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Carry -on only, but it's winter?

Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 5:16 pm
by traveler22
I can usually pack very light for St. John. My problem is what to do with the jacket or sweatshirt we need just to get to the airport during winter in the northeast. It's so much easier in summer when I can wear my flip flops and shorts to the airport. What do you guys do?

Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 5:21 pm
by cocosmom
We went to Cancun this Xmas, wore the coats in the car, jumped out when the shuttle bus came. Reversed when we returned. Just wore a sweater. You could tell all the folks heading South...only had sweaters, folks going north had boots & heavy coats

Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 5:28 pm
by ScottB
Wear a sweatshirt & shorts w/ sneakers. Get a ride to the airport....run like hell for the door!! :lol:

Even checking bags I've done this routine when traveling to the islands. I refuse to pack or bring long pants to the caribbean, so a couple painfully cold dashes from car to airport door isn't so bad!!

Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 5:31 pm
by Steve S
I have a really light pair of pants and a light jacket with a hide-a-way hood... each will roll up to the size of a half liter bottle. The rest of the family does the same. There was a thread a couple years back about zip leg pants that convert to shorts. Those would be handy.

Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 5:49 pm
by stjdeb
We are doing carry on only in Feb, we'll wear lightweight long pants, our heaviest walking shoes and a T with a long sleeve shirt or light sweater (which may also be handy in the evenings). We leave coats, etc in the car and get dropped off and picked up at the door. Hopefully this will go perfectly!

Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 6:49 pm
by PA Girl
I do light weight pants, a t-shirt, a light sweater and sneakers.

As a mom, it is one thing to be freezing cold if you just have to worry about yourself in the transition to vehicle to airport, it is another to be cold, miserable and wrangling a small child as every thing takes 5x as long.

I take a change of pants and flip flops for the plane so I can arrive ready for warm weather.

DH is hardcore, he is in shorts, short sleeves and flip flops. He is so glad to get on the way he would walk thru 6 inches of snow in flip flops and not complain.

Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 8:39 pm
by chicagoans
Layers: tee shirt, workout jacket/sweatshirt, windbreaker if it's really bad. Capris and Keens. (socks on my backpack for going through security and if my feet get cold on the plane.) DH is the same except jeans instead of capris, of course.

Kids wear tee shirts plus their fleece Northface jackets. They wear long pants, but their clothes take up less room.

A long sleeve rashguard can make a good layer if you're going home to really cold weather.

Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 9:05 pm
by brenda
Getting dropped off at the airport makes it much easier because we just ditch our heavy coats in the car. We are big fans of the zip off pants, then a t-shirt and a hoodie or pullover which easily fits into the backpack upon arrival. I've been known to wear socks with my Teva's if there is snow on the ground :roll: . I am a dork :) .

Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 6:38 am
by Agent99
It's just fun even thinking about this dilemma! I'm kinda like PA Girl's DH. I'd trudge from Rockport to Logan Airport in a blinding blizzard in my flipflops and new pedicure rather than be incumbered with with winter clothes. Fortunately my DH is willing to drop us all at the door and then he parks and catches up.

I spend the trip down praying that the curbside check-in line is really short!

Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 7:49 am
by Rob7
You can actually use this winter weather to your advantage. First, leave heavy coats in car..next, dress in layers with shirt and sweater etc and a pair of long pants. (yes I have needed a sweater in STJ in the winter)
It all goes to making the trip with just one carry-on possible :D

Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 8:28 am
by mark & susan
Zip off pants work for me. The material is lightweight - takes up no room

Warm enough for the plane, turns into shorts at the airport.

Reverse prior to boarding.

Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 9:45 am
by KatieH
Capris, sneakers, short sleeve t-shirt and a cotton sweater/sweatshirt for me. The remora wears the same but cotton pants or jeans. Mr H. wears jeans and a t shirt with the shell from his Columbia ski jacket.

Flip flops and tevas are unveiled when we hit St John.

Which is coming soon... I'm sure it is :roll:

Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 9:58 am
by jigzmom
We haven't done total carry-on to STJ yet so we always have a larger suitcase to put our coats into. But... why can't you wear your coat to the airport, onto the plane, then just sit on it or stuff it in the overhead? Why freeze to death to/from the terminal? This is what I do when I visit my mother in Florida.

Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 10:18 am
by LysaC
it's all about layers. hubby and i wore jeans to the airport but we layered a hoody, a tshirt and (for me) a tanktop. all things we would be wearing on island again.

yes, i did wear the hoody at night. with the tradewinds and a bit of a sunburn, i got a chill at night on the deck.

Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 10:26 am
by Steve S
KatieH wrote:Capris, sneakers, short sleeve t-shirt and a cotton sweater/sweatshirt for me. The remora wears the same but cotton pants or jeans. Mr H. wears jeans and a t shirt with the shell from his Columbia ski jacket.

Flip flops and tevas are unveiled when we hit St John.

Which is coming soon... I'm sure it is :roll:
"The Remora"... is that some sort of term of endearment? :)