Packing doesn’t have to be a nightmare. Here are 5 easy tips to help you get started!
Challenge #1: Choosing your luggage
Your luggage is there to serve one purpose: to carry your crap.
It needs to be durable and well-suited for your needs, whether that be long-term travel or just a weekend trip to visit some museums.
Note: No matter how many personal blogs tell you this, you don’t have to use only carry-ons for long term travel or any kind of travel. Use whatever you want. Just remember that you have to live with what you choose.
I personally have three bags, an oversized bookbag for small trips, a medium sized duffel for slightly longer trips, and a 75-liter hiking backpack for extended trips. In addition, there are two giant suitcases (in which you could stash a small creature in if necessary) that I used when studying abroad in England. Every item I have works in a different way, and there is a lot of common sense involved, using a factor of distance and time traveled, as well as modes of transport. For example, I don’t suggest using giant suitcases on European trains. Doing so could earn you the ire of just about everyone, including yourself.
The bag you chose is really up to you. But keep in mind these 3 factors. It should be
- Easy to carry
- Useful for your destination
- Accommodate the length of your trip
Urban backpackers in their natural habitat.
Challenge #2. Which clothes to pack
The obvious solution here is to Use Some Common Sense. If you are headed for the tropics (Mayan ruins, Cambodian temples) or a sweltering summer, pack thinner clothes. For colder climates, pack thicker clothes (you don’t want to be the chump in a T-shirt at Red Square in December). If your trip involves multiple stops or even going round-the-world, you have two options: pack a mixture or pick stuff up as you go along.
Note: I personally that suggest even if you are going to a warmer area, always pack at least one set of warmer clothes just in case. You never know if you may need them…even Texas can receive frost.
Plenty of bloggers out on the web have made stringent packing lists of exactly which clothes to certain destinations. While this may be a decent guide, I feel this may not be the best idea to follow to the letter (and I am not alone).
Bring with you want YOU want to bring, what makes YOU feel comfortable. If you want to wear those ugly worn out shoes because they are super cozy, go for it.
Travel does not have to be stylish. Your trip should be what you want it to be.
Challenge #3: Packing up all those cords
Obviously in this day and age, electronics should be at the top of the list when packing. Make sure you have all your cords needed for charging the all-important phone and camera, as well as any other electronics coming along for the ride.
My solution? Putting all the cords in a large plastic bag together (or a small canvas bag), even rubber banding the cords (hair ties and twist ties also work) keeps them from tangling. This practice has prevented me from losing cords and displacing them at hotels and hostels, as it keeps them organized and tidy in one specific place.
How to control all those cords. As you can see, I elected to use twist ties and some Velcro ties from a local store.
Challenge #4: Pills and Pain
Medications are important to make sure you take with you and make sure you pack them. If you are going across any international border, they need to stay in their original bottle. In some countries, American medications are not approved (and vice-versa). You will need that original prescription. Nothing worse at customs than being stopped by authorities in a foreign country carrying pills without any prescription on you.
I was randomly searched in Paris. Good thing that Tylenol was in its original bottle.
Yes, officer, these are perfectly legal.
You should bring some basic first aid supplies with you. After all, you don’t want to be rummaging through a pharmacy in Rome for a bandage when you could be checking out Imperial ruins.
Medications and bandages can be expensive in other countries What is cheap in the United Kingdom and the United States can be super expensive in Italy.
If you are going hiking, first aid supplies come highly recommended.
Challenge #5: Packing it in
Your solution here all depends on which kind of luggage you choose (refer to Challenge #1).
One simple rule I follow: With suitcases, more folding. With backpacks, more rolling.
If you need any help, there are plenty of YouTube videos to help teach you how to pack. I personally follow the philosophy of roll and stuff. You may have to get violent. It works very well in my experience, especially after living out of the backpack below for 4 months abroad.
How I roll, sort of. Here’s just an example next to the awesome backpack of mine. Just remember, to always know where your towel is.
Bonus. GUIDES
Unless you are a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants traveler, make sure you have some idea of where you are going. Unless you have a smart phone and can guarantee that you can keep it charged all day, make sure that you have a map and a guide to the place you are going. I was once on a guided trip where I was the only person who had a map of the town. I was so glad that I had purchased that used guidebook to France beforehand, as it saved some headaches.
We kind of got lost in Arles, France, in the days before wide smart phone use. Paper maps pays off, and you don’t need a battery for it.
Even if you don’t plan your trip until you get there, you will not know what you are missing right around the corner.
Hope these 5 tips on packing will help you on your adventure. I have always felt that packing is more common sense than anything, especially when it comes to clothes.
So, pack smart and don’t forget your camera!
Mhairi Gowans 
