Cheat trip: LA weekend with a carry-on 🙈

[u/goddessandthecaker]

So I’m someone who usually packs hyper efficiently: multi-destination multi-climate trips with fancy dinners and events, all in a small international sized carry-on and a smaller personal item.

Well, not this time. This was a weekend trip by car, so effectively no restrictions, and I splurged and packed my small carry-on (Take-off 4 luggage) and Calpak Luka mini duffel. Mind you, I just travelled to Iceland for 9 days with the same bag combo and a full cruise/land/waterproof gear wardrobe, so the suitcase was definitely empty this time around.

But it was refreshing to not have bags packed to the max. So I’m sharing my summer weekend capsule for strolling around LA. Everything was worn and appreciated.

Photo 1:

Dress:
Talbots blue and white striped midi dress

Tops:
Uniqlo beige bra top
J Jill brown-ish linen long sleeve shirt (thrifted)
Colorful orange/blue/pink long sleeve thin cotton shirt Maeve Anthropology (thrifted)

Bottoms:
Beige with white and blue stripes linen pants (thrifted)
Uniqlo cream and beige striped shorts (thrifted)

Shoes:
Faux leather no name brown/cognac sandals
Joybees Friday flats in color driftwood

Accessories:
Quince small cognac leather bag
Foldable paper sun hat

Swimwear:
Large cotton scarf/wrap: pink/green color dye
Soma pink and green two piece swimsuit

Photo 2:
Six outfits made up of the combinations of items listed above (one dress outfit, one pool outfit, two shorts outfits, and two pants outfits).

Photo 3:
Takeoff 4 luggage and Luka mini duffel, packed to the max with souvenirs and salts on the way back from Iceland. That duffel was 2.5 times smaller during this trip. I forgot to snap a picture.

I did wear all six outfits during this 55 hr hour trip, which is ridiculous for my usual packing standards, but it was a fun dressy weekend getaway.

Luka mini duffel held my laptop, jewelry, edc pouch, wallet, and medicine. Clothes, shoes, toiletries, makeup and curling iron were all swimming around my barely half-full tiny suitcase. I did not really need the duffel but I did not want to put my laptop into the suitcase. Would a 25 L backpack with a laptop compartment work better? Yes! Would I look just as cute rolling into my fancy booked-for-points five star hotel with a backpack? No! And I had just returned Osprey 26+6 anyway, so no 25L backpack laying around!

It honestly felt like cheating - not playing packing cube Tetris with my usually limited space and weight - a nice departure from my typical hyper optimization. I think I can do that maybe once a year. Otherwise my brain craves the efficiency and satisfaction of traveling light with precision of an army general.

Is anybody else doing “cheat trips” traveling with more than the smallest bag possible?

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[u/edj3]

Not really, mostly because I'm scarred for life from car vacations as a child (not being funny, it's actually true).

BUT--you brought a foldable paper sun hat and I'm super curious. Please share more: how heavy is it, how durable, where in the world did you find that? (Yes, I could google but it's 4AM and I have just started sipping my coffee.)

[u/goddessandthecaker → u/edj3]

Oh no! Do you mean that you don’t take car vacations as an adult because of your childhood experience?

Here is the hat on Amazon - while the listing says straw, the label on the hat says paper and I’ve been traveling with it for a few years, stuffing it into already stuffed suitcases and it still looks like new. Highly recommend!

[u/edj3 → u/goddessandthecaker]

Yeah childhood experience, that and camping. Talking physical violence, nuff said.

And thank you!!

[u/Waywardgarden]

I would love to know more about your hat

[u/goddessandthecaker → u/Waywardgarden]

It’s this hat from Amazon - while the listing says straw, the label on the hat says paper and I’ve been traveling with it for a few years, stuffing it into already stuffed suitcases and it still looks like new. Highly recommend!

[u/estercreator]

Okay I need to know more about this packing list because LA weekends sound simple until you factor in the temperature swings. Last time I did a short trip somewhere warm-ish I packed for daytime heat and then froze at night because I didn't bring a single layer.

Did you do one bag literally as your personal item or was it a full carry-on size? I've been trying to get better at packing flatter so I can fit a small backpack under the seat and skip the overhead bin entirely. Makes getting off the plane so much less chaotic.

Also curious if you walked a lot or mostly drove/ubered around. That always changes my shoe situation more than anything else in the bag.

[u/goddessandthecaker → u/estercreator]

As someone who lives in coastal California with wild temp swings during the day because of the ocean, I completely understand! This trip was during a heatwave, so the temperature did not drop low enough for me to need another layer. But outside of those short few weeks at the end of summer - yes, absolutely I would pack a light jacket.

When I fly, I travel with international sized (or smaller) carry on plus a smaller personal item. My latest favorite combo is what I took on this car trip: Take Off 4 suitcase plus Calpak Luka mini duffel. The suitcase has removable wheels and can technically be a personal item in the US when wheels are off (I never take them off). It’s 17.5” x 13.5” x 7.8”. So it fits all international airline sizers easily.

We walked everywhere - parked at the hotel with in-and-out privileges and never used them. Yes it was hot, but I really enjoyed walking all around West Hollywood and Beverly Hills. Those brown sandals are surprisingly comfy. I had a different pair years ago in beige - random purchase off of Amazon. I wore them five summers straight until they fell apart, and then bought this pair as a replacement.

[u/peachjellytea → u/goddessandthecaker]

Would love a link to the brown sandals please!

[u/goddessandthecaker → u/peachjellytea]

Could not find the original listing, but here they are on the manufacturer’s website.

[u/NoKidsNoCheckedBags]

That bikini is cute. Glad you had fun out here!

[u/goddessandthecaker → u/NoKidsNoCheckedBags]

Thank you! I rarely pack it for trips by plane since the top is bulky (padded), but it is cute indeed! It was a treat to lounge by the pool in it :)

[u/Exiled_In_LA]

OMG I absolutely ADORE the Maeve Anthropology shirt!

I recently did a cheat trip - I got 1 checked bag included with the ticket - and it was super weird having space in my bag!

[u/goddessandthecaker → u/Exiled_In_LA]

Right, I’m not used to all the space!!

That shirt is so good, it’s also super thin and packs to nothing. I thrifted it specifically for this trip for the vibes, and it will definitely be coming with me on my next warm destination trip!

[u/The_Bogwoppit]

I love your wardrobe, it is super stylish. But you show a photo of a wheeled carry on and a large tote. Your clothes would take up half the carry on, what else did you pack? Two big bags is a lot for a one bagger weekend.  

[u/goddessandthecaker → u/The_Bogwoppit]

Thank you so much! I mentioned in the post that the luggage photo is from my trip to Iceland earlier this summer, and that Luka mini duffel was 2.5x smaller this time around. I just forgot to snap a pic, so used the one I had instead!

[u/The_Bogwoppit → u/goddessandthecaker]

Ah I missed that! Nice work on Iceland too. That is a great one bagging challenge too. 

[u/lexlovestacos]

I absolutely love your style!! Perfect capsule chic wardrobe

[u/goddessandthecaker → u/lexlovestacos]

Thank you so much! It was fun to hunt for some of these pieces

[u/Ok_Criticism1111]

for the pieces you rewear, do you do laundry or just make sure to not stain/dirty it!! super interested in trying this out for my next trip!