How much do you put in your carry on bag?

I'm travelling soon for 3 months, and trying to decide what to put in my carry on vs checked luggage for international flights. I'm a pretty anxious person and losing my checked luggage is my worst fear. This means I always end up putting as much as possible into my carry on bag so that I've still got a decent amount of my belongings if my checked bag is lost. Its good for my peace of mind but it means that my carry on bag is always stuffed full - it makes it kinda hard to find things when I need to in transit, and I end up having to carry things like a jacket or water bottle in my hands because they physically won't fit in my bag. I can't do carry-on only this time because I'm traveling to a few different climates and also attending a wedding, so I need more stuff than I can take carry on. I'm wondering what everyone else does - are you an anxious packer like me? Do you put as much as possible in your carry on as well? Or are you a cool cucumber who just puts the essentials in your carry on bag and everything else in your checked bag? 🤔🤔🤔 --- **Post Details:** - **Subreddit:** r/travelhacks - **Author:** u/Pitiful_Science246 - **Score:** 15 upvotes - **Upvote Ratio:** 75.0% - **Comments:** 127 - **Posted:** 7/14/2025 - **URL:** https://reddit.com/r/TravelHacks/comments/1lzhutx/how_much_do_you_put_in_your_carry_on_bag/