Travelling- What Is In My Carry On Luggage

Going on my holiday today, so I thought I should follow up with another travel post as I got lots of nice feedback on my post on tips on how to survive a long haul flight when you're plus sized. I have certain things I need to bring and do before I go travelling so I can set off with my mind at ease.

I'm a bit of a control freak so I like having things in order so I am prepared for my travel. And here are my best tips.

When I go for a shorter holiday I very often only travel with hand luggage so I travel light. I bring less clothes, but bring very often items I can mix with each other so I can make several outfits out of just a few things. I always travel in the heaviest items I plan to bring when I have hand luggage only.

My carry on suitcase is an amazing one from Tripp. It's called Tripp Lite 2-wheel cabin suitcase. It's a brilliant little suitcase that is the right cabin size even for flying with Ryan air. It's lightweight and very sturdy. And despite being as small as it is, I can't believe how much I can get in it. I only had this one with me when I went to Amsterdam a couple of years ago and I went shopping. I had already taken lots of summer clothes with me, so not much room for the 3 bags of shopping I'd done. But believe it or not, I got room for it all. The advantage with having a hard shell suitcase is that it doesn't change width as a soft shell one would do if you filled it to the limit, so it can still fit into the overhead lockers. Mine has a very lovely colour as well, so I travel in style.

Mine has an icy blue colour.

In my carry on luggage I always makes sure I bring

Headphones for music- I have these great Sennheiser HD202 ones with great quality for a bargain price. 

Adapter for the in flight entertainment 

Hand sanitiser

Eye mask to block light out if it is a daytime flight

Moisturiser/eye cream as your skin get very dry inside the plane.

Wipes (both anti bacterial and make up removing ones)

Healthy Snacks

My money and credit cards

Chewing gum

Tablet with lots of music, books, videos, games to keep me entertained

Toothbrush&toothpaste

Neck pillow

Camera 

Few essential make-up articles, mascara, eyeliner, eyebrow kit, tweezers, concealer and lipstick.

Blanket/jacket/pashmina to keep warm as planes can get cold and to put over my face for more privacy while I hope to sleep. I have an Osprey one that was a birthday gift a couple of years ago.

Extra battery for phone/tablet or one of those handy portable power banks you can easily buy for a tenner. You can also keep your charger in your hand luggage in case you come across a power outlet on your way.

Deodorant cause after a few hours on the plane you will feel dirty and smelly, so a deodorant is handy to have to freshen up with.

Fluffy Socks- just remember to put your shoes back on before heading to the toilets in case someone has had a bit of an accident in there.

My phone so I can take photos from inside the plane or if we are flying over somewhere beautiful. Not very often you get a birds-eye view of places, so make sure to capture them. 

Painkiller, medicines, my asthma inhaler and pro plus in case I feel a bit under the weather and/or tired when I arrive to my destination.

A change of clothes in case my case get lost or delayed so I don't have to wear the same clothes till my bag arrives or have to go out and buy some new clothes(not that that would be a bad idea, but it might be difficult to come across plus size clothing everywhere)

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I bring this PowerShot camera from Canon instead of my big DSLR to save space as I don't want to sacrifice having lovely photos taken whilst away. 

If you have these things in your carry on luggage your needs should be covered whether it is for a long or a short flight. And in worst case scenario if your holdall case get lost you will have enough to get you through till your case arrives.

15 Tips How To Get Cheap Flights.

It’s a brand new year and that means a whole brand year of holiday allowances. I don’t know if you are as me, but I have more or less all my holidays for the forthcoming year planned before the new year starts. I’m totally addicted to have holidays planned and I always look for great offers on tickets.

As a traveler I prefer to plan my own holiday instead of going with a holiday company. It’s so much fun and excitement in looking for cheapest possible tickets, and to start looking for beautiful and affordable hotels. Mike is helping too as we find it so fun and relaxing looking for lovely places together. We do travel with holiday companies sometimes as well, especially if I go on a warm getaway. But probably 8 out of 10 travels are planned by Mike and myself.

All our friends and family say that we are so good at finding bargain deals. I love trawling the internet for great offers.

Here is what I normally do.

Tips to find cheap flights

1. I'm not always that bothered where to go as I want to see the entire world, this makes it more easy to get good deals.
2. I am  also so lucky that we are not bound to school holidays so we can travel whenever which makes us a lot more affordable prices.
3. Start looking early and keep an eye on cheap dates.
4. ALWAYS compare airlines.
5. I always check with Skyscanner for the best deals for cheap flights worldwide or Flight Checker for easy search with cheap airlines, for charter holidays Travel Supermarket is my favourite and if you want more tailored trip planner I use Kayak.
6. I always cross check with the airlines to see if their tickets are cheaper.
7. I also always check the codeshares which is when an airline sell seats on the same flight to two different companies. You can be lucky and find tickets cheaper with one company than with the other for the same flight. Be aware though, cause ifyou are taking connecting flights these might be different airlines with different departure times even if it starts with the same flights.
8. If you buy tickets with Easy Jet sometimes it can be smarter to buy Easyflex tickets as these allow you to change the flights for a cheaper price for free in case of a price drop. This is best if you are flexible on the dates you can travel.
9. If you chose to go to popular destinations the chances are that you get cheaper tickets as there are more airlines flying to the same destination so more competition. 
10. Keep an eye on new destinations as when airlines start up with new routes as the prices can be very cheap then. 
11. If you can, avoid travelling at weekends. You can be lucky to find good deals on a Friday, but the chances are that you will have to pay a lot more than if you can travel out on a Tuesday or Wednesday and home on a Tuesday you might save so much money you can book another cheap flight. 
12. Be aware of all the hidden expenses with cheap airlines. Seat reservations, luggage and card payments are just a few extra payments you might have to pay for. In my experience it is rarely any point in paying to get a seat as in most cases you will be seated together at check in. In worst case, talk to the stewards and stewardesses and they will try and help you out. If you go on a shorter holiday or city break, hand luggage can often be enough. 
13. Always check with other airlines than Easy Jet, Ryan Air, Norwegian, Wizz Air and so on for cheap tickets. I have often experienced that KLM have cheaper tickets to Lisbon, SAS has cheaper tickets to Copenhagen and so on, so it is always worth a check. 
14. Buy one way tickets. What I mean is lets say you want to go to Alicante and you are booking outbound with Easy Jet. Then always check with competing airlines like Monarch or Norwegian if they offer cheaper tickets home. 
15. Chose an airport further away from your destination and travel cheap by train or bus to your desired city. Flights to more "inconvenient" airports can often be a lot cheaper.

These are my 15 most important advice I can give to get cheapest possible tickets. It does require quite a lot of work, but don't let that put you off as with time you might be as eager as me to hunt down the bargain tickets. 

In my next travel post I will give you advice on how to get great hotels for cheap prices so watch this space if you want to find out.