There are better ways to pack for travel than throwing your clothes, toiletries, and other items into your luggage. How will you know where a clean pair of socks are? Or your favorite sleep shirt? If you follow this packing method, you’ll likely end up dumping out your entire suitcase the minute you reach your hotel room to find exactly what you need.
No matter how big or small your suitcase is, there are plenty of ways to maximize space. Following the advice in this article can minimize stress, keep you organized, and optimize as much room as possible! We promise you’ll be grateful that you followed these tips on your next vacation.
Lay Out Your Wardrobe Before Packing
The easiest way to see if you’re packing too little or too much is to lay out your clothes before packing them in a suitcase. Do you really need five pairs of pants, or could you get away with two or three? Optimizing your wardrobe will, in turn, optimize space in your luggage.
Fold Your Clothes Using the Bundle Technique
Sometimes, stacking your garments on top of each other quickly takes up a lot of room. Folding or rolling your clothes around one another is a more efficient way to pack. Plus, you can keep your entire outfit in one bundle. For example, you might lay out your pants and place your undergarments and shirt in the center, folding everything together. Now, each outfit is packed to include every necessary clothing item for each vacation day.
Consider Packing Cubes
Packing cubes can make a significant difference. Try packing your suitcase without them and see how disorganized everything becomes. We recommend purchasing packing cubes that you can compress. This means you can place your bundle of clothes inside, close the cube, and zip up the sides so that everything is compact and takes up as little room as possible.
Carefully Pack Formal Wear
Whether you’re packing formal wear for a business trip or a fancy date night dinner, it’s important to pack these garments in a way that prevents wrinkling. Traveling with wrinkle-free clothing can save you the frustration of needing an iron or steamer before an event. Be careful with how you pack suits and dresses because they will take up a lot of space and can become wrinkly if not packed correctly.
Choose Travel-Sized Items
When there is an option to purchase a product in a travel size, do so. The more full-sized products you place in your suitcase, the less room you will have to spare. Not to mention, if you need to maximize space in your suitcase because it’s a carry-on, you can only use travel-sized items.
Pro tip: Leave liquids in a clear bag at the top of your luggage because you never know when TSA may need to open something.
Organizing your suitcase in a way that optimizes space will take a lot of your travel stress away. Of course, when your things are in disarray, your brain will be too, and that’s never the right mindset for vacation! Start packing your luggage the right way with our tips.
