The One Carry-On Challenge
A delusional, self-inflicted approach to traveling with children
Substack says this post is too long for email — click “View entire message” to be able to view the entire post.
Next week I’m taking both of my kids (5 years old and 5 months old) on an airplane by myself to visit my parents. For the past 15 years, I’ve split my trips to North Carolina pretty evenly between driving and flying. My five year old is actually the best road trip buddy and I have really loved our drives down the east coast, just us two. My husband isn’t able to make this trip, so we’re flying to make things a bit faster/easier.
We haven’t really traveled anywhere but my parents’ town in the last five years, which is a bit of a bummer but my dad is a retired chef and my mom gives me a break from handling nighttime wake-ups when I’m visiting so I’m not sure there’s anywhere better to go with small children.
Still, the flying of it all unleashed has a whole new challenge — packing. When I’m driving, I can fill our SUV with everything we might need and I usually end up overpacking. After I booked our flights, I learned that my husband doesn’t know me at all — he assumed I’d be checking bags to breeze through the airport more easily. As a rule, I have only checked a bag when I was leaving the country or traveling for a 12 week internship. Not checking bags feels like a core part of my identity, logic be damned.
I’ve recently upped the ante. Not only am I refusing to check bags, I’ve decided I’m packing all three of us in a single carry-on, plus backpacks for my daughter and me. To be clear, the only people who support this idea are my mother (a stubbornly independent woman) and my husband’s friend Steve, who might just be rooting for me as an underdog.
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
Here’s what we’re not bringing:
Car seats — my mom has one for each of them.
More than a handful of diapers and wipes because I’ll have them delivered to my parents’ house.
A bassinet/crib and baby monitor (both already there).
Books for the kids. One of my mom’s friends is a retired preschool teacher and she has filled a box with books for my daughter to keep at their house.
Pajamas for the kids. I sent a few pairs back with my parents the last time they visited.
iPad (We don’t have one, so wish me luck on the plane.)
Here’s what we are bringing:
Travel stroller because I figure someone will need it in the airport and it folds up into a backpack at the gate.
Ergo carrier because my son is generally happiest when he is fused to my body
My daughter’s backpack:
Yoto player and headphones
Magic doodle pad
One lovey for each kid
A new activity book
My backpack:
Water bottles
Snacks for the plane
Pouch of baby rings and teethers
Medicine and vitamins
3 pacifiers
2 swaddle blankets
Burp cloths
Book for me
Carry on suitcase
Hatch light (we are hopelessly devoted to a night light routine)
5 outfits for each kid (we can do laundry there)
My daughter’s Crocs
Sleep sack for my son
Travel white noise machine
Clothes for me
2 sets of pajamas for me
3 pairs of shoes for me
Toiletries and makeup
Travel breast pump and bottle, just in case
It’s decidedly fall in New Jersey but warmer most days in North Carolina. My daughter will bring variations of her uniform, and my son spends most days in zippered pajamas or onesie sets from BabyGap. I do tend to be overly ambitious with packing myself, so I decided to finally get my Indyx rolling so I could plan better. I landed on 20 items to pack:
FOR THE PLANE
FOR LUNCH AT THE INDIAN RESTAURANT WHERE MY DAD LEARNED TO MAKE REALLY GREAT RICE IN HIS RETIREMENT
FOR TAKING A WALK TO WAVE AT THE BOATS AND FEED THE DUCKS
FOR MAYBE SLIPPING AWAY TO A COFFEE SHOP FOR A FEW HOURS
FOR SUNDAY MORNING DOWNTOWN
FOR CHASING MY DAUGHTER AT THE PLAYGROUND
FOR A VISIT TO THE FARMERS MARKET WHERE SOMEONE ONCE INEXPLICABLY GAVE MY DAUGHTER A 3.5 FOOT PLUSH GRINCH FOR FREE BECAUSE “SHE LOOKED LIKE SHE REALLY NEEDED IT.”
FOR SHOPPING AT THE ANTIQUE STORE WHERE I ALWAYS FIND SOMETHING GREAT
Maybe no one will sleep, and maybe we’ll all be pulling our hair out on the plane but I will be bringing a single carry-on, come hell or high water. Am I crazy? Send any tips for flying solo with two kids my way, and tell me if I’m missing anything!
These posts are so much fun for me to write. If you enjoyed it, I’d love if you’d share :)
As a fellow carry-on only packer who once packed herself AND her husband for a 3 week trip to Italy in a single carry-on, and who is also 7 months pregnant with her first, I must know how this went!
My one carry-on HERO! Go off, Tricia. It sounds like you crushed it!