How much do you pack for a 2 night trip?

[EastofNorth]

I'm taking a work trip next week. It's only 2 nights so figured I'd only need hand luggage but... my holdall is looking very full and feeling very heavy!

How much do you normally take for a couple of nights trip?

Wearing comfy clothes on the flight out.
An outfit for the first evening, planning to go out with colleagues.
Jeans + jumper for day 1 wear.
A dress for evening out with colleagues again.
Jumpsuit for the day 2 wear.
Planning to wear the comfies home again but packed a spare tshirt just in case.

Undies x2 pairs per day.
Pyjamas x1 pair.
1 pair of more formal work/going out shoes.

Struggling to fit all my toiletries/liquids into the tiny 20x20 bag... shampoo, conditioner, face wash, body wash, deodorant, perfume, moisturiser, nasal spray (needed), makeup, toothpaste.

Not bothering with a hairdryer.. hotel surely has one. Need straighteners, hairbrush, bobbles, hair clips.

I've been told before that I overpack, but is this normal or not?

You're really taking a lot for 2 days! Pants, pair of dark wide leg trousers, a skirt, a couple of tops, and a nightie should see you through everything including travel. Jeans are heavy and bulky so I’d ditch those for a start. Wear trainers for travel and pack a smarter shoe or sandal - fill with socks, pants and dry toiletries (e.g. face powder)

Wear jeans, shirt and jumper, trainers. Wear these home too, plus you then have a pair of jeans for while there if needed.

Evening outfit - wide legged trousers, vest and fitted sweatshirt (both evenings). I usually wear converse style shoes then too so same shoes as flight, or some thin sandals that don't take up much space.

A daytime outfit - tights and a 3/4 dress which go with converse.

I'm with you on the bajillion pairs of pants, I don't sleep in pjs so save that.

I wash and straighten my hair before I go so it would last til the final morning when I'd use hotel shampoo and a ponytail. I don't need much makeup so that would more than fit in a small see thru bag.

Chargers, laptop, book, purse, headphones.

Packing cubes and roll rather than fold.

I would never have believed what a difference packing cubes could make. Everything is so beautifully organised and doesn't flop around the case!

No time to get any packing cubes for this trip but I'm definitely going to invest in some They look brilliant!!

I've just had a message from my colleague reminding me to take a swimsuit and robe, as apparently the hotel has an excellent pool and spa facilities. No thanks, I need space for my bazillions pairs of pants.

Ditch the PJs - you can sleep in pants and a vest.

Can you take just one pair of shoes?

Do you have a pair of trousers that are comfortable but smart so you can travel in them and wear them there.

For work trips often take a jersey wrap dress that can be rolled up small and doesn't crrase too much.

For evening wear swap out the dress and jumpsuit for 1 pair of smart trousers OR smart skirt plus 2 tops. You then have 2 evening outfits.

Always take PJs to a hotel! One fire alarm going off in the middle of the night will teach you this 🫣

I would travel in a jeans, pack one dress for both evenings, 2 spare tops for second day and the return journey, 2 pairs of pants, 2 pairs of socks. No shoes, I'd wear a pair and that's it. One pair of pyjamas. Toothpaste, toothbrush, deodorant. Easy hand luggage trip.

Or just hang a dress on the back of the door to throw on as you walk out.

If your zip lock bag is the right size, you just need to be able to close it. Unless your airports have different rules to most, they don't count how many items are in that bag.
Decanting is fine too.

If you have any pants/socks/t-shirts coming to the end of their life cycle, bring them and bin them after wearing, instead of bringing them back home.

An old t-shirt and pants instead of pj's.

Hotels that have spa facilities tend to have robes, so just bring your swimsuit.

I've just checked the airport website, and they apply the max 1lt rule (Edinburgh)

Edinburgh is a breeze OP. Boots has a good minis range available.

Also, you'd think so but the last spa-type hotel I went to, they asked me to bring my own robe because it was better for the environment them not having to provide and launder them for guests! What a cheek!

If the hotel has a spa, it will have robes surely? Or you could just manage without and use a towel?

There's no item limit on liquid things that go in your plastic bag, just that they all have to be 100 ml or less and fit in the bag with it closed. So tiny things like mascara, lipstick etc take up far less room, so you can have more of them. If you wear perfume, it's probably a good idea to collect up a few of those tiny sample vials (you might even be able to do this in the airport duty free shop) to save having to take a larger bottle.

But don't forget that you'll have to get everything back in the plastic bag for security on the way back, so be prepared to ditch cheap things like shower gel/shampoo etc to preserve your cosmetics if you buy at the airport.

I'm going on a warm weather hiking holiday in a few weeks and will have a cabin case and a rucksack. Granted I won't be taking a laptop, and won't have 2 new outfits a day like you're doing, but I've done a test pack and I can get in daytime hiking clothes including a light waterproof, at least 3 outfits to wear in the evening, 2 swimming costumes, underwear, flip flops, walking sandals, trainers and the hiking shoes I'll wear on the plane as they're the bulkiest, toiletries, water bottle, chargers, hair dryer, kindle, water bottle etc and it's fine. That's for a week, so 2 days is a breeze.

Surely you don't need more than a litre of fluids though? Those little bottles are good they hold about 20ml - one shampoo one condition one shower gel.

I've got a stopover though before I reach my final destination so just realised I won't be able to buy anything from Edinburgh

Don't worry about the 1 litre limit. That's ensured by the dimensions of the plastic bag, which has to be around 20 x 20 cm or less. You can only have what fits in the bag, with it closed.

No-one's going to be looking at your individual bottles and counting up the volumes of each one.

If you're just transferring planes, you don't usually go through security again do you?

Oh really? That's handy to know, thank you!

Yeah, that's a good point. They're not all bang on 100ml each so I should get away with it

I never bother taking shampoo etc now if your staying in hotel. It’s always provided. Only if in an air b and b.

The 1L rule is the size of the bag. If you are using the correct bag it is 1L

What you put into it doesn't matter as long as each individual item is less than 100ml, you just need to be able to close it.

You can't have a 150ml bottle that is half empty though... the bottle/container must be 100ml or less, regardless of how full it is

The hotel will have shampoo and body wash. Or learn to like soap as it’s better fir your skin.

Take a solid deodorant , I take solid shampoo and conditioner too as I like my own. I use the tiny sample sizes from Ethique.

Face wash and moisturiser can go in tiny contact lens cases - you REALLY don’t need 100ml size bottles for 2 nights , they last for more than 2 weeks.

Put a little foundation into another contact lens case.

Tiny sample size toothpaste from your dentist.

The containers don’t need the size marked on if they are small. Yes Edinburgh are strict and will take away anything that doesn’t fit in the bag.

If it's not a long flight then you could wear your evening outfit or if that's inappropriate then the jeans and jumper you'll wear on the first day (perhaps with a different t-shirt for each day). If you wanted to cut down even more replace the jumpsuit for the second day with a top to pair with the jeans and the second evening dress with a going out top to also go with the jeans.