I do a fair share of traveling and since I'm frugal in so many ways, why wouldn't I add Travel to the mix? Based on my experience, I ALWAYS have a tip or two about getting a Frugalicious deal!!
I just came back from Mexico and I wanted to share my frugal tips. I have to admit, I was forced into the first tip...my friend challenged us to take a PERSONAL ITEM for a four day, three night trip to Mexico, with another day in Florida. Sigh...I DID step up to the plate. Should I have though?...
So if you've followed me for ANY period of time, you'll know that I am an avid Spirit Airlines traveler. I will have to do a SEPARATE blog on Spirit because...well, just because. Let it be known though, I have ZERO issues with flying with them and I'm speaking as a plus size, semi-bougie woman who's taller than average (I'm 5'8").
Anyway, so I took on the challenge. Spirit changed their personal item dimensions in April to 18x14x8, so I went searching for a bag. I saw a video and decided on the Vera Bradley Weekender. First, I freaking LOVE this bag!! It's cute, has lots of room and the fabric makes a mold-able bag...because although it "fit" the new dimensions, there was a little bit o' finagling going on!!
So, it fits, it flies. Here's the thing with the Personal Item on Spirit, which is different than a Carry On. It's FREE, which is the plus, but it's also supposed to fit under your seat...which it did NOT. Technically, it did, but then I wouldn't have any foot room. I nonchalantly placed that bag in the overhead bin. #Unbothered
Now, packing: that was the fun part. I have had some packing cubes for over a year and have only used the shoe bag. This time, I pulled out this big one, rolled all the clothing I was wearing on the trip and zipped it up. They all fit nicely and the packing cube slipped nicely into the bag, leaving plenty of room for other stuff...or so I thought. By the time I finished packing, it was pretty snug, but I could still zip it with no issues. We jaunted off to Fort Lauderdale, on JetBlue though, so I took another bag with me to hold snacks and other stuff. I knew once we boarded Spirit to Cancun, we'd have to eliminate it though.
We ended up staying one night in FL, due to the times of the flights, but I didn't want to spend any money there, so I packed lunches and snacks for us. The beauty of this is that I didn't have to worry about food spoiling or getting old at home while I was gone. Win-win. So, at our Airbnb, which I only spent $4.30 on, thanks to referrals and a gift card, I decided in order to get down to one bag, I had to repack...
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Yeah, I repacked and found that I got a little bit more room, removing the packing cube and staggering the rolled clothing. It worked. We got it down to one bag. We flew.
The bag was heavy though.
My
thoughts on a personal bag to Mexico:
PROs:
- it fit and flew
- forced me to be decisive in what I brought
- packing cubes fit
- less baggage (literally) and you can move quickly
CONs:
- bag was heavy
- does not fit under seat
- can't bring many souvenirs back including teguila (I mean it is Mexico)
LOL!! All-in-all, I guess I'd do it again under the right circumstances, like a "beach bum" trip, but in general, I think I'll stick with the Carry On for international trips. I'll gladly pay the fee (UPFRONT, remember that) to make sure I have room and can roll my luggage around.
Happy Travels to you!!
