Travel should be an adventure, not a logistical nightmare. Yet the eternal struggle to cram all of your essentials into your limited suitcase can be a bit of a killjoy. Overstuffed bags incur large baggage fees, strained zippers and the sit-on-it-to-close struggle.
Fear not, intrepid traveler! With a few packing hacks in mind, you can fit a week’s worth of clothing with plenty of room to spare and leave for your travels with a little less weight on your shoulders and a clearer head.
The Rolling Revolution: Stop Folding and Start Rolling
For decades folding was the way to pack clothes. But rolling clothes has proven to be a better space-saving method. This leaves more space than folding leaves in your suitcase, especially if you are folding a suit jacket or skirt, the suitcase becomes more of a puzzle. However, rolling and wrapping your clothes into tight cylinders will save more space and prevent ruffling on all of your clothes as well.
How to Roll: Place your garment on a flat surface, fold in the sides, and then roll from the bottom to the top tightly. This technique works well with t-shirts, denim and knitwear.
Pros: Minimizes wrinkles, packs tighter shapes, fills gaps better than folded clothing.
Compression Cubes — The Space Saving Stars
Compression cubes are basically zippered fabric bags that are meant to work like compression packing, squeezing excess air out, and making your packing less bulky. They’ve changed the game in packing up bulky items like sweaters, jackets, and even towels.
How to Use: Fold or roll your clothing and pack them into the cube. Compress the contents by zipping the compression zipper.
Advantages: Generates a lot of compaction, maintains order and prevents sideways motion in the luggage.
Store Heaviest Items at the Bottom
Proper weight distribution inside the suitcase is necessary for the case to be stable and easy to handle. Pack heavier items like shoes, toiletries and books on the bottom of your suitcase, close to the wheels. This helps prevent the suitcase from tipping over and protects lighter, more delicate items from being crushed.
Rationale: Lowering the center of gravity increases stability/balance.
Fill the Gaps: Use Every Nook and Cranny
Make sure no spot is wasted. Items such as socks and underwear and chargers can be filled into the spaces between larger items. Use shoes to store small items in the shoe itself.
Shoe storage: Stuff shoes with rolled-up socks or small accessories to save space.
Small Item Organization: Small pouches or Ziploc bags for smaller items will keep you organized, and prevent them from getting lost in the deep end of your suitcase.
Less is More: The Capsule Wardrobe
Through a tight editing process of clothing items (often females have 3–5 bottom pieces and 6 train tops), the concept of the capsule wardrobe came into being, where the same pieces can be used in multiple outfits. This reduces the number of clothes you have to pack, which can quickly eat into valuable suitcase space.
Planning: Pick a color palette and select items that can be layered and mixed and matched for different looks.
Purpose: Choose neutral colors and classic styles that you can dress up or down.
All Personal Care: Travel Sizes and Low Waste Alternatives
Regular sized beauty products can take a lot of space and weigh a lot. Travel-size the things you need, or use solid versions, such as shampoo bars and toothpaste tablets.
Travel-Sized Containers: Use liquid in travel-sized, refillable containers.
Solid Toiletries: Solid toiletries are ultra-light, compact and TSA friendly — no leaks!
Wear Your Bulky Clothing: Airport Fashion with Function
Wearing your bulkiest pieces, including jackets, sweaters and jeans, when you travel can free up significant suitcase real estate. Though it may feel counterintuitive, it is a practical solution to maximize your luggage capacity.
Layering: Use layers that can be easily removed in the case of overheating in the process.
Comfort: Pick comfy and breathable fabric for your travel wear.
Electronic Organization: Cables and Chargers in One Place
Make sure your electronic devices and their cables and chargers are neatly sorted and not creating a tangled mess in your suitcase. Tuck them away in a pouch or case specifically designed to store cables, so they don’t get jumbled while they’re still in use, which can cause them to break or fray.
Cable Organizer: A cable organizer or a small pouch can help keep your cables neatly coiled.
Multi-Charger: A multi-charger might be the solution to reduce the number of chargers you’ll need to bring along.
Whether your luggage is still a hodgepodge of items, or it has spirits to all match the right attire in, these eight packing hacks will make your life a whole lot easier and help add some order to the chaos of your bag. Keep in mind that a smart journey makes your journey stress-free and enjoyable!
