Precision Packing

Aug 7, 2008

New airline regulations have caused the already-challenged vacationer to become downright burdened by the task of packing. What to do? The answer is short but sweet: Pack “short and sweet”; You’ll all be the better for it.

Believe it or not the airlines are doing us all a favor. Fewer and lighter pieces of luggage makes everyone’s job easier, and every tourists travel experience more enjoyable. As a tour leader who has hoisted such monstrosities as 80 and 90lb pieces of baggage, I have been participant and witness to not only the backache that comes along with such a haul, but the time lost to all other folks waiting to get moving due to the slower pace of moving such hardware.

My rule of thumb: if you’re taking a trip longer than one week…pack for one week, then, recycle your digs. If you’re taking a one week trip. Pack for four days. Get my drift? No one (and I mean NO ONE) will remember or care that you wore that shirt or blouse almost a week ago. Its oooookaaaay. You can wear things twice. You BETTER wear things twice! And, mix & match what you brought so that you can diversfy your look and rotate your clothes. Laundry services are widely available in most hotels and cruise ships and for what you would spend on overweight luggage, you could do your laundry. And my laundry.

A few other helpful hints:
*Layer for flexibility! Instead of heavy sweaters and bulky jackets, opt for thin layers that you can easily add or subtract. One t-shirt, one dress shirt, a light sweater and sport coat–4 items–can allow for SEVEN different combinations. You’ve accomplised three goals here: you’ve lightened your load, you’ve saved a lot of room and you’ve provided yourself with a diversified wardrobe.
*Pick neutral color clothing and more solids than prints. They can be paired in multiple numbers of ways and can camouflage repeated uses.
*Maximize your space! Most everything can fit inside something that fits inside something else. In other words, store your socks, ties and underwear in your shoes..then wrap your shoes in your durable clothing like jeans or a lightweight windbreaker. Creativity counts!
*Purchase Packing Cubes (available at LL Bean or most stores that sell luggage)! These little nylon “compartments” help you to stack & pack similiar pieces of clothing in protective segregated packs. Keeps your things orderly and neat while condensing the much needed space. The downfall of these neat little gadgets is that the added space gives you the illusion that you can pack more and thus risk adding more…weighing more…and paying more.

I said before that the airlines are doing us a favor by limiting our load and you’ll see…before too long the less you take, the better you’ll feel about the task of packing (and the less the airlines can lose too :-)