How To Pack Your Bags
Travel Tips For Packing Luggage
Few practical travel tips for packing luggage can make the travelers life easier. Knowing what to pack and even more importantly, how to pack it can make all the difference.
There is no one right way to pack your bags. Whatever packing method you use, it is all about making the most of the limited space available, to fill all space as efficiently as possible.
Whether you are packing a suitcase, carryon bag, backpack, or any other type of bag, there are three main packing methods: the folding method, rolling method, and bundle wrapping method. We explain each method in details and with photos as well.
The Folding Packing Method
Travel Tips For Packing Luggage
Maybe the most common way of packing is by folding the clothes, i.e. similar to when putting clothes away in a wardrobe. Folding the clothes will though make the clothes crease when compressed in the bag.
However, if you prefer to fold your clothes when you pack your bags, then there are few travel tips for packing luggage that you should bear in mind. You can notably reduce creases by folding one item over another.
Find out how Packing Cubes can make packing easier and allow you to fit more into your bags
Start by taking two or more items of clothes, like trousers, and lay half of one pair on top of the other. Fold the one on the bottom over the one on the top. Then take the other and fold it over the first one. This gives each pair some support where you have folded it, so it will crease less in the folds.
The following travel tips for packing luggage photos show this type of folding packing method in practice.
The Folding Packing Method
Items Folded Over Each Other
Top Travel Tips For Packing Luggage
Socks and underwear can be excellent “fillers” when you pack your bags. For example, your shoes have empty space inside them, which is ideal to fill with your socks. They can also fit nicely into any openings in your final packed bag (instead of keeping them all together in a separate bulky bag).
The Rolling Packing Method
Travel Tips For Packing Luggage
Rolling the clothes not only makes them less likely to crease; they also take much less space this way. Rolling therefore tends to be the favored packing method among backpackers.
The rolling method works well with most clothes. Just lay each garment face down, fold back the sleeves if applicable, and then roll the garment from the bottom up. Some put rubber band around each item to make sure they stay rolled up.
The following travel tips for packing luggage photos show the rolling packing method in practice.
Each Item Placed Flat
And Rolled From Bottom Up
The Rolled Items Take Less Space
Top Travel Tips For Packing Luggage
If you roll your clothes in tissue paper, the clothes will become less wrinkled. Tissue paper can also be great for delicate items, like evening dresses. Lay the dress face down and place some tissue paper on top of it. Fold the dress up with the tissue paper inside. Use additional layers of paper as you fold the dress so it's completely wrapped in the tissue paper.
The Bundle Wrapping Packing Method
Travel Tips For Packing Luggage
The bundle wrapping packing method is however the best way to pack your bags. As the name indicates, bundle wrapping involves wrapping your clothes around a central core object, hence avoiding the folds that cause creases.
It may sound too good to be true but the bundle wrapping packing method works. Your clothes will crease less than with the other packing method. You can even pack wrinkled clothes and they will turn out less wrinkled when you unpack your bag.
The bundle wrapping method also allows you to pack more clothes, which is always a bonus just make sure you stay within your luggage allowance limits.
This packing method is a bit more complicated than the previous packing methods and it can take a little practice to get it perfect. It is though not as complicated as it may look at first glance. We recommend trying the bundle wrapping packing method, we are sure that you will be pleasantly surprised at the outcome.
This packing method is described step by step below with photos as well.
The 10 Steps For Bundle Wrapping
- Start by gathering ALL the clothes you will be packing as adding anything afterwards can be challenging and might even require you to start all over again
- The clothes are wrapped in specific order so group the clothes into more wrinkle prone (that will go on the outside of the bundle) and less wrinkle prone (that will be closer to the core)
- Neatly arrange the first garment (more wrinkle prone) flat in the bag without folding it
- Put the next garment on top of it but place it in the opposite direction
- Collars and waistbands should touch the suitcase edge as this enable more items to fit into the bundle
- Sleeves, pant legs, skirt lengths should hang over the edges as you stack more and more clothes into the bag
- You need to select an object to form the core of the bundle. We use packing cube (with our underwear, socks, bathing suits and other small loose items)
- Put your chosen core object on the top of the pile of clothes when you have finished stacking them
- Start wrapping up your bundle. You start with the last item you put in the stack. Neatly wrap the ends of that garment across the core object on the top of the pile. Wrap sleeves, pant legs, skirts lengths over you core object and work your way down to the bottom of your pile
- Finally place your remaining luggage items, like shoes, around the perimeter of the bundle you have made and your are done packing
The result will be bundle of all of your clothes that looks like a pillow. You should be able to pick it up in one piece. Because it is compactly packed, you will be able to fit more items in your bag and because it is folded, your clothes will wrinkle less.
When you arrive at your travel destination, you just work in reverse order to unpack your bundle.
If you only want to take out specific item in the bundle, just lay it flat and unwrap until you reach the item you want. Take it out and refold the remaining clothes.
The bundle wrapping packing method might seem daunting at first but we recommend trying it. We are confident that you will be as pleasantly surprised as we were when we first tried it.
The bundle wrapping method is not as complicated as it might seem, but as always... practice makes perfect.
The following travel tips for packing luggage photos show the bundle wrapping packing method step-by-step. In this example, we show small bundle consisting of two shirts, two trousers and the all important core object. Your bundle can be as big as it needs to be.
Gather All The Items You Are Packing
Lay The First Item Flat Without Folding It
Place Next Item In The Opposite
Direction On Top Of The First Item
Continue Stacking
Your Clothes
Make Sure That Collars And
Waistbands Touch The Suitcase Edge
When All Clothes Stacked
Put The Core Object In The Middle
Start Wrapping Up The Bundle
Start With The Latest Item
Continue Wrapping
Up Sleeves, Pant Legs, etc
Wrap Each Item
As Neatly As You Can
Work Your Way Down
To The Bottom Of The Stack
The Bundle Wrapping
Packing Method Works
Packed Bag Ready To Go
Whatever packing method you use, it is all about making the most of the limited space available, to fill all space as efficiently as possible. You might prefer different packing method for different types of travelling, e.g. you might prefer the rolling method for backpacking trips but the bundle wrapping method for business trips.
What you pack may also affect how you pack your bags, What To Pack is almost important as how you pack your bags.
Ps. this video offers further practical travel tips for packing luggage.
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