The 4 Packing Questions Everyone is Always Asking
With the surge in international travel over the last decade, halted only briefly by COVID (although it felt like a lifetime or three, didn’t it?), there are more opinions on how to pack than there are fancy suitcases available for you to buy. Some of these opinions are very strongly held. (By me.) With the caveat that every traveler should do what works for them, I’ve put this post together to share what’s worked for me on both business and leisure trips in 26 countries. Hopefully some of it will work for you too!
Question #1: To check or not to check?
I’ve been an avid COO packer (that’s Carry-On Only, for those in the know 🙄) ever since I saw Up in the Air and immediately aspired to George Clooney’s lifestyle. Although it can be challenging to schlep your entire trip’s worth of luggage across the airport, it sure is a lot easier to schlep it everywhere else (trains, stairs, cobblestoned streets) if it’s carry-on sized. For me, it’s a no-brainer to keep my stuff with me, and to avoid camping out at baggage claim upon landing.
Of course, that’s assuming your bags even made it to baggage claim. I like to think that my stance has been validated especially in the last 18 months, during which both airlines and airports seem to be conspiring to actively hide your bags from you on any given trip. Lost luggage rates have skyrocketed as the industry struggles to re-hire everyone they laid off during the pandemic, when even more people are revenge-traveling than in 2019, the previous high-water mark for international travel. For a lot of experienced travelers, hanging onto our bags with a death grip has gone from a harmless quirk to an absolute necessity.
TIP: Never pack more than you can lift.
My personal best in this category was a 3.5-week business trip through Asia, wherein I attended 20-plus formal business meetings and evening social events in six cities across five countries. One carry-on, one personal item, baby. And souvenirs from every stop on the way home!
TIP #2: Even die-hard COOers put AirTags or Tiles in their suitcases, in case of an unavoidable gate-check.
Question #2: OK, so which carry-on suitcase should I buy?
The purple one was out of stock, so I’m zhuzhing up this boring black situation. It’s got three more patches on it since this pic was taken!
I promise you I am not being paid by TravelPro, but I’m a pretty die-hard fan. I had their Maxlite model for over a decade before the handle started to stick last year, and I was keen for an upgrade at that point. Now, if you feel like being real spendy (and I did not), Briggs & Riley is the brand I aspire to someday. Their carryons are in the $600 range and have all sorts of nifty features including a built-in compression system that I would quite like to try. But, being more in the “mere mortal” category of spenders, I happily coughed up about half that for the above TravelPro, part of their VersaPack line which is designed as a civilian version of the series they make for flight crew.
If, like me, you are obsessive about this sort of thing, you will note that the TravelPro VersaPack has among the greatest capacity for a bag of its size - 39 liters for the larger carryon. Their bags are not the lightest weight in their size classes, but they are tremendously durable and reliable. This one has two front pocket situations that I really love: a dedicated liquids compartment for easy removal at security, and a laptop pocket that frees up loads of space in my personal item.
Like most luggage manufacturers, TravelPro makes an American-size carryon, and a European-size one that is about two inches smaller in every dimension, to fit European carryon regulations. I’ve been traveling on international airlines for nearly 20 years with the American-sized one, and I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been asked to gate-check it due to airline size regulations. YMMV.
Unpopular opinion: get the two-wheeler, not the spinner. Two-wheelers, or rollaboards as TravelPro calls them, have more interior capacity and are easier to maneuver on any surface that isn’t the inside of an airport or a hotel (stairs, sidewalks, crosswalks, non-asphalt roads, the aforementioned cobblestone streets).
Question #3: How on earth do I pack for my super-long vacation in just one carry-on suitcase?
First things first: you’re gonna need a capsule wardrobe. For any trip, no matter its duration, I pack about 7-10 days’ worth of clothes, max. Everything should go with everything else; everything should be layer-able if you’re going to be in different temperatures, and yes, you’re going to have to do laundry. It’s OK. If you’re not staying someplace with a washing machine, you can hand-wash items yourself; find a laundromat or a wash’n’fold service (my preferred option in most cities), or you can pay the hotel to do it. (This is expensive in the US and Europe, but very affordable in regions with a lower cost of living. During a September trip to Vietnam, in which I had to change clothes once or twice a day due to the heat, hotel laundry services cost a few dollars a bag at most.)
TIP: check out this packing list that covers what I take on the road with me every time.
Next: how to cram it all in there? Lots of folks swear by packing cubes, and if you like your things organized just so, they can be very helpful in that regard. However, I’ve used them a time or two and haven’t found them worthwhile; no matter how carefully I put all my items together, I have to rearrange them once I’ve started wearing the clothes and half of them are dirty. (If I’m in transit with half clean and half dirty clothes, nothing beats a regular old plastic bag for keeping them separate while retaining full packing flexibility.)
I am, instead, a dedicated roller of clothes and user of all nooks and crannies. Underwear and socks? Inside the shoes! (Of which there should be a max of two pairs inside, and one on your feet.) Randomly shaped objects like a jewelry bag, sunglasses, a wee umbrella? Nestled gently among the rolled-up clothes in the most appropriate open space. (In this house, we use every part of the suitcase.) Toiletries? Stripped down to the bare minimum and optimized for travel: trial size or decanted liquids, minimalist multi-use makeup, compact tools. Use the hotel soap, shampoo, and hair dryer, it won’t kill you.
Just one more thing. How do I get my souvenirs home?
Picked up a gorgeous glass inkstand in Murano? A handmade paper figurine in Florence? A one-of-a-kind La Catrina in Mexico City? (No? Were all of those just me?)
Break all of the rules I just told you about. I always pack a lightweight collapsible bag in my luggage on the way out, and use it to bring home my souvenirs. I’ll check my carry-on and keep the precious new items with me, maybe padded with some of my clothes if need be. If my bag is a little late catching up with me, who cares? I’ve got a whole closet at home.
This approach has been getting me from Point A to Points B-Z for about two decades! Got a strategy you want to share? Tag us on our socials and tell us about it!
