21 Travel Packing Tips

How Much Luggage Should You Carry???

He who would travel happily must travel light.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery

On my recent holiday to Sri Lanka I carried almost 30 outfits for a 8 day trip. Just as I was making a list of what all I have to carry on my forthcoming trips, I realized that I had listed down my entire wardrobe again. Most of the time, I end up travelling with double the amount of luggage I actually need, it just happens. I imagine all weird situations like ‘What if I urgently have to go to a pub? What if I my jeans tear off? And a lot of other nonsensical what if’s and keep stuffing in things. So this time I promised myself that I will travel light and thus I will share all the gyaan with all of you also.
This is how I packed and YOU SHOULD NOT PACK for any trip – On the right are my denims on the first rack , day wear on the second rack, tracks on the third rack, makeup, undergarments in the inside zip, clothes filled inside the suitcase and some more clothes on the sides of the suitcase. Oh yes!! I had another hand bag with shoes and bags.

travel packing tips

And everybody was making so much fun of me that they made me click this picture. You should never pack like this. Contradicting the age old idiom of ‘practice before you preach’ I would like to share some tips on packing smart.

Luggage is the inseparable part of any trip. Ideally the amount of luggage you should is the amount of luggage you can carry, as in if you can lift it by yourself its perfect. The moment you need help to lift your luggage, please remove the extras (this rule is not applicable if you are Khali) . :snicker: :snicker:

Chose the right suitcase and bags –

travel packing tips

1. Chose luggage that is light, you wouldn’t want your suitcase to weigh a lot. Also handbags should be light and preferably strolley (strolley is heavier too, so plan accordingly). Backpack is a good option as it keeps your hands free. Remember to keep the heaviest thing at the bottom of the backpack so that your shoulders don’t hurt.
2. Keep a few plastic bags and those ultra thin foldable bags for emergency. They can be used to keep away dirty clothes, wet stuff, or just any random last minute shopping.

Starting with the basics –

1. Never compromise on innerwear/undergarments. Carry a decent amount of undergarments to help avoid any kind of embarrassing situations. You can wash lingerie and it will dry over night but in my opinion it isn’t a very pleasant thing to do on holidays plus its embarrassing when your room is cleaned.
2. Carry stuff which will double up as another, like how a black spaghetti top can be worn under an outfit serving as a tube top and on its own over denims.
Clothes –
3. Carrying bulky denims is not a good idea. They take up a lot of weight and space.
4. Carry light dresses, again carry stuff that will multi-task. Like a short summery dress which can be doubled up as a kurta with denims or leggings.
5. If you prefer wearing Indian, carry leggings/churidars which you can wear with most of your kurtas.
6. T-shirts, don’t compromise. They are light and take very less space.
7. Experiment with layering your clothes, rather than carrying warm clothes for slightly chilly places. A full sleeved t-shirt with a spaghetti top over it can save you that jacket space and weight. With heavy snowfall or winter places, stock up on winter wear.
8. Carry fabrics which can bear the strain of folding, unfolding, crushing and muddling in the suitcase.
Now that you have chosen your clothes,its time to pack them.
9. Roll, don’t fold. A rolled up outfit will take less space than a folded one. Also you don’t have to excavate layer after layer once you reach. It ensures you don’t do a total repack when you are touring.
10. Fill in the gaps between the rolled clothes with small stuff like undies or socks or deodorants.
11. Belts and ties, it is best to leave them unfurled and tuck them around the corners of the suitcase. That way space will be saved and we locating becomes easier.

Shoes –

Source

12. Wear the bulkiest shoes and pack in the lighter ones. I know the thought of travelling in bulky shoes is bad but trust me you will more than happy with your luggage.
13. Carry three pairs of shoes at the maximum. One formal/evening wear, one comfortable pair which can be worn with all outfits and a pair of bathroom slippers which you can use in lounges and lobbys too, so pack a cute one.
14. Pack shoes in shoe bags so that they don’t dirty your clothes.
15. Travel gurus will advise you to stuff in small items like polish, socks inside the shoes to save them from deforming and saving space. But it kind of grosses me, so I prefer to pack empty shoes.

Towels and Toiletries –

travel packing tips

16. You need not carry large size towels unless you are travelling to Himalayas. The hotels provide bath as well as pool towels. It is advised to throw in a medium sized thin paper towel for emergencies.
17. Carry your toiletries in small sized bottles. If they are not available in small size, transfer them to travel containers available in the market.
18. Seal all bottles to avoid wastage and spillage.
19. Don’t leave something thinking that you will pick it up on your destination, all things are not available everywhere.
20. Coming to makeup, again try to double up things. Like a bronzer which acts as a blush. Or a tinted moisturiser which acts like a moisturiser, foundation and sunscreen.
21. Try using eyeliner and lip liner pencils which take up almost no space as eye shadow and lip tints.

It is always good to travel light and use problem as opportunity, you wouldn’t mind buying a French shower gel or a German face cream in case you run out of one. Would you? Remember, keep some extra space in the suitcase and do not pack till the zip bursts open. Clothes tend to expand and then you also need place for all the shopping you have done. 😀 😀 😀

Leaving you with the best piece of travel packing advice I have ever come across – “pack everything you think you need, then halve it”. Thankfully if you follow the tips above, you wouldn’t need to.

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102 thoughts on “21 Travel Packing Tips

  1. 😆 😆 😆 😆 everytime i pack for my trip…and come back with half my clothes unworn…i swear i will go light ….but it has never changed…am sure I will always carry more thn what i need… :toothygrin: :toothygrin: :toothygrin:

  2. lovely article Naina..In fact since I travel a lot, I follow most of the tips you’ve mentioned…but there are many more here, which I can use as well! :)) :thanks: :thanks: :thanks: :thanks: :thanks: :thanks:

    1. :smug: :smug: :smug: :smug: I make it a point to do lots of shopping everywhere I go..So I always have to keep some space for those stuffs!! 😛 😛 😛 😛 :yelo: :yelo: :yelo: :yelo: :yelo: :yelo: :yelo:

      1. Hiii Gabbarjiiiii

        Cali – she wrote that purposely..I mean why write German brand…she meant it for you only…Amlapuram Rannniiii making fun of you :devil:

        1. She not making fun of me..she wrote –
          “It is always good to travel light and use problem as opportunity, you wouldn’t mind buying a French shower gel or a German face cream in case you run out of one. Would you? ”

          he he he..she meant I changed my problem into opportunity by buying German brand prods!! :smug: :smug: :smug: :smug: :yelo: :yelo: :yelo: :yelo: :yelo:

  3. How dirty are your shoes????? Mine are superclean…the cute shoes that is..and I roll up socks inside a cover and pack them along with the shoes…I have at least a million socks and they are all chotu chotu baby sizes..so I find it superuseful 😀 I won’t put anything inside sneakers..okay, that grosses me out too..even if they are like ultra clean..which they really won’t be 😀 😀 😀

    1. i also have sooper lean shoes but it kinda ewww types noo :smug: :smug: :smug:
      i have big feet so shoes take a lot of space… i also want baby feet .. :weep: :weep: :weep: :weep: :weep:

          1. He Bhagwan !!!!!! Today is not my day , what I meant was that however clean the shoes are keeping things in them is ewww :smug:

  4. Those shoe sacks are sooo cute. 😀 😀 😀 Where did you get them from?

    Btw today only I saw that faces cosmetics sells these chutku travel size bottles for lotions shampoos etc and I was like really impressed. 😛

    I suck at packing.It’s the hubby’s job 😐 😐

    1. I am supergood at packing…cos I am always fighting with hubby and packing bags naa :toothygrin: :toothygrin: :toothygrin: :toothygrin: he tells me it’s good..at least my wardrobe will get cleaned that way every once in a while :toothygrin: :toothygrin: :toothygrin: :toothygrin: :toothygrin:

      1. I stopped packing my bags now..cos me found it’s a lot of work…now I have decided to call packers whenever I fight :toothygrin: :toothygrin: :toothygrin: :toothygrin: :toothygrin:

      2. he he he he I toh just want to throw clothes in the bag and close it somehow. Infact i am so bad at packing that I no matter how big a bag or suitcase I have, I’ll make it look smaller for all that i have to carry :weep: :weep: :weep:

      1. yayyy !!!! i do very good packing .. so much that everybody throws their packing samman at me.. :sweat: :sweat: :sweat: :sweat:

    2. they are not mine,chorofied from iternet 😐 😐 .. my shoe sacks are boring black and red checks so that they dont get dirty soon .. :struggle: :struggle:

        1. oh sorrrryyyy ratii, sorryyy :weep: :weep: :weep: i shud have mentioned no.. the first pic is mine and the rest three are from the internet.

          sorryyy :((

  5. Another tip I want to add is..carry lots of polybags with you…They come handy to store things during emergency! I always atleast 5-6 polybags with me. They dont take much space and can easily be stuffed in the smallest pocket of your bag!! 😀 😀

  6. me and my MIL alwaysssssss pack tons of stuff…and wear only half of them…on one of our trips to Mumbai my hubby and Fil made us carry just two pair of clothes coz we had planned to stay only for 2 days…As luck wud have it..we got invited to for bride viewing and i went in my quarter harem pants and my MIL was also in jeans coz we had not planned we will end up fixing his marriage…we had to repeat our clothes for the dinner party too…Now to hubby and Fil never interfere even if pack tonnes of clothes :toothygrin: :toothygrin: :toothygrin: :toothygrin: :toothygrin: :toothygrin: :toothygrin: :toothygrin: :toothygrin:

    1. :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: that was an experience…whenever I get stuck in such situations..I go and buy something!! 😐 😐 ..like I bought one dress for my cousin’s engagement, which I had to attend immediately after coming back from Germany..like morning I reached and evening was the engagement. I went to an ethnic shop near my home, just chose some dress, paid and came back..All done in 15 minutes time!! 😛 😛 😛

      1. Oh it wud have been an excellent opp to shop…but at that time ansh was jst a month old..n we cudnt go any where…that was another reason y we agreed to pack less…coz we thought we wont even got to a malll 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐

        1. he he he….and now the same girl is on an endless shopping spree in all the malls, not even sparing the online shopping area!! :hunterwali: :hunterwali: :hunterwali: :hunterwali: :hunterwali: :hunterwali:

    1. :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: Rads :shout: :shout: :shout: :shout: :shout: :shout: :shout: :shout: :shout:

      1. noo farhaaa… shes right… whenever you plan for something the reverse happens, personal experience :worship: :worship: :worship:

  7. the tips are awesome-blossom naina!! :waytogo: :waytogo: :waytogo: :waytogo:
    me like u too naina….!! for three day trips (not even international, but just hillstations) i carry about 15 or more garment peices.. 2 to 3 shoes and loaadsss and loaadssss of jewelry….
    everyone teases me.. itna saara samaan le ja rahi hai..shift ho rahi hai shaayad.. :weep: :weep: :weep:

    those are suchhh cute shoes bags!!! :inlove: :inlove: :inlove: :inlove: ssly! where did u get those?!!!!!!! :waiting: :waiting: :waiting: :waiting: :waiting:

    1. :giggle: :giggle: :giggle: same story with all of us noo …
      hey these aren’t mine, i have boring checks ones..these are taken from the net
      :(( :(( :((

  8. Me always forget to pack my tooth brush…so i keep an extra in my back pack,one for my place in mumbai and one at my parents place… 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐

    1. Actually I also forget it because it’s always in the bathroom and just before stepping out i need to brush so I keep it back in the bathroom only and forget to take it along…it’s confusing but I dunno :sidefrown:

          1. same to same ..i have so manyy toothbrushes, each trip i buy one at that place , i forget to keep a spare one in the toiletry bag also.. :((

  9. Our Delhi trip is for 15 days and there are so many wedding functions…i need to pack jhagmag clothes for evening and normal clothes for the day and i have to go out to shop tooo..i need to pack clothes,shoes accessories,makeup,skin care and toiletteries…..gawd only knows how many bags i will reuire…oh Gawdddddd suddenly i m very scared thnk of all the bags 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐 😐

      1. Well actually Gurgaon…but i wil be cumin to Delhi…i wanna go to Khan market,GK,CP and Chandni chowk :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: !!!!!! That is y the othr day i told u we will meet in Delhi..i hope :toothygrin: :toothygrin: :toothygrin: :toothygrin: :toothygrin: :toothygrin: :toothygrin: :toothygrin: :toothygrin: :toothygrin:

          1. Cum Naina….we will have a blast!!!! U will get to watch a Kashimiri wedding too…. :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo:

  10. nice…. i used to overpack too, so i tried this during my last business trip… put out outfits for each day. i knew the agenda, so i decided complete day and evening outfits right down to the accessories. i was gonna reuse only my denims since this was an official event. but i carried skirts, maxis and dresses since they weigh less. just added 2 extra shirts for “emergencies” (and used one of them too)

    thats it! traveled light and easy 🙂

  11. naina, u always do such cutie cuite posta na :-* i too recently got some strage stuff myself after seeing how neat u are and how bikhra hua all my cosmetics already are:((

      1. haannn tell noo … m getting all strange ideas now .. :devil: :devil: :devil: :devil: :devil: :devil: :devil: :devil: :devil:

            1. Natasha! My peace of mind is gone! my eyes were reading cubic spline interpolation and my mind was thinking ‘rose fresque’ ‘brique rose’ ‘rose dew’ ‘ hooked on pink’… 😮

              1. :toothygrin: :toothygrin: :toothygrin: ankita u gone mad ! :lol2: :lol2: :lol2: :lol2: i got silk pop yesterday :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo:

                    1. don’t forget the bourjois sweet kiss lipsticks in a golden tranparent container. those are a MUST :woot:

  12. grt post Naina. me and my hubby decide to pack light everytime but we always end up packing more and many times have to pay more for baggage.. hahahahhaa
    I remember even on my honeymoon we packed a lot.. LMAO
    will try to incorporate ur list next time we travel 😉

  13. Nice tips Naina..you’re giving inspiration to everyone to be more organized and clean 🙂 When I first came to hostel from home, I had so much unnecessary stuff and so many bags! But I’m more organized now O:)

  14. Hi Naina! Nice post indeed! Overpacking is a thing most females tend to do…BTW my tip is: Keep a separate pouch of toiletries for your travel..small bottles n all & make sure you donot use these toiletries in casual use..keep it specifically for travel only! It does help…actually my hubby travels very frequently..so Ive kept a pouch for his brush soap etc. Trust me it reduces hassle of taking small things of necessity at the last moment..just take that READY Pouch n you r done!

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