With all the trips I've been taking lately, I thought I'd share a little of my wisdom on packing. It's one of my talents -- I haven't checked a bag when flying in over a decade (and the last time I did, it was when my family moved to Amsterdam when I was seven years old!), and I can successfully pack for an entire weekend in the small Vera Bradley duffel bag. Maybe it's my underlying OCD-ish tendencies (most of y'all have seen my planner, but if not, click here), or maybe it's genetic -- my dad travels a lot, and he taught me the art of packing -- but one way or another I got the gift.
When Packing:
This is what my bag for my Sea Island trip looked like while I was putting everything together. I like to lay out everything I plan on taking on my floor in groups -- at the top are my shoes, and my pajamas, then my dresses, shorts, tops, tee shirts, running clothes, and bathing suits. When I go to put everything in the suitcase, I can recount and make sure I have enough of each item. For some things (ie. socks) I like to pack at least one extra set, in case I need to use two in one day, but for everything else (shorts, dresses, etc.) I only pack one for each day. If I want to be really economical, I pack a different shirt for every day, but only a few pairs of shorts, especially if I'll have access to a washing machine. When I go to put everything in my bag, my shoes go on the bottom, with clothes on top, and my oddly shaped items or things I may have to take out in security on top. My biggest general rule, however, is that I never stuff small items in my shoes that I would be embarrassed if they fell out in front of people. It only took one time of trying to hurry to put my shoes on before dinner and having to dump panties on the floor to figure that out...
Here's what it looks like when it's all in there!
When Unpacking:
So, I forgot to take a picture when I repacked my stuff from the beach, because, well, I was at the beach, but when I do, I put my shoes on the bottom, with my dirty clothes on top of the shoes. On top of the dirty clothes, I put a barrier of cosmetic bags and books to contain the dirty portion, and I layer my clean clothes on top. Then, when I go to unpack at home, I can just take the top layer and put everything where it belongs in my closet (in the picture, the clean pile is on the far right). After I put away my barrier layer, I separate the dirty clothes into colors, darks, and whites for machine washing (three middle piles), and I make a pile of hand-wash (far left) and dry-clean (top). I usually have enough laundry in each pile to do a whole load, and this way I don't have to go back and separate later. Yay, multitasking!
So, the key to my packing system isn't about finding sneaky, creative ways to stuff a ton of things into a suitcase. It's about being choosy with what you take and knowing what is necessary vs. what is not. If you absolutely can't decide what you want to wear, a few extra pieces won't be the end of the world -- just don't take your whole closet!
But none of this will help when I go to pack for college, since I move in in 19 days! (!!!)
Have a lovely day!
XO,
Carson
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