For some people they will only travel with hand luggage – putting baggage in the hold is just so expensive anyway!
When we go on short holidays we will ALWAYS travel with hand luggage, whats the point in paying the extra when you can usually fit everything into a small rucksack. Additionally it means that you have your luggage with you all the time so as soon as you get off the plane there is none of that faffing about waiting for the carousel, plus the little panic when your suitcase still hasn’t appeared isn’t fun at all.
The old rules were that you could take a wheelie suitcase as hand luggage for free, however for most airlines this has now changed.
Your free hand baggage has to be able to fit under the seat in front of you.
Lucky for us, our fabulous rucksacks are the perfect size. Here is what we are packing in our hand luggage:
1) Clothes & shoes – to fit all your clothes and shoes in your hand luggage we recommend getting some packing cubes. You can get these from Amazon and they help you to pack wisely.
Our backpacks fit 2 medium sized packing cubes comfortably.
2) Extra socks – planes can be so so cold due to the air con, therefore we will always bring a pair of socks that are easily accessibly – there is nothing worse than feeling cold on the plane. Our socks are the perfect size to bring with you - and they are super comfy!
3) Phone – this is most probs a given as we know everyone these days are glued to their phones, however it has to be on our list anyway. These days you can download the airline app and have your boarding pass on your phone, we LOVE this and it saves that stress of printing or losing your paper ticket. Paper is so old school now anyway!
4) Portable charger and cable – this is vital for your hand luggage to keep your devices fully charged. The cable is important because some airports have charging points and some planes also have charging sockets, so you will never have to worry about your phone running out of battery.
5) Magazine/books – you have to have something to read to occupy your time and in case of a delay too! We always treat ourselves to a magazine for holiday, because we rarely buy them otherwise. Plus once you have the magazines you can also read them by the pool. If you don’t want to carry so many books we recommend downloading kindle app to your phone or tablet, or even purchase a kindle.
6) Headphones – we use our headphones to listen to music on the flight or at the airport. However we often download programmes to watch on the flight onto our tablet, so will use headphones to catch up on our favourite TV show.
7) Moisturiser/lip balm/toothpaste & toothbrush etc– planes can make you feel so dry due to the air con so we always carry moisturiser and lip balm with us to keep our hands and lips moisturised. Then of course you need all your other toiletry essentials - but don't forget to put in the clear plastic bag!
8) Eye Mask – if you are on a night flight or a long flight then an eye mask will be your best friend! Eye masks are so small and easy to fit in your hand luggage, and may make that long plane journey not feel so long!
9) Local guide book – you may as well kill some time by flicking through the guidebook and getting ahead of the game with planning your trip.
10) Pen & paper – We always make sure we carry a pen and some paper with us. We always find we spend the plane journey planning the holiday and writing down the things we want to do and places we want to see, this often involves flicking through a guide book (see point 9!). Sometimes we draft out a mini itinerary too to make sure we fit everything in.
11) Anti-bacterial hand gel – this is a necessity as you never know what you are going to touch or if there will be any tissues to dry your hands. In addition aeroplane toilets are not exactly the nicest! We love ones that smell nice and fruity!
So shop our backpacks today, they make ideal hand luggage for the plane.