Six of my best packing tips
There’s a real art to packing for a holiday. And despite lots of practice at it, I’ve far from perfected the craft. I have however, picked up a few handy tips along the way, and in this post I’m sharing my wisdom.
1. Pack light
In all the time, and to all the places, I’ve ever traveled, I’ve never met anyone who said, “Gee, I wish I had packed more stuff”. But what I do often see is people struggling with their precariously wobbling tower of suitcases balanced on an airport trolley. Or someone sitting by their mountain of bags in a hotel lobby, hoping the doorman can find a maxi-taxi to transport them and their stuff to the airport.
And that’s the ones flying. If you’re travelling by train, you’d be mad to have anything more than a single medium-sized case. If you can’t lift it over your head unaided, you shouldn’t be taking it by train.
Your passport, a credit card and prescription medications. That’s your necessities – start there and build up sparingly.
2. One checked bag (or less)
In light of tip no.1, restrict yourself to a single checked bag. A couple, or a family of four (like us) could get by sharing one checked bag between two. But we like to each be responsible for our own stuff (and our own mess…or lack thereof respectively) so we take one medium suitcase each. Always one with wheels, so that each individual can drag their own through airports or along cobbled laneways. The Poolboy and I are parents, not Sherpas.
3. Check the chargers.
It’s really annoying to arrive at the start of a fabulous holiday and find you’ve left the phone/camera/Kindle/iPad etc chargers at home. Or worse (and I’ve been guilty of this one) discover you’re brought along the wrong camera charger. Generally you’ll be able to find a replacement to buy, but it’s annoying, and it’s a waste of your precious travelling time. Luckily, I discovered my mistake as soon as we landed in the US, and I was able to get onto Amazon.com, order a new charger and have it delivered to our hotel in Orlando 36 hours later. It may not have been so easy if I’d made the same mistake in Cambodia.
4. It’s not a fashion parade
You want to look nice while you’re travelling, with appropriate clothing for each occasion, but let’s face it….mostly you won’t see the same people twice, so there’s no need for a complete outfit change every 12 hours. A few select pieces that can be mixed and matched is all you really need.
However, the flipside is that photos are the permanent record of your travels. I’m usually behind the camera rather than in front of it, but when I look through our photos from our trip to Vietnam and Cambodia in 2012/2013, the few that I am featured in, I seem to be wearing the same t-shirt. I swear it was washed in between each photo…
5. Buy it there
Don’t take a month’s supply of deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, mouthwash, tissues, moisturiser etc. etc. with you. Strange as it may seem…most places in the world have shops of some kind. Carry a small amount with you in refillable containers to get started, and then just buy what you need as you go.
6. Containerise
This is my favourite tip. You know how everything ends up a jumble in the bottom of the suitcase and, in the dim lighting of hotel rooms, you can never find what you’re looking for (especially if you are from Melbourne and everything you own is basically black…)?
The solution to this, is to have similar items grouped together and stored in drawstring cotton bags (the type of bags that new shoes or handbags sometimes come in) or in plastic ziplock bags. Need a pair of underpants? Ah, yes…the blue drawstring bag…there they are!
What are your best packing tips?
