Packing my carry on

I've always wanted to do one of these "what's in my carry on?" posts, mainly because I love reading those kinds of posts.  And since we're about a week away from departure, and I am feeling all sorts of organized right now (a fleeting thought, I am sure), here goes!  Forgive the blurriness of these photos: my iPhone camera and I are not seeing eye to eye these days, for some reason!

This is my favorite carry on bag of all time when I am not trying to travel carry on only (for that kind of travel, I prefer a roller bag).  I had it made to my specifications by a fabulous seamstress on Etsy (who has subsequently stopped making bags, sniff!).  It's HUGE and the dimensions fit the size regulations for the average airplane carry on, but, because it's a fabric bag, it doesn't seem as large as it is.  The outside fabric is upholstery weight (courtesy of Ikea), and the inside lining is waterproof.  There are 5 big pockets on the outside and 5 big pockets on the inside in addition to the large interior pocket.  I have never had enough pockets in one bag until now!

I added the piece in the bottom, a strip of flexible plastic I took from a reusable supermarket bag and cut to size to make my bag able to stand up on its own.  The zipper is super heavy duty, and the handles are long enough I can wear the bag on my shoulder but not so long that the bag hangs down too low and hits me where it hurts (I hate that!).

Pictured above, clockwise from the top: 

• Wallet, planning notebook with back-up pen: in case I lose my primary pen or pencil (it happens!)
• Passports: I am the official keeper of the passports when we travel with the boys.  It makes it easier to keep track of them all. 
• Reading material for the boys: we are reading The Chronicles of Narnia aloud with them right now.  I don't need any reading material for me because who has time for that?  I may pick up a magazine in the airport, but I don't count on it!  I look at my time on the airplane as my best chance to catch up on watching all the movies I've missed over the past few months...or years!
• Pen and pencil: for notes and customs
• Calendar: why yes, this one came from the dollar store before I moved here, thank you very much!
• Green travel folder: my travel folder is central to a successful trip and contains itineraries, reservation information, copies of passports, copies of birth certificates, written permission to travel alone with the children (just in case), copies of our insurance forms, and all sorts of information about our destination (in this case, things like registration sheets for swimming lessons and instructions for how to switch to a UT driver's license).  That folder also contains my master packing list and is the last thing I put in my bag before we leave to go anywhere.  I feel naked without it!

The first row of items here goes in my quart-sized plastic bag for TSA.  The rest also goes in a quart-sized bag for convenience but also just in case TSA decides something in there secretly qualifies as a liquid or gel (it has happened before).  Since I am hardly ever traveling alone, I always use two bags because I am carrying my liquids as well as the boys'.  

• Top row: Nasonex for J, hand sanitizer, children's Tylenol with measuring cup, cortisone cream for itches, Neosporin for scratches, medicated cream for serious outbreaks (I'm prone to them), and waterproof mascara (though I often just check this with the rest of my make-up because really, how much touching up am I going to be doing?).  
• Middle row: assorted bandaids (need these every single time we travel), assorted medications (the husband would tell you not to mix meds in one bottle but that bigger bottle in the center has four different meds in it at least--shhhh!), melatonin (the secret to happy kids/happy parents and minimizing jet lag), lotion (Nivea creme is thick and really works.  I even use it in my hair in a pinch), and Savex lip balm (for everything including lips).  
• Bottom row: flavored lip balm for the boys, lipstick (again, just in case I decide I can't stand how I look when I land), face powder (ditto), tissues (now a staple of every bag of mine since bathrooms here are so often under-equipped), and anti-bacterial wipes (so we don't get sick, hopefully).  I may add toothpaste in here since we are traveling for so long and I have space in the liquids/gels bag. 

The tech, clockwise from the top.

• iPad air with keyboard: for entertaining the boys with games and movies while we travel and the keyboard for blogging when we get there, naturally.
• Microfiber cloth: for cleaning my iPad after the boys use it, when it is, in a word, gross!
• Two head phone splitters, one-pronged and two-pronged: do not rely on everyone having a working entertainment system!  You need to be prepared for every kind of plane, every kind of malfunction, everything,
• My headphones: over-the-ear buds, the only kind that do not hurt my ears.  Not noise canceling, but when you are traveling with children, you don't want can't use those anyway!
• iPhone: this is my husband's, actually; mine is pretty green!
• Not pictured are any of the cables for the iDevices, but the husband usually has all of those so he can keep the boys fully charged!   
• Also not pictured is my point and shoot camera and charger, which I may end up including since my i-pictures have been coming out so disappointingly lately.

Comfort items, clockwise from far right.

• Black pashmina: my extremely soft blanket, scarf, emergency skirt, you name it.
• Eye mask: these particular ones are contoured so they don't rest on your eyes, the best kind there is, in my opinion.
• Inflatable neck pillow: I actually have a memory foam neck pillow that I like much more, but E likes it a lot, too, so I bring this one in case I can trade with him or, failing that, use it myself.  I usually get the memory foam pillow back eventually since I like to use it at our destinations as well.
• Extra yoga pants and underwear: my best tip to you--always, always, ALWAYS bring a complete change of clothes in your carry on, preferably something you can use as pajamas.
• Extra t-shirt: ditto, particularly when you travel with children whose mess always seems to end up all over you at some point.
• Gray jersey infinity scarf: also very soft.  This is something I picked up here in Qatar, funnily enough, and I LOVE it.  It can double as a sweater/wrap and, along with the pashmina, can keep me the perfect temperature on any plane.  I usually carry the extra clothes in a large vacuum-packed ziplock bag at the bottom of my carry on, and they don't take up much room at all, but they are worth every bit of space they use when I need them.  
• Not pictured is the large ziplock bag (or two) full of snacks I will be carrying, filled with gum, lollipops, clementines, chocolate, gummy bears, granola bars, cheese and crackers, homemade cookies or muffins, etc., as well as a few extra plastic bags for emergencies and a refillable water bottle. 

This time around I think I will let the boys carry some of their own snacks in their own carry ons.  What they carry looks a lot like the contents of my bag, minus the tech:

• A small pouch filled with toys
• A ziplock full of coloring supplies and personal reading materials
• A sippy cup with a lid (to avoid unnecessary spills)
• Their comfort stuffed animals they sleep with
• A small fleece blanket (in place of my scarves)  
• An extra set of clothes (I am adamant about this, you see) and a fleece jacket

All this fits (barely) in their rolling school backpacks that fit under the seats in front of them so they can get into them as needed.  I'm not one of those moms who wraps up surprises for her children to unwrap while traveling, but I do include a few new coloring books and stickers and a new surprise toy or two for them to discover.  This time around I got J a travel version of Parcheesi, his current obsession, and E new little rhino and hippo figures.  Mostly, though, they will play on the iPads and watch movies and that is fine with me.  Whatever they don't use will help during church time while we are traveling.

And there you have it!  It looks like a lot all laid out like this, but it all fits nicely into my wonderful, capacious bag.  Like I said, for this trip we are not minimalist travelers by any means, but everything is still relatively compact and, if worst comes to absolute worst, I can still carry my bag and the boys' two backpacks in the event of total and complete meltdowns!  That's the real measure of packing efficacy when you're traveling with children, I'm convinced!