Best Packing Tips and Hacks For Travel
Looking for some packing hacks to save space in your suitcase for your next trip abroad?
Whether you are packing for an international trip or just a weekend getaway, there are some tips, tricks, and items I use that can make the packing process easy. Below are some of my favorite organization items and bags for packing up for suitcase.
Especially if you are confined to just a carry-on bag, your space must be optimized because you don’t have much room to spare. When I first started traveling, my packing was all over the place and I always wanted to bring too much. Now, I have been traveling for a while and have learned how to actually pack for a vacation and some much needed space saving packing hacks along the way.
Looking for a guide on how to pack for an extended trip or a year abroad? Check out my post about how and what I packed to move internationally for one full year.
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Less is More
First things first: condense. You know that meme/tweet about how you always wear the same 2 shirts and pair of pants everyday, but you should probably bring 24 tops on your weekend trip, just be safe? Yeah… we have all been there. It might take some time to become more comfortable packing less, but you really don’t need that just in case, fancy pair of shoes.
Be realistic about what you will actually wear and how much you actually need.
One way that helps me pack less is by actually planning what I’m going to wear.
Plan Your Outfits
By planning out my outfits, I know what I will wear and what my intentions are for each item I bring.
While you don’t need to actually plan every single outfit down to a T, have at least a general idea and reason for every item. Bringing a pair of heels, but not a formal outfit to wear them with or an occasion that would warrant them? Don’t bring them.
Bring clothes that match. I can’t tell you how long it took me to actually get this through to my packing. Bring a few tops that you can mix and match for one pair of pants and other items you are bringing.
For example, you have this great colorful coat you love and want to wear all throughout Europe. Bring tops and bottoms that will match that coat! Don’t bring other heavily patterned tops and bottoms that you wouldn’t actually wear with said coat.
I love using Pinterest to help plan out some looks. Search an item you want to wear with “outfits” and see what ideas you come up with! Also you can search capsule wardrobes to see visually how other people mix and match with just a few key items.
Now that we have an idea of what we want to bring, let’s keep everything organized in our bag.
Stay Organized
One of the things I have learned is that keeping things organized will help SO MUCH. Not only will you be able to fit and pack more, but you will save time.
Your trip will run smoother and will help you feel less chaotic.
When I was in Pakistan for 2 weeks, we only stayed at the same accommodation spot for 2 nights at the most. We were constantly moving about the country, unpacking and packing things up as we went. This meant that every night and every morning I had to dig through things to find what I needed and wanted to wear, and then had to put everything away again to be ready for the morning.
The key to keeping your bag organized and one of my favorite travel hacks is using packing cubes and bags for EVERYTHING.
This means I only had to find the packing cube I needed and didn’t have to pull out every other item in my bag. When you pack your clothes “loose leaf”, you have to dig through 20-30 items of clothing, unfolding and refolding each item as you go to find what you need. With the cubes, you just need to find which bag the item you’re searching for is in and pull it out of that specific bag, leaving all other packed cubes untouched. This method will save you so much time.
Each night, I could unload my cubes (4-5 of them total) from my bag, pull out what I needed, and then in the morning, I just had to put away my pajamas, and then fit the cubes inside my carry-on bag and be on my way.
In addition to my packing cubes, I had a bag for electronics, a bag for daily toiletries, a bag for non-daily toiletries, a bag of snacks, and so on. My backpack was a bag of bags! Depending on the length of the trip, you can decide what works best for you.
The organizing bags I use are:
- 1 Large Packing Cube for Bottoms
- 1 Large Packing Cube for Tops
- 1 Medium Bag for Misc Clothing (swim suit, dresses, towel)
- 1 Small Bag for undergarments
- 1 Electronics Bag
- 2 Toiletry Bags
- 1 Jewelry Travel Bag
I prefer to organize my clothes by what they are. I can just grab the tops bag and the pants bag and pull out what I need from each, then zip them back up! This way we don’t have to dig through your bag and pull out every single item to find whatever it is you are looking for. You know where your jeans are because they are in your pants bag and so on.
(I keep my pajamas together in whatever bag they fit in because you use those together each night.)
Tip- Try to wear your heaviest jacket and pair of shoes on the travel days so you don’t have to pack them.
There are a few different packing cube styles you can use. There are more sturdy, double zip packing cubes or there are just basic zip bag style ones.
The double zip ones are generally more sturdy and help save space with the double zip feature. They really compress everything together and are great for when you really need to make the most of your space. These are great for longer trips when you can only take a carry-on bag.
The other kind are just your basic zip up ones. These can be slightly cheaper and really are just different shaped zip baggies. These are good for keeping everything organized. Since they don’t have any sort of compression feature, they won’t save a ton of space by compacting everything, but by packing your clothes up into the cube, you just have to fit the cube into your bag and not 10 loose t-shirts. These are great for a casual traveler or just an easy weekend trip.
If you haven’t ever used packing cubes, give the cheap ones a try and see how they go!
You can also use a combination of both or some items in bags and some items not. Depending on the type of trip you are packing for will alter what is important.
For example, on a hiking/mountain trip, I brought a swimsuit and towel, but didn’t know if I’d actually use them, but knew I’d want them if the opportunity arose. I ended up stuffing them into a tiny packing cube and fit it at the bottom corner of my bag. I didn’t have to take out that cube once, but it didn’t take up much space. For the rest of the bags, I was able to just fit everything into normal zip up cubes.
On the other hand, if you are packing for a beach vacation, you probably want to bring a variety of swimsuits, dresses, and cover ups, and those will need a bigger bag as that is more important for that specific trip.
Electronics – I highly recommend a travel bag for your electronics. Having a dedicated bag for your electronics helps keep everything in one place and helps keep your cords clean and safe. Somehow my phone charging cable always ends up smooshed inside my tote bag, just being smashed and worn down with every trip.
With a dedicated electronics bag, I now have all of my cables and adapters together. This is also beneficial because when I get to my place for the night and I need to charge things, I can just bring my electronic bag to my outlet and plug in whatever I need to and swap things out all from one place.
Toiletries – I split up my toiletries into essential and non-essential items. I put things I need every day or night, like my toothbrush, toothpaste, face wash, moisturizer and so on, in one bag. This I usually have towards the top as I know I’ll be unpacking it soon. A hanging toiletry bag is great for hostel travel when there might not be a place to set it down.
In my non-essential bag are my other products like shampoo and conditioner, a razor, hair products, bug spray, and other items I’m bringing, but don’t necessarily need everyday. This helps because I know I need my first bag everyday, but I don’t need the second bag as often and only have to get it out when needed.
If I put everything all together, this would be such a big bag I’d have to pack and unpack everyday. Separating them helps them fit into 2 smaller bags.
I also like to pack this way because I usually will keep my essential toiletry bag with me in my travel tote bag or backpack, and can pack my non-essential bag in my carryon or other main luggage bag. Especially on travel days, I always like to keep my toothbrush and other essential items with me and not accidentally in a bag that I end up checking at the airport or underneath a bus packed away.
Another way you could organize your toiletries would be to put all liquid style products in one bag, and non-liquids in another. While you would need both bags to find what you need, this is a great organization tactic if you will be traveling through airports.
Tip- Some airports have strict liquid rules. I remember when traveling through airports in the UK, they always made us put all of our liquids in one small clear baggy and everything had to fit in one bag. I ended up just throwing away my travel size shampoo and conditioner to fit everything! If you are worried about TSA rules, look up all the airports you’ll be visiting and find their rules and regulations.
Remember our first packing tip, less is more. Many cities and countries will have what you need. If you forget something you can probably find it or something similar wherever you are! This is the case for toiletries, but also clothes, shoes, or really any product. In the case of my thrown away hair products, I borrowed my friends once and then used my dry shampoo 🙂 I had plenty of opportunities to buy more on the trip, but didn’t even end up needing to.
Jewelry – I love having a dedicated jewelry bag. I love wearing jewelry but always have a bad habit of taking my earrings off and setting them wherever I happen to be. Especially while traveling, this causes a high probability of misplacing them and then ultimately forgetting them. Having a specific case gives me a place to put them and helps keep everything organized and tangle-free. I usually keep this bag close to my toiletries and know everything is kept safe there.
At the end of the day, organizing your bag is up to you. What works for others might not work for you. Don’t be afraid to get creative and try something new.
Remember: Plan ahead, be realistic and stay organized.
You can always buy something you forgot and can repack your bag whenever you need to.
How do you like to pack for vacation? Have any great packing tricks you’ve learned? Share in the comments below!
