Carryon Women’s Weekender Tote Best Packing List

When I travel by air, I always pack a roll-aboard as my carryon luggage and a weekender tote as my personal item. I keep my purse inside the tote until I reach my destination, essentially carrying on three pieces instead of two. Here’s how I strategically pack my tote for maximum efficiency as well as the links to my favorite items.

What is a Weekender Tote?

A weekender tote is a large, versatile bag designed for short trips or weekend getaways. It’s typically spacious enough to hold clothes, toiletries, and other essentials for a couple of days, but not so large as to be cumbersome for travel. These totes usually feature comfortable handles or straps for easy carrying, and many come with additional compartments for organization.

My carryon weekender tote is a Beis Weekender Bag, which I absolutely love. It has a detachable shoe compartment on the bottom for extra storage, a trolley sleeve, and serious pockets inside. Use this link to receive $20 off a purchase of $100 or more!

Amazon has this similar knock off Weekender Bag that is considerably cheaper. Plus I like the additional side pocket for a water bottle or travel umbrella. Always refer to your airline’s exact carryon dimensions for under the seat in front of you. In a pinch, you can remove the shoe compartment and put it overhead with the roll-aboard.

Let’s get packing! I start with the bottom of my carryon weekender tote and work my way up.

Step 1:  Pack the Detachable Shoe Compartment

Store 1 pair of lightweight packable travel sneakers like On Cloud 5 Coast. My sister introduced me to this brand while on a recent trip to Florida. They are so comfortable and flexible that I can put them in the shoe compartment of my carryon tote and still have room for more items. My regular running shoes would be too bulky.

I love this Travel Hair Dryer with a diffuser and concentrator nozzle. Traveling with curly hair is not easy because most hotels provide a hair dryer, but not a diffuser. This one is the perfect size for squeezing between my ON sneakers in the shoe compartment of my carryon weekender tote and fitting the small diffuser in the corner.

A Peanut Massage Roller is a must have for me these days. Long flights and dragging luggage through the airport can make my back feel terrible. Don’t let its odd shape fool you, this massage roller works really well to loosen up the muscle knots and fits in carryon tote.

Finally, fill in any empty spaces with socks, gloves, knit hats…

Step 2:  Pack Interior Side Pockets  

The key here is to match your items with the size of the pockets in your carryon weekender tote and prioritize accessibility. If I don’t need it in-flight, it goes in my roll aboard and in the overhead bin.

Let’s begin with the biggest pockets:  Most carryon totes and backpacks have a wide pocket suitable for a magazine or folder. This is where I store my folder filled with printed documents like flight details, rental documents, tour tickets and copies of passports. Most of this is already on my phone, but I like the paper copies, too, just in case.

In my Beis tote there is a padded laptop pocket in front of the folder pocket. I store my laptop or tablet here. If I have room, I will squeeze in a new magazine, too.

Next, let’s pack the medium size pockets: 

A Medicine Organizer is perfect keeping only what you need on hand and not the full bottles eating up valuable real estate.

Pocket tissues

Hand sanitizer wipes

A Portable Charger Power Bank is incredibly helpful if your flight does not provide an outlet. My Away roll-aboard has a built-in portable charger power bank, but this one on Amazon is slim enough to keep on hand. Keep in mind that airlines require passengers to remove it and store it in their carryon personal item, not in the overhead bins.

A Socket Extender comes in so handy when traveling. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve arrived at a hotel with multiple electronics (double when traveling with my husband) and only one or two sockets available. Usually it’s crammed behind the dresser or night stand that no one could possibly reach. This extender provides several more outlets for us to use and no more arm wrestling for the free ones!

Bonus: use it on the plane if you have more than one device to charge in flight.

International Travel Hack: plug the extender into one adapter while in foreign countries and then connect your devices. No need for multiple adapters!

Reading glasses need to be accessible in flight and therefore go in my carryon tote. Sunglasses go in my small purse-more on that later!

Finally, let’s fill the smaller pockets:

Noise canceling earbuds/AirPods are perfect for listening to relaxing music or podcasts, watching videos on your phone or tablet, and for tuning out noise when sitting next to a fussy baby or toddler. Keep these with in reach in your carryon weekender tote.

Keep a pen in a small compartment especially when traveling Internationally so you can fill out customs forms.

A Tide Stick stain remover takes up very little space, but can provide much needed assistance when traveling with limited clothes options.

Eye Drops are a must have for me. Between allergies, dry eye syndrome and staring at a monitor throughout the flight, my eyes are a wreck by the time we land. I keep these individual use eye drops in my carryon tote, my purse and in my toiletry bag! They’re a lifesaver!

Gum/mints no explanation needed!

Disposable Toothbrushes go one step further than gum or mints. These little pre-pasted/no water needed toothbrushes are perfect for long flights. I like the little flosser on the end! I used to keep these in my kids’ backpacks when they went to school in case they forgot to brush in the morning!

A Soft eye mask like this one is perfect for travel. It’s soft and lightly padded with an adjustable strap. I don’t want to say I have a big head, but being able to loosen the strap prevents headaches and fuzzy hair knots. I also love the concave eye space so you can open your eyes and not have your lashes or makeup smudged.

Pack a small snack. I always keep a pack of peanut butter crackers in my carryon tote in case they skip the snack service. Toasted cheese crackers are also a good option in case a passenger with a peanut allergy is on board.

Pack chapstick or lip balm to combat the dry cabin air.

I found these Eyeglasses wipes a few years ago and stash them everywhere! I always keep a couple in my carryon weekender tote for cleaning my reading glasses and sunglasses on my trip. They take up no room at all.

Moving on to the interior zippered pocket: This is where I secure my important items.

Passport

Cash

An Airtag for tracking my carryon bag in case I accidentally lose it or it gets stolen. I also put them in my roll-aboard and especially any checked luggage.

Step 3:  Pack the Open Interior Space

I pack the open space with the remaining items side by side.

TSA Approved Liquids Bag like this one is better than a quart size freezer bag because it has better shape and zipper top control. I turn it sideways at place at one end of the tote.

Tech Gadgets/Cords Organizer like this one keeps all of your cords and tech gadgets in one place. No more digging around in the bottom of a bag and untangling a mess of cords! This goes next to the liquids bag.

A Small Travel Purse like this Sherpani bag. I like the black because it goes with everything. The pockets are well sized and organized. The adjustable strap allows me to use it like a crossbody or regular handbag. This fits at the other end of the tote.

A Jewelry Organizer is placed on the bottom of the tote next to my purse. If space is getting crowded, I will put it in my roll-aboard, but I prefer to keep my valuables in my tote.

A Reusable Water Bottle is placed on top of the jewelry organizer at the end of the tote for easy access.

Noise Cancelling Headphones like these from Bose are good for watching in flight movies on long flights and are wedged in the tote next to my purse. If I bring a book, I will stick with my earbuds instead of headphones and save space in my tote.

Time to fill in any gaps with soft items.

Compression Socks are great for extra long flights. I don’t love wearing them all day, so I swap out my socks before boarding the plane and when we land. They help immensely with swelling.

A lightweight sweater/scarf is essential for travel. I either wear it onto the flight or keep it in my tote for easy access.

An Airplane Pocket Tray Cover  is a game changer! I absolutely despise using the pockets on the seat-backs of planes. They feel so germy and are always too small. This soft fabric cover fits over the tray and hangs down with its own built-in pockets. HooRay!

Step 5:  Neck Pillow on the Outside

Attach a Soft Neck Pillow like this one on the outside of the tote handle and you are ready to go! If the airline won’t let you transport it attached to your tote, wrap it around your neck to board.

Finally, I have a secure zippered pocket on the outside of my weekender tote where I stash my phone, ID and one credit card to prevent digging around and messing up all of the organized packing I did! Once I’m at my destination, I put it back in my purse that is hiding in my tote.

I use a soft Leather ID Holder like this one on Etsy (MyPersonalisedItem) to hold both my ID and my credit card.

Ready for Takeoff! With all of our essentials organized and packed in our carryon weekender tote, we are prepared for our next adventure Beyond My Garden Gate. Save this list for your future travels or Pin for later.

For more carryon tips and suggestions, read my post Maximize Your Carryon Luggage. I include my husband’s travel hack with a cooler!