Travelling Light and Packing Your Suitcase

The secret to packing light is preparation. Earlier, we discussed how to plan and pack your technology. Now, we expand that with tips on how to pack your suitcase. The most important part of packing is planning.

We started with some basic tips from the creator of Onebag.com, the acknowledge Guru of Packing light, and created our own tip sheet.

• Make a list – Making lists is the first step in any organizational project, including packing.
• Don’t Carry Too Much – The goal is to pack light. This tip seems obvious, but people bring much more than they need.
• Toiletries – Nothing has, ironically, helped people learn how not to carry around full-sized bottles of shampoo than the liquid and gel ban.
  • Buy Travel Size – We use Minimus.biz. All jokes aside, they sell individual-sized everything. Who else sells individual ketchup packets? We buy the travel sized toiletries and either keep repurchasing, or for some items, refill them from our home bottles. You may ask why we bother to buy the bottles if we refill them…it is for us an organization tool. And for some things, we continue to repurchase travel size because it is a pain to refill the bottles. It is also possible to buy things where you are going.
  • Avoid Packing Liquids – We secure our liquids in ziplocs, even in checked luggage. Spillage is a horrible thing. But consider switching to solids. Onebag has a great guide to solid substitutes.
• Clothing
  • Color Coordinate -  Take clothes in two or three basic colors that can be worn repeatedly in different combinations. Especially useful if you want to save space by…
  • Doing Your Laundry – If you are willing to wash and clean your clothes while on your trip, you can save on how much you bring. Many hotels are offering laundry facilities now, and this can be researched in advance. You can also bring alone some tools to hand-wash your clothes as needed.
  • Layers – Instead of bringing clothing for multiple environments…dress in layers.
• Suitcases
  • Go Soft – Soft suitcases are easier to get into the overhead. That doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be some strength and rigidity to your bag, but the sides should allow the bag to compress.
  • Forego Wheels – Wheels and the associated handle increase the weight and reduce the amount of space in your bag. That and we keep rolling over our toes. Using a collapsible luggage cart may be an alternate option if you really need wheels. A good rule is that your carry-on bag should not be too heavy for you to transport. If you do switch to such a bag, make sure the straps are comfortable to hold or sling over your shoulder.
  • Laptops/Notebooks – Consider a slipcase to allow you to put your notebook inside another bag. It will ensure you don’t tip someone off to the fact you are carrying an easy to steal expensive item, if nothing else.
  • Identifying your Luggage – Checked or carry-on, make sure you can identify your luggage. Not long away, we were looking for our checked back, and after many minutes of waiting, discovered we had misremembered its color. Make the bag uniquely identifiable. We knew someone who used stickers, but they do tend to come off.
  • Divide and Conquer – Using ziplocs or permanent organizing pouches, divide your possesions into categories. Having things divided neatly not only keeps them organized, it makes it easier to pack, unpack, and locate items.

Over the years, we’ve tried many ways of loading up one person with as much stuff as possible without checking it. We own a Scottevest, which is pretty much one gigantic pocket you wear as a vest or jacket. We’ve tried giant backpacks…a laptop bag as large as our carry-on. We currently use a single rollar bag and have been frustrated by the space the handle and wheels take up.

We keep mixing it up to try and find the right combination…to eliminate things we don’t need, to pack in a more organized manner. Suggestions can help, but ultimately, we all must make tough choices.  Because now every bag checked is money out of our pocket.