10 Cold Weather Packing Tips In A Carry-On

Let's pack! Hey, I'm Jess. I travel with Bring Me. I grew up with some East Coast winters. We're packing over here! Mm-mm-mm! And today I'm going to show you how I pack light for cold weather. So let's begin. Jacket. Most people will tell you to wear it on the plane, but I have another trick. It's an easier way to pack it in your suitcase, make it an airplane pillow, or just chuck it beneath your feet on the plane. And if anyone is familiar with the rolling technique, this is going to look very similar. And I will say that this is still possible even without a hood. It's just a little easier with this. We're rolling, we're rolling, we're rolling. Ta-da! What I like to do is carabiner it to my little personal item, which is generally a backpack, and it just makes it so that I can remain hands-free. I generally like to bring two or three carabiners with me and just keep them clipped on my backpack. You never know what you might need to bring. Or you can carabiner some pants, like on the outside of your backpack, if you've got wet pants, if you've got a wet shirt and you're on the go. Just keep them with you. Boots! They're one of your bulkiest items, but I kind of want to wear these. So I'm going to pack these boots, and I'm going to do it in the most efficient way possible by stuffing all my socks inside. This trip is going to be about a week to 10 days with what I'm packing. So for that, I like to bring about three or four pairs of nice wool socks that I can wear in layers over other socks. Wool because it doesn't smell as bad, and it dries a lot quicker, so you're going to get a lot more life out of these socks, and they're going to keep you nice and toasty. If you find yourself in a predicament where these boots have gotten wet, you're going to want to put on some dry socks, and then you're going to take this sexy bag, put it over your foot, and then put your boot on. The other nice thing about having the plastic bags is you have a place to put your dirty boots. Once the trip is over, you can reuse and reuse and reuse them. We used to do this when I played field hockey in college, but you would just take some newspaper, and you're going to want to pack it down real, real tight, and if you let this sit overnight, your boots will be dry as a desert. Thermal layers may be an obvious tip, but they're really important. Don't feel like you have to break the bank on fancy fabrics. The key is the layers. I like to have a set of three, so I have enough to rotate when one gets dirty or wet. Layering keeps me warm and saves me space. I really love packing cubes. I don't generally buy things, but I've found that these are really, really helpful. Even if they don't compress perfectly all the time, they've kept me super, super organized. A rule of thumb for packing light is three tops matching one bottom. What I've got here is six tops, three bottoms, one dress, and then what I'm wearing now, which is a sweater and jeans, and then obviously a pair of socks and underwear. You know the deal. Ta-da! Here's my little cold weather accessories. I always just bring a towel, a quick dry towel with me, because you never know. And sunglasses. These guys are important because the snow makes everything brighter. Gloves, waterproof, and a scarf. Some people wear this on the plane. I've already got all my layers that I need, so I'm gonna wrap this up for this. Bada-bing, bada-boom! And there's still some room in here to shove some more stuff. I bring flip-flops everywhere. They come in handy if you're using hostile showers. They come in handy. Just trust me. It's always important to remember sunscreen. Sunscreen and chapstick. These are very important. The sun will be powerful, and the snow is reflective, so you're gonna want enough for that whole week. And then this is part of my zero-waste kit. I made a video about traveling zero-waste. You guys can check that out on Bring Me's page. And we're ready to go. Pack this sucker up. Bada-boom! Oh, this is gonna be great. Buggy boots first. Easy-peasy. Lemon. Squeezy. And I'm actually gonna have quite a lot of space in this, so if you're watching and you're like, she doesn't wear any bras, there's not enough room, or like, where's her pajamas? I'm very low-maintenance. I'm an extremely light packer, so I want to affirm that you have room, because I'm not even bringing a personal item on this here journey. Remember this bad boy? Well, so, I actually think I'm gonna have enough room in this suitcase. Show another way we can pack this jacket, which is, undo the sleeves like that, lay her down, boom, there's all your thermals, pow, there's all your outfits. And then this doesn't get any easier. I also always bring a little day pack, because I don't want to wheel this stuff around, but voila, oh yeah. Just a little muscle, and we're ready for the mountains. If you have it, put all this stuff in a hiking backpack. No wheels. I just prefer to be as mobile as possible. Let's go.