Even the largest luggage will seem ungodly small if you do not know how to pack things in it correctly. In this article, we will tell you how to pack a suitcase compactly so that it will fit everything you need for a trip.
A suitcase will fit much more clothes, shoes and other necessary items on the road if you learn how to pack things so that they take up a minimum of space. In addition, if you take all the most important things with you, upon arrival you will not have to endlessly run around the shops - what you need will be at hand anyway.
Before you start packing things in a suitcase, you need to decide on the best luggage option, understand how to compactly pack seasonal clothes, shoes, hygiene items, and avoid wrinkled things. Let's start in order.
How to pack a suitcase for a trip correctly: what to consider before packing things
1. Choose a roomy suitcase
When choosing a suitcase, start from the type of transport you are going to travel by and the fare of the trip. Air carriers set their own baggage requirements, which differ significantly from the rules of railway companies. The weight of a suitcase per person on an airplane can be 20, 23 or 25 kilograms, depending on the airline and class of flight. Long-distance trains of Russian Railways provide three baggage spaces per passenger, on which he can place suitcases, the total weight of which does not exceed 200 kg.
It is logical: the larger the suitcase, the more things you can put in it. Stores sell models of international sizes S, M, L and XL. Smaller suitcases are suitable for carry-on luggage, but the last two categories are for long trips and transportation of large items, which is often encountered in winter, when you need to take winter clothes and ski equipment.
The next step is to decide on the type of suitcase walls. A soft case is lighter, cheaper, but not very durable. It is safer to choose dense and hard materials, especially if you are going to check the suitcase in: it will not be damaged during transportation, will not get wet and will be easy to clean from dirt. We also recommend that you take a closer look at suitcases and bags with the possibility of expansion: you can always put chargers, tubes of cosmetics, bathroom accessories, bottles of liquids in additional compartments.
2. Choosing what to take on a trip
A notebook or notes on your phone will help you organize your wardrobe - first make a list of things, and only then pack them. At the planning stage, it is much easier to cross out something unnecessary than to repack your suitcase several times later.
When you need to decide how best to pack a suitcase for a week-long trip, use the 5-4-3-2-1 rule. Limit yourself to five pairs of socks and underwear, four sweaters or T-shirts, three jeans or pants, two pairs of shoes and one hat depending on the weather. Adjust the list based on your personal plans: you can also take a swimsuit, sports equipment, and a jacket and dress for an evening dinner or business meeting.
It is optimal to put one everyday pair of shoes, one beach shoe (if you are traveling in the summer) and one formal pair in your suitcase.
Many people mistakenly take things for every day on a trip. But this is a fundamentally wrong approach. It is wiser to choose clothes based on the weather, as well as planned activities and events. Another tip to save space in your suitcase is to stick to a strictly single color scheme. Then you won’t have to think about what to wear, because all your wardrobe items will go together.
When you are ready to start packing your suitcase, open it and place all the things from your list next to it. This is the last chance to make sure that you haven’t forgotten anything, and a chance to put away all the unnecessary things. You are unlikely to need a sweatshirt in the Maldives, right?
3. Understanding the best order to pack things in your suitcase
To make sure that everything fits in your suitcase, start packing the most bulky, heavy, and hard items first — shoes, jeans, sweaters. Put them in the part of the suitcase that is closest to the ground in a vertical position, otherwise all the other clothes will get wrinkled when the heavy things start moving around the suitcase according to all the laws of gravity.
Use all the tricks you remember from the game Tetris:
pack your clothes as tightly as possible;
do not fold, but roll up the items, fixing their shape with an elastic band;
fold the rolled items into the suitcase not horizontally, but vertically;
use any free space: put socks or tubes of gel and shampoo right into your shoes;
lay out the top, bottom, underwear and the remaining socks in the middle of the suitcase;
place liquids and small items that you might need at the airport in additional pockets, and take your electronics in your carry-on luggage.