Day 13: Packing Light for a Month of Travel

When you travel a good deal for work, the art of packing light makes for much easier trips.

Thankfully we have been staying with hosts and in places that have laundry facilities this time around so it is even easier than usual this trip because we do not have to hunt for places to wash clothes.

Start with the most lightweight carry-on suitcase available. A lot of international flights have strict weight limits, so the more weight available for actual clothes and stuff vs suitcase weight, the better. I’ve been happy with my Heys FlyLite Ultra 20″ in grey. It weighs less than 5 lbs and is supposedly the “Worlds Lightest Hybrid Luggage”

Next invest in some packing folders and cubes. Mike and I both have a set of Eagle Creek folders and a few cubes too for smaller items. This is my 18″ green packing folder that fits all of my clothes except PJs and swimsuits.

I make a point of packing items that are easy to wash, lightweight, and not bulky. I actually fit 11 entire outfits into this folder! Most are sundresses since it’s summertime here – then I don’t have to think about putting outfits together! When we traveled here for our honeymoon and work last year it was fall, so I had a few pairs of pants/jeans and a bunch of tops to layer. Perhaps only enough for a week vs 11 days.

Then I use my swimsuits and PJs to create a layer on the bottom of the suitcase where the ridges are. That way I’m not wasting any space.

I pop the Packing Folder into the suitcase, add any toiletries, flip-flops, and extra packing cubes on top, zip, and ready to go! I usually travel with only one or two pairs of shoes since they are so bulky to pack. Flats and flip-flops are preferred.

I also have a boring cheap backpack that I use to tote computer, camera, lenses, books, long-sleeved sweater to keep warm with during flight, etc. It’s much better than carrying a bulky camera bag and people don’t know I’m carrying valuables. I use a few cotton PJ shirts to pad/wrap my lenses and place them into a packing cube. That way they are safe and padded inside the backpack.

Travel is so much more stressful when you have loads of bags to haul around so this has been the preferred method for some time. It’s taken a while to train Mikey to do this too – his suitcase always weighs 2x as much as mine – but he’s a guy so his clothes/shoes also weigh more than mine and he can’t wear sundresses! Haha.

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