Packing For a Week Trip in a Carry-on (And a Tote)

Packing for a week trip to Tennessee: We took a vacation recently! We don’t do that a lot so it’s kind of a big deal for me! We went to Nashville for a weekend hockey tournament for my step kiddo & after that we visited friends in Chattanooga.

There wasn’t much to my packing strategy – I picked mostly solid colors that all went together with a couple patterns to mix in. I made sure I had several top & bottom options plus some layers to mix & match. I knew that we would have access to a washer & dryer on the second leg of the trip so I ended up leaving a couple items out that are in the pics (noted in the captions). I had to fit it all in a carry-on & a tote bag so I had to be frugal with my suitcase space!

Top to bottom, left: Walmart faux leather leggings (retail) | Target sweatpants (retail) | Walmart black faux leather leggings (retail, didn’t end up taking) | Walmart wide leg jeans (retail) | Gloria Vanderbilt grey jeans (bins) | unknown brand sweater leggings (bins) | Top to bottom, right: cashmere sweater (TJMaxx, ages ago) | Walmart plaid button down (retail) | Walmart thermal (bins) | Walmart black long sleeve tee (bins) | Target olive tee (bins) | C&C graphic tee (TJMaxx) | Target pink tee (bins, not pictured)

Vionic boots (Amazon, did not end up taking) | Earthies boots (Poshmark) | Cushionaire clogs (Amazon, reviewed here) | Nike Air sneakers (retail)

Packing for a Week – What I Took

2 pair leggings – 1 faux leather, 1 sweater pattern
2 pair jeans – 1 wide leg, 1 boot cut
1 pair sweatpants (doubled as pj’s)
1 pullover sweater
1 cardigan sweater(similar)
1 button down
3 long sleeve tees
2 short sleeve tees (doubled as pj’s)
1 pair sneakers
1 pair boots
1 pair clogs (doubled as slippers)
1 purse, 1 small crossbody bag (reviewed here)
underwear, bras, cosmetics, minimal jewelry, charging cords, medications, Kindle, phone

Flight Outfit

I went with comfort for the flight but also was conscious to wear my bulkiest items: fluffy scarf, cardigan (similar), wide leg jeans & my bulky sneakers to give me the most space in my luggage.

Outfit for the flight: Athleta cashmere wool cardigan (similar, retail with gift card) | Walmart jeans (retail) | Caslon denim button down (retail) | Target tee (bins) | Nike sneakers (retail) | unknown brand scarf (bins) | crossbody bag (Amazon)

Visit with Friends OOTD

For the whole trip I leaned toward comfort with my outfits. I tend to be very lazy on vacations. It’s my time to relax & just be cozy. So, be prepared, I didn’t wear any earth breaking FASHUN lol.

We were able to visit a friend & his family in Nashville while we were there. My high school friend Ryan is on the right. From left is Aidan (stepson), Andy (husband) & myself. I was able to skip the coat & scarf since it had warmed up a bit by this day of our trip but went with long sleeve thermal, cardigan (similar), jeans & boots since it wasn’t completely warm yet. These boots are surprisingly good for walking, even though they have a wedge heel.

Athleta cashmere wool cardigan (similar, retail with gift card) | Walmart thermal tee (bins) | Gloria Vanderbilt jeans (bins) | Earthies boots (Poshmark)

Country Music Hall of Fame OOTD

I wore the outfit below to the Country Music Hall of Fame. By this time I had worn most of my other pants so I went with the sweater print leggings. I mixed patterns by adding the plaid button down. These leggings weren’t my fave & I gave them away as soon as I got home lol. That crossbody bag from Amazon was a clear winner this trip (reviewed here). Perfect for museum shuffling – you need to be hands free to take all those touristy pictures!

Walmart button down (retail) | crossbody bag (Amazon) | unknown brand sweater leggings (bins) | Nike sneakers (retail)

Lunch & Shopping OOTD

This is after we went to Chattanooga. Andy & I went out for lunch & ended up checking out this cool shopping mall one of our first days there. I think we were in J Crew here. I was still leaning into comfort with the long sleeve tee, wide leg jeans, cardigan (similar) & clogs. This is the other bag I took – a knock-off of Loewe. It’s a great travel bag, as it collapses to almost nothing to go into luggage but it holds a lot when in use.

Walmart black tee (bins) | Athleta cardigan (similar, retail with gift card) | Walmart jeans (retail) | Cushionaire clogs (Amazon) | Knock-off Loewe bag

Pizza Dinner OOTD

Below was after a visit to Dirt Cheap, which I could have spent all day in! It’s a place that gets old stock/closeout items from Target, Nordstrom, etc… I made away with a BUNCH of new items. For instance, the stripe sweater & black cardigan here that I wore out for pizza with my faux leather leggings & Earthies boots.

St. Johns Bay stripe sweater (Dirt Cheap) | Adyson Parker black cardigan (similar, Dirt Cheap) | Walmart faux leather leggings (retail) | Earthies boots (Poshmark)

Last Day OOTD

Another piece from Dirt Cheap are these sweatpants by Style & Co. They were a good buy – I have worn them so much since the trip. I paired with short sleeve tee, plaid shirt, Cushionare clogs and a new Vince Camuto purse I picked up at TJMaxx on the trip. We only went shopping twice & it was way too much! I have completely blown any chance I had at buying minimal retail this year.

Below is us on the night we caught the plane. We grabbed dinner out with our friends & then some cobbler & then went to our late flight. I was wearing the same thing as above but I swapped into my wide leg jeans & sneakers & added the cardigan (similar) for the flight.