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How Many Shoes Can You Fit Into Your Carry-on?
On a plane ride to Italy for a ten-day vacation, the chic woman sitting beside me altered my packing habits. She had only a modest carry-on for her month abroad, while I was about to wait 45 minutes in the Rome Airport for overstuffed luggage. That was three years ago, and I’ve rarely checked a bag since then. But the biggest challenge is always the shoes, which I contemplate now getting ready for a micro trip to D.C. What are your packing habits?
Giant Gym Shoes by Claes Olderburg is part of a show at MoMA.
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11 comments for “How Many Shoes Can You Fit Into Your Carry-on?”
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My overarching directive, when packing, is “conservation of shoes”, based on the fact that shoes are heavy and bulky to carry… and in the futile hope that, if everything you pack goes with the same pair of shoes, that it will also mix and match well together.
My concern about taking one pair of shoes (other than boredom) is that if my feet get a little blistered, it’s good to slip into something different.
I refuse to check luggage. If I leave town for a long weekend, often 1 pair of shoes will do me. For longer periods, it’s 2, although I did do a month in Europe last year on a single pair. The most comments I ever received on a FB post was a pic of my (small, carry-on) bag for that trip. I benefit from not having a “professional” uniform that is really different from my everyday one, nor do I ever go to formal events. I’m one of those gals who will wear a nicer dress with Tevas or Converse. Love your blog Wendy!
Thanks, Maria. I slipped in an extra pair for my D.C. trip, but they’re sandals and very lightweight.
that’s the great thing about traveling when it’s warm, packing sandals 🙂 have a great trip!
I also try to pack as few shoes as possible, but it’s not really so much for savings space in my baggage. I’m a little bit of a clean freak, and the thought of shoes that have been walking around on the dirty ground being in the same bag as my clean clothes gives me the heebie-jeegies, even though I do put the shoes in a plastic bag first so that they don’t actually touch the clothes.
Maria – I also like to wear my Tevas with just about everything. I tend to take vacations where I do a lot of walking (I love history and museums), and they’re so comfortable for that much walking! The only thing that bothers me about that is that I lost my very first pair of Tevas when I forgot to pack them at the hotel when I was getting ready to go home, and the hotel maid never turned them in to the lost & found. I’ve been a little paranoid about being so absent-minded ever since, because I loved them so much and wanted to wear them the next day after I got home.
I travelled with 3 pairs, wore 2. And I would’ve worn the sandals, but the weather was colder than predicted.
I’m the opposite of most of you. I tend to pack several pairs of shoes for a couple of reasons. The right pair of shoes can change an outfit form daytime shlepping around to out for dinner attire. My feet need a change to stay comfortable. This is an increasing consideration as I get older. It’s easy to rinse out a shirt or underwear or get something cleaned and I don’t mind repeating things. But I do like just carry-on So much easier and no anxiety about lost bags.
Getting off the plane last night at 11 PM, I was REALLY glad not to have to wait for my luggage.
This is all a foreign language to me :). Actually I’ll typically pack (my) one pair of nice dress shoes, whatever sneakers/athletic shoes I need and, if I’m going dancing, dance shoes. So there you have it.
3 pairs of shoes. Exactly my point.