When going on a business trip, or on holiday, or to visit someone, the most stressful part of the process aside from the actual travelling is gathering all the stuff you’ll need and fitting it into as fewer and smaller suitcases as possible. As if you’re going away for several days (up to a week), the best case scenario is that you bring one large (or medium) suitcase and a large bag or a backpack as your carryon. This will ensure the most stress-free trip when it comes to dealing with luggage, as you won’t have to scroll around the airports or trains with several suitcases. You’ll have one hand free for sure, and that’s really important when you’re on the go. Moreover, the fewer suitcases you bring and the lighter they are, the lower the chance that you’ll have to pay some extra money for the excessive weight of the luggage. And in fact, if you pack your suitcase efficiently, you’ll be able to last on it even longer than several days. How is that possible? You’re just about to find out.
The key to successful packing is a throughout preparation and planning. One thing you just need to avoid is throwing everything you want to have with you just in case and overloading your luggage with a bunch of clothes, makeup (as women tend to do that) and other stuff. When this happens, you end up not using the half of what you’ve packed and even forgetting to bring something and lacking certain things while one or two stuffed full suitcases. And I’m not sure that giving your clothing items or extra pair of shoes a nice little plane ride is the best idea.
General packing tips
So, the first thing to do before packing a suitcase is to lay out those things you won’t be able to go without. Those are your laptop, chargers, passports and toiletries.
Don’t bring your entire bathroom with you. Purchase everything in a travel size or bring the bottles that are already coming to an end. One small jar (tube) of face and hand cream, body moisturizer, face wash, makeup remover, deodorant and a razor will be perfect for women. If you know that you’ll need to straighten/curl your hair, take a flat iron, as you’ll be able to do both with it. Men will definitely need their shaving stuff, travel size version of hair products (if they use any) and deodorant.
Don’t bother to buy shampoo or conditioner. It’s better to buy them after you arrive to your destination or use the hotel ones.
The best way to pack clothes is to plan your outfits for each day. Make sure to include more formal options if you suppose that you’ll have to go out. This will help you pack just as much clothes as you’ll need.
If you’re going somewhere, where the weather might get colder (or warmer) all of a sudden, bring a warmer sweater (or a couple of t-shirts). But it’s always good to check the weather forecast before packing to choose the clothes you’ll bring accordingly.
Wear your comfortable pair of shoes (like trainers) on the plane and pack a fancier one. If you’re going away for more than just a couple of days, add another casual pair of shoes to have something to choose from and match with different outfits.
Women may bring their larger handbag on a plane and pack a clutch or a small bag into a suitcase. Don’t forget to include some important extras (underwear and socks).
Make a list of all items you’re about to pack. It’s a great way to rethink your choices and check if you’ve forgotten something. Besides, that lists will help you not to forget anything when you’ll pack your suitcases to go back home.
My last general advice on how to pack for a trip is probably the most important one. And it may save your entire trip. I suggest that you should pack a couple of outfits (including socks and underwear), basic toiletries, all of your gadgets and documents in your carryon bag. Then, if your main suitcase gets lost or comes later than you, you’ll have everything you need to survive one or two days without your luggage.
As we’ve figured out what we need to pack, let’s see how to pack a suitcase efficiently in order to fit all the things you’ll need in it.
The best way to pack a suitcase
4 main methods to pack a suitcase
- The most usual one – folding. It’s great when you don’t have to fit a lot of stuff in one bag, so you’re not limited by the given space. You just fold clothes as you normally do when you place them into your dresser. Several piles of folded clothes of different kinds (t-shirts, jeans, dresses in different stacks). It’s probably the quickest methods, yet not the best one when it comes to saving space and keeping your items wrinkle-free.
- Stacking – is similar to folding, although the piles of folded clothes are placed into suitcase vertically and not horizontally. It provides easy access to the things in a suitcase, so it’s great to pack your clothes this way if you’re not going to unpack your stuff at your destination place. And, you’re actually able to squeeze more items into your suitcase than while folding, as you may press the stack against the suitcases walls and add something to the stack. Besides, this method is the most effective for packing formal shirts, trousers and skirts.
- Rolling – proven to save a tone of space, which allows packing more clothes into your suitcase than you’d normally expect. Besides, you may protect your fragile items by packing them into the rolls. But, despite of a common belief, it doesn’t really keep the clothes from wrinkling. And, rolling is definitely not the best way to pack your fancier clothes (suits, blazers and structured dresses), the shape of which has to be preserved.
- Bundling – the best packing methods when it comes to keeping your garments wrinkle-free and fitting as many of them into the suitcase as possible. It’s not the most convenient, however, as you’ll have trouble tacking something out of the suitcase and keeping the rest of the clothes neat inside the bundle. The way to pack things in a bundle is quite easy. For instance, you take your trousers and other long clothing items (like jackets or dressers). Place them on top of each other in a suitcase the way that one third or one fourth of each item (its middle part) appears in a suitcase. When you’ve run out of those items, fold your other clothes (underwear and tops) in a pile and place them in the middle of future bundle. Wrap the parts of long items, which are hanging out of the suitcase at the moment, around the folded pile. And your bundle is complete.
Suitcase packing tips
1. Make the full use of empty spaces. For instance, you may roll your socks in buns and shove them into your shoes. And, you may stack the bras on top of each other, fold them in half and feel the empty space between the cups with your underwear.
2. Use vacuum bags to save even more space and to transport bulky items like sweaters or warm jackets.
3. If you’re afraid that the suit or a dress you’re going to wear the same day as you arrive at your destination comes out of the suitcase all wrinkly, you may pack them into the dry-cleaning bags.
4. Combine several packing methods. Make a bundle out of the clothes that are more likely to get wrinkled, place the shoes on the bottom of the other half of a suitcase and add rolled tops and pajamas on top of them.
5. Tape the caps of your toiletries bottles to prevent leaks and pack them into the rubber waterproof makeup bag to make sure that your face wash or conditioner doesn’t get all over your clothes.
6. Separate different types of clothing items by putting them into different travel organizers. It’s especially important to get something like that for your underwear.
7. Wrap your belts around the suitcase’s edges once you’re done packing to save the space and keep the belts straight. This will also prevent them from cracking.
8. Use empty contact lenses containers to bring a little bit of foundation and concealer with you without taking the entire bottle.
9. Prevent your eye shadows, powder and bronzer from breaking by placing a cotton pad between the mirror (cap) and the product.
10. Place the heavier items at one side of a suitcase, so that when you lift it up and raise it to vertical position, they appear at the bottom of a suitcase.
11. Store your small jewelry inside the pill cases, so that they don’t get lost among the rest of the items.
12. Pack at least a part of your clothing items into your suitcases while moving houses not to transport empty suitcases and use more boxes to pack up your closet.
