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Packing experts | Pad Patter 1.8.17

bellbird

bellbird

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Pollywog
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How do you approach packing for a trip? Are you a minimalist and pack bare minimum, or do you try to cram the kitchen sink in the suitcase with you?

I bookmark 'how to pack 10 days in carry on' posts on pinterest but can't seem to do it myself - i'm a kitchen sink-er. I'm trying to learn to mix and match clothes better! tweaking colours of clothes... if only photoshop worked in real life before the photo was taken
 
I used to fret, oh no? what if? and since we were never going to a 3rd world country or backwoods, there is always a store if I need it.
now, I just like to have enough underwear and socks for each day. lol
 
I really try to be minimalist packer -- to have pieces that coordinate so that I can combine or re-use them in different ways. It helps that I tend to like more simple, classic styles and mainly dress in black, white, grey, navy and burgundy so lot of my stuff does go together regardless of what I bring! I also think it's easier to do on informal vacation trips (i.e., you can wear a sun dress as an informal dress and a beach cover-up for instance). I find the hardest part is always shoes!
 
Clothes wise I rarely have a problem. My issues have always been centered around all the little things you might need for small children. We have spent much of our family life traveling all over, from big cities in developed countries to villages in the middle of the rainforest. I find I do pack differently depending on which of those I am going to. Now that the kids are getting older it is getting easier.

If you are going somewhere with shops, it is often easier to not worry about the little what ifs. Yes, children's cough medicine might be a bit more expensive but then you might not have to buy it at all.

Clothes wise, I have always found that I can do laundry, either a service, or handwash myself, if I run out. As for shoes, this is hard indeed. It is easiest to wear your biggest heaviest pair on travel day so you don't have to pack it. But these days I tend to try and pick my outfits around one or two pairs of simple light shoes. Something that is comfortable and still goes with most my outfits.
 
I've always packed light as I've needed too as we have traveled with all 6 of our children.... think no matter where you go (at least here in the USA) there will be a laundromat.
 
I've learned with time and traveling that I tended to overpack, so in the past couple of years I've gotten much better about being lean in what I'm packing.

I choose to wear black and comfortable clothing. Traveling is stress enough for me, so I try to make it easy on myself. Black hides stains as well, so if you do have to wear something twice, you're less likely to notice dirt or stains. It's also easy to change accessories to make a new outfit. I used to take a lot of shoes, but I limit myself to two, at the most, three pairs. Most of the time they are flip flops anyway, so they don't take up much room.

If I know that I'm going somewhere with a washing machine and dryer, that also helps me pare down my wardrobe because I know I can wash clothes while I'm there . . . well, that depends on what I'm doing there/my schedule . . . sometimes taking time to wash is not in the cards . . . I just have to determine if I'll have time to do it or not.

Think about packing clothes in cubes or containers. Helps with wrinkles and keeps your bag organized. It also helps you keep track of what is worn or not. Check Amazon for packing cubes they sell in sets.
 
Justine, we took only carry-on's (backpack style) for our 15 day trip to Scandinavia. I'm so glad we did it, because with all the traveling around we did nothing got lost, and we had no baggage to claim when we walked off the airplane. We also each brought a lightweight, foldable carry-on that was stuffed in our bags. That came in very handy when I purchased a ton of yarn when in Reykjavik!

The best thing is that you have less to accidentally leave something behind in a hotel room.

The bad thing is that you need to be able to wash things if you need to. We made sure to get quick-dry undies socks that could be done in the sink.

And I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
 
I've learned to travel lighter as I never used half of what I would bring. I bring lots of neutrals that can mix and match. I like to layer clothes and always bring lightweight outerwear that I can roll up along the inside of a suitcase. I stuff socks and underwear inside shoes/boots.
 
I tended toward kitchen-sinker until I had kids. Then I realized 2 things:
1. Mommy brain had made me too dumb to remember everything, no matter how hard I tried, so there's no reason to worry about even trying to over pack. I should just pack what is needed and pray it's all there.
2. Even if I do pack 20 outfits for a 10-day trip, the kids will still use me as a Kleenex and/or a paper towel for their messes. So 20 vacation outfits = 20 dirty outfits to wash when we get home. Might as well under-pack so there's less to clean when we get home from "vacation."
The good news is, if we travel then it's usually to my parents' place. So they have a washer/dryer. Bad news is, they had cats for 25+ years (let's be honest: cat hair doesn't magically repel itself away from freshly washed clothes), so even if I wash my clothes there, I still wash them again when I'm back home cuz DH's cat allergy is so bad. I don't want that dander in our house.
 
I try to be a minimalist packer but usually end up with at least a couple of outfits that never get worn (generally a dress, because I think I need to have at least one really nice thing to wear)! Shoes tend to be the most difficult thing, so I wear a good pair of walking/hiking shoes and take two other pairs of shoes - one dressy and one casual. Other than that, its just mix and match.
 
I pack WAY TOO MUCH!! I mean, I don't want to be tied down to certain outfits. What if I'm just not feeling them while I'm gone? I like to have options. When we went to Hawaii I packed so many clothes. I probably only wore 20% of them since we lived in swimsuits for the most part. You'd think I'd learn from that. LOL
 
mimisgirl said:
Clothes wise I rarely have a problem. My issues have always been centered around all the little things you might need for small children. I find I do pack differently depending on which of those I am going to. Now that the kids are getting older it is getting easier.
Click to expand...

This exactly describes us. When the girls were little, I always made sure we carried medication for all eventualities but now it is a lot easier. Clothes - well just 2 pairs of jeans and a few shirts. And 5 sets of underwear, 1 set of pyjamas and that is it. For 5 weeks or 5 days.

My problem though is all the camera gear and lenses.
 
carrie1977 said:
I pack WAY TOO MUCH!! I mean, I don't want to be tied down to certain outfits. What if I'm just not feeling them while I'm gone?
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This is so me. I never know what I might want to wear or where we might end up going. I try to do a little better every time, but it never works. And the shoes...I need all the colors!
 
I'm more of a minimalist. The less stuff I have to unpack when we get home, the better! Vacation laundry is the worst!

The last time we went to China I used packing cubes. They are amazing! I highly recommend them. Roll up your clothes, stick 'em in there & you can fit so much stuff & keep everyone's stuff organized.
 
mimisgirl said:
Clothes wise I rarely have a problem. My issues have always been centered around all the little things you might need for small children. We have spent much of our family life traveling all over, from big cities in developed countries to villages in the middle of the rainforest. I find I do pack differently depending on which of those I am going to. Now that the kids are getting older it is getting easier.

If you are going somewhere with shops, it is often easier to not worry about the little what ifs. Yes, children's cough medicine might be a bit more expensive but then you might not have to buy it at all.

Clothes wise, I have always found that I can do laundry, either a service, or handwash myself, if I run out. As for shoes, this is hard indeed. It is easiest to wear your biggest heaviest pair on travel day so you don't have to pack it. But these days I tend to try and pick my outfits around one or two pairs of simple light shoes. Something that is comfortable and still goes with most my outfits.
Click to expand...
You sound like a seasoned professional Erin! I feel like packing is a skill!
 
Scrapping with Liz said:
The last time we went to China I used packing cubes. They are amazing! I highly recommend them. Roll up your clothes, stick 'em in there & you can fit so much stuff & keep everyone's stuff organized.
Click to expand...
We have these in 3 colors - one for each of us. It's awesome because we throw them in the bag, they compress, and we know by looking which is ours. We use the smallest one as cords, and another smallest one as bathroom. That way when we pull them out, one goes on the desk to charge stuff, one straight to the bathroom.

A few years ago, after a particular overpacked trip, I made a list of what I did use. And now, I stick to that, plus an extra pair of contacts. I also try to take socks/underwear that are wearing out, so I can just toss them, and not bring them home. The worst for me was going to Utah last month. We had to pull out the gloves/scarves/coats/hats because it was so cold! And we used them, but they take up a lot of room!

Now, I check the map for the nearest Target for peace of mind, and call it good.
 
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