15 Items That Help Me Pack a Light Carry-On (and Avoid Baggage Fees)
Abigail Bliss
Special Contributor & Editor, Travel Lemming
Instagram | LinkedIn | Muck Rack
Abigail Bliss is a travel, outdoor, and food writer based in Denver, Colorado. An avid skier and hiker, she shares a unique perspective of the American West, highlighting destinations less traveled. When she isn’t exploring the outdoors with her husband and two pups, she’s likely drinking beer in RiNo or watching indie horror movies, no matter how bad the effects.
🌟 Favorite Destinations: New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Idaho
✔️ Fun Facts: Summited 14 Colorado fourteeners. Moguls and gladed runs are my jam. Always up for tacos and margs.
Meet Abigail
📚 What was Your Favorite Travel Experience or Story?
I can’t say I have a singular favorite travel experience. But all my best memories involve the outdoors, away from crowds, and those closest to me.
These include rappelling into my first canyon with Skycie, and shaking through an unroped 20-foot downclimb into a “birthing canal.” Hiking with Cathy at Joshua Tree National Park in 105-degree temps was unforgettable. Also, seeing my brother, Rick, light up as he summited his first Colorado 14er.
My husband, Philip, and I share too many travel memories to count. Spotting mountain goats on the top of Quandary Peak, then skiing down our first-ever backcountry route. There’s swimming with our pups in remote New Mexico hot springs, and enjoying their reactions to the ocean when in California.
There are our road trips, each special in their own way. Seeing clouds hang over the Sawtooth Range in Idaho, cacti dot the landscape in Arizona, a moose charge past us in Aspen. The American West will never cease to amaze me.
🗺️ What’s Your #1 Expert Travel Tip?
Don’t let money hold you back from traveling. When my husband and I moved to Denver, we were very young and strapped for cash. But our days of dirtbagging make for some of the best stories.
In the early days of our outdoor adventures, we slept in a Wal-Mart tent — and sometimes, in a Wal-Mart parking lot, sheltered by my 2000 Toyota Camry. We ate lots of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and spent a lot of time hiking because it’s free.
Of course, this isn’t everyone’s preferred version of traveling. But in my opinion, adventure travel is soul-enriching. There’s a sense of awe in outdoor places, and a sense of peace in feeling small, immersed in mountains, forests, or canyons that seem to never end.
So, get outside if you want to travel on the cheap. And, explore destinations within an eight-hour drive from your home. You’ll probably be surprised by how many spots you can reach in a weekend.
🧳 Backpack or Suitcase?
Backpack
✈️ Window or Aisle Seat?
Window
