Hey Traveller,

These days, it’s easy to feel like you need to bring everything but the kitchen sink with you on your trip. We have so many things that we feel we can’t do without, and we want to prepare for every eventuality, only to realise when we arrive that having too much stuff is just a hindrance… and where are all the souvenirs going to go?

Plus, as many international travellers find, that huge suitcase on wheels that rolls effortlessly through airport hallways suddenly becomes a major hassle and backache on uneven, narrow sidewalks, in tiny taxi cabs, or in utterly charming 17th-century hotels with no working elevators.

But sometimes it’s tough to break the over-packing habit.

Here are five ideas, ranging from easy-peasy to unconventional, that can save you a lot of effort by helping you travel light(er):

• Always think “multi-use.” It’s tempting sometimes to just pack that one extra sweater because it’s so great. But are you going to wear that sweater more than once? Does it go with the pants you’ve packed, or the skirts? Does it work with the shoes you’re bringing? What inevitably happens is that you wind up packing other things to go with that one extra thing — and that’s how over-packing starts. Make a list. Find tops, bottoms, and shoes that are versatile and that you can easily mix, match, and layer. Accessorise with light, easy-to-pack things: scarves, neckties, fabric belts.

• If you must bring bulky things, don’t pack them — wear them. While this can be an admittedly uncomfortable option if you’re traveling between two very different climates — it still is easier than over-packing for one outfit. The bulky jacket, the long sweater, men’s dress shoes, the knee-high boots, the shoes with chunky heels, the big purse, the hiking boots — these are great candidates for wearing rather than packing. They take up a lot of room in a suitcase, they’re unusually heavy, and they’re not worth the extra heft and money.

• Do a little laundry. Rather than packing a separate outfit for each day, consider bringing a few grams of laundry soap and washing a load for a second round. Depending on the trip, this could allow you to even get all your clothes packed into a carry on.

• Hit the thrift.  If you’re heading to a cool city, get the scoop on the best thrift stores or local shops in the area, and find something that can serve as a boost to your travelling wardrobe and a unique souvenir of your visit. (The money you save on over-limit fees can go a long way to having a wonderful piece from your destination!) Donate something you brought with you and take home something new-to-you. Of course, depending on your budget, you might prefer a high-end boutique to a second-hand store — but the idea is still the same. Arrive light, leave light. And every time you put on your great find, you can remember the fun you had on your trip.

• Use technology to your advantage. You likely know that you can bring a library’s worth of books and magazines on an e-reader or iPad. But a tablet can also house handy travel apps that can make your trip more efficient and can store vital information. For example, you can scan copies of your driver’s license, passport, or credit cards and securely email those images to yourself, for easy access in case they are lost or stolen. There are apps for reservation and flight information, train schedules, best petrol prices in your area, best food where you’ll be staying — all right at your fingertips, which can save you the weight and hassle of hard-copy documents and folders.  Before you pack, check the forecast of your destination and the climate for that period from previous years, this can help you plan what to pack based on the temperature and conditions that might await you upon arrival.

• Mail your stuff to and from your hotel. This might sound like a pretty kooky suggestion, but if you’re going to be staying in one place for a while — say, 10 days at a resort or something like that — consider using the postal service; especially if you have internal flights that are not part of your international ticket, like in America for example, and have to pay for each piece of baggage.

"Caroline Costello from SmartTraveler.com points out: “It costs US$39 to ship a 15-pound package from Boston to Los Angeles if you use an Express Mail Flat Rate Box from U.S.P.S. Comparatively, a third checked bag on a domestic U.S. flight can cost as much as US$150.” If you plan ahead and just use simple ground shipping, you could save even more money. Pack a few essentials in your carry-on, and you can easily be set for a week."

Now, packing light is one thing, but there’s something so defeating about carefully packing for a trip, only to arrive at your destination with a suitcase full of wrinkled shirts, pants, or skirts.

While no packing method can be 100% wrinkle-proof, there are a few things that can affect the way your clothes move around in your suitcase, and can therefore have a direct effect on how wrinkled they get en route.

• Reduce friction. Clothes get wrinkled essentially because the fibres stick slightly to one another, and then when the clothes shift around — especially when combined with a warm or humid environment in the suitcase — the “sticky” fibrils (tiny pieces of fibres) crumple up against each other. If you can reduce friction, you can reduce wrinkling. One way to do this is to choose fabrics that have stronger polymers. Polymers form the basic structures of fibres, which are what fabrics are made of. The polymers in 100% natural fibres like cotton, linen, and hemp break down at a much lower temperature, which makes them wrinkle much more easily. Fabric blends (like a cotton/Spandex blend, for example) and regenerated polymers like bamboo, Tencel, and Modal keep their shape at higher temps, helping them resist wrinkling. Another way to reduce friction? Plastic. If you have dress shirts or blouses that you want to keep looking pressed, wrap them in thin plastic dry cleaning bags as you pack them. This keeps the fibres from sticking to one another, allows some airflow, and will increase the chances that your garments will arrive looking great.

• Avoid over-packing. Cramming clothes together crushes the fibres and causes wrinkling. Clothes, like everything else in life, need a little breathing room.

• Avoid huge spaces in your suitcase. This might sound like it contradicts #2 — but the key here is balance. You don’t want a suitcase too jam-packed, but having random open spaces in your suitcase also can cause heavier items like shoes to shift around and crumple clothing. What you want is a suitcase that is evenly packed with heavier or unwieldy items secured enough so they don’t tumble around.

• Find a folding method that works and stick with it. Jeans and t-shirts respond well to rolling, which is usually my go-to. Tutorials on how to fold dress shirts, pants, skirts, ect. abound on the Internet. There’s more than one way to banish the wrinkle!

• Try something totally unconventional. There is a packing method that involves layering clothes out flat in your suitcase, with the sleeves and legs hanging over the edge to start. Next, you create a soft “bundle” of your socks and underwear in a fabric bag, which you place in the center of the flatly layered items. Then, like shuffling a deck of cards, you begin to fold in the sleeves and pant legs one at a time, laying them gently over the cushion in the middle. The theory is that this creates the optimal environment — not too crammed, not too loose, room for air circulation, and minimising friction — so clothes arrive looking great. When you arrive, you simply unwrap the items in your suitcase and hang them up as needed. I’ve found this one to be a little too much for me, but the theory is sound and I’ve met people who’ve had good results using it.

A few wrinkles with each trip are probably unavoidable. But understanding how fibres interact and how space, heat, and humidity affect fabrics can at least help you get to your destination with only minor ironing needs. After all, the goal is to spend more time enjoying your trip and less time ironing out the wrinkles!

Are you gearing up for a dream trip and have questions? I’d love to work with you and help you make the most of your next amazing vacation. You can check out the costs and benefits of working with me here, and you can get in touch with me by simply clicking here to schedule an appointment.

It is said that a picture paints a thousand words. Following that premise, I would expand on it to say that a video clip shows a thousand pictures. But neither words nor pictures nor even a thousand videos will ever come close to the first-hand experience of being there, in person, to Witness the Wonders of Our World!

Have a wonderful day,
Best regards

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