Gifts take more room than clothes, and they can cause trouble at the airport. A few rules make it easier:
- Don't wrap them. Security may need to open a wrapped gift to check it, and they won't wrap it again. Bring gift bags or tissue paper and wrap when you arrive.
- Mind the liquids. Perfume, wine, olive oil, jam and fancy sauces all count as liquids. Above 3.4 ounces (100 ml), they go in a checked bag or get shipped ahead.
- Snow globes count too. A small one can go in your liquids bag, but most are too big to carry on.
- Ship the big things. Anything heavy or fragile, and anything for the whole family, is usually cheaper to send to your destination than to check.
- Pack gifts flat. Books, clothes and boxes slide down the back of a bag and leave the middle free for your things.
Leave room for the way home
You'll come back with more than you left with. Plan for it before you go:
- Pack a foldable tote. It weighs nothing, folds into a pocket and becomes your personal item on the flight home.
- Fill the gift space with what you got. The space the gifts took on the way there is the space for what you bring back.
- Wear the bulkiest things on the plane. Your coat, boots and warmest sweater stay out of the bag, both ways.
Fly in what you'll wear the most
Holiday travel days are long. Delays happen, and you may spend a day in an airport. Wear clothes that are comfortable all day and still look fine when you arrive at a family dinner: soft pants or dark jeans, a sweater over a tee, and the boots you'll wear the rest of the trip.
Keep a change of clothes and anything you need daily in your carry-on, even if you check a bag. If your luggage is delayed in December, it can take days to arrive.
Keep the colors tight
A holiday capsule works like any other. Pick one dark neutral for your bottoms and coat, like navy, black or chocolate. Add a light one, such as ivory or gray, for knits. Then choose a holiday accent, like burgundy, forest green or gold, for the dinner top or a scarf.
Every piece then goes with every other, so the dinner top works under the cozy cardigan, and four outfits stretch to a week.
How it looks for a real trip
Here's a week in Paris in December: one wool coat, a cardigan, three tops including one for a holiday dinner, three bottoms and two pairs of shoes.
And here's December in New York, with a satin skirt that turns the same few pieces into a party outfit.
The short version
- Plan for the four kinds of day, not one outfit a day.
- Bring one dinner outfit, built from pieces that work with everything else.
- Don't wrap gifts before you fly, and ship the heavy or liquid ones.
- Pack a foldable tote for the way home.
- Wear your bulkiest clothes on the plane, and keep a change of clothes in your carry-on.
Packlier does this for you. Tell it where you're going and when, and it checks the weather for your dates, builds a capsule where every piece goes with every other, and plans an outfit for each day, sized to the bag you're bringing.
