In this video, follow Video Producer, Jessie Beck, as shares five easy ways to pack less when you travel—whether you’re trying to get from checking bags to traveling carry on only, or simply shaving off a few liters from your suitcase.
Related Article: 17 Travel Packing Tips From Frequent Travelers
Transcript
So you want to pack late when you travel, but you’re not sure how.
Hey, I’m Jessie, Afar’s resident light packing expert, and I’m here to show you how to pack less for your next trip.
Okay, so my first tip is to do a travel capsule wardrobe.
Now, if you’re familiar with the idea of a capsule wardrobe, it’s this concept that you can just build your entire closet from about 30 items of clothes, all of which area really easy to mix and match with each other.
On the travel side, we’re not bringing 30. That’s too much. We’re looking at closer to 10-12 items. And this includes your pants, skirts, tops, basically everything except for your underwear.
I would recommend going for things like pieces of clothing in your wardrobe that you already really love and love to wear every day.
The idea is that you can make many different outfits with just a few items, so choose carefully.
Okay, so my next tip is about toiletries.
So we all know that you can bring up to 3.4 ounces of liquids like shampoo, conditioner, etc. on an airplane, but that doesn’t mean you need 3.4 ounces. Instead, miniaturize your toiletries even futher, especially for things like face wash. I use a half ounce Cadence capsule container for that. Bring only what you need, don’t necessarily max out the 3.4 ounce liquid limit rule.
Okay, next tip: Get a smaller bag.
So we’ve all been there, where we added a couple of extra items that we didn’t really need or never ended up using just because we had the extra space. So by getting a smaller bag, you’re essentially forcing yourself to not do that.
To not bring the just in case items, not bring the maybe items, but only what you really can fit in your bag.
Most carry-ons will be around 30-45 liters, but I would suggest if you are trying to use this tactic, just go down about five or te liters and incrementally make your bag a little bit smaller. Over time, you will get better at packing to that size.
Okay, my (almost) last tip. This is actually my secret to packing light every time. And that’s making a packing list and pack a day or more in advance of your trip. I know this is kind of hard for some people. We’re all different. It’s okay. But if you are packing super last-minute or in a rush, you’re more likely to just throw things in your bag and possibly bring more things than you need or things that you just are not going to need on this particular trip.
My next tip is packing cubes. I actually did a whole other video on packing cubes and why I love them, so go check it out after this one. But packing cubes really are super helpful for helping you to put the same amount of stuff into less space, especially if you’re going for a compression cube like this one by Thule.
I really love it and it’s an essential item for me now.
Thanks for watching and I hope you found these tips helpful. If you’re looking for more, we have a whole article about this on afar.com. I’ll link to it in the description. Go check it out, and as always, remember to like and subscribe on your way out. Safe travels!
