Conmama, you are going to be very stylish on your trip. And I bow to you for getting all that in your bag.
GTAlum, the perfect travel dress? Do share?
I agree with others who suggest less. I generally plan to wear tops, except that worn on plane flying over, twice. I bring knit tops - nice T styles with short or long sleeves depeding on weather that can be washed out. Do you have any concern for the weight of your packed carry-on? I’ve never had mine weighed for a European trip despite airline restrictions, but I did have my carry-on grabbed this spring and put on a scale when I was headed for Asia. Surprise, surprise! The airlines had a stated weight of no more than 15 pounds. I just made it! This plane was quite full; I’ve since flown the same route with no scrutiny. Do have fun! By the way, I’ve found a real freedom as I’ve learned to pack with less and less. In years past, I sometimes carted around clothes I didn’t actually wear.
I see no reason you can’t wear both tops and bottoms twice on a typical trip, unless you’re extremely physically active and profusely sweating.
This dress: http://www.zappos.com/toad-co-rosemarie-dress-black
I’ve been looking all my life for this one and finally found it. My body type is small frame, stick figured, and not much of a chest. But, it seems like it will fit all body types.
Cute dress GTAlum
@conmama - with a curling iron, you’ll need a power converter as well as a plug adaptor or you’ll fry your appliance. Converters are a bit heavy.
I’m super minimalist on packing (except for underwear, lol) and my goal is always to come back with less than I started with. For my upcoming trip, for the times I’m touring and by myself, I’m wearing some older tops and pants I really don’t want / like any more or really aren’t flattering, and then in the trash they go. (And yes I give plenty of clothing to the needy so I don’t really need to be crucified over throwing some of it away.) Ditto for older / worn-out work out clothing.
As far as toiletries, everything fits in a very small pouch. I don’t need to be high maintenance and bring shampoo, body lotion, etc. - every hotel has them. Travel toothpaste/toothbrush/floss, deodorant, hair brush and elastic hair bands, an eye pencil, a Nars Multiple that covers eye, lip and cheek, mascara, and sunscreen if relevant - I can go from super-casual to super-formal with that!
I’m following this thread with interest as we (self, DH, DS22 and DS13) are doing a 7-day cruise next summer from Copenhagen, with a couple of extra days in Copenhagen after the cruise ends. I’ve already warned them that we will all be rewearing articles of clothing (mostly due to baggage weight limits on the planes). We are not planning on doing the formal nights on the cruise, so that eliminates dressier shoes and clothes for everyone.
Anyway, I’ve heard about the roll-your-clothes method, but I’m curious about the … physics, I guess … if you have the same amount of clothing, how does rolling them take up less space than folding and stacking? Definitely going to try it when we do our holiday road trips to visit family.
Don’t ask me how the physics of it works. It just does. Seriously.
This is what I have packed already for my upcoming trip:
Sat / Sun (overnight flight): Black tee, black Neon Buddha jacket, black loose-yoga pants, black walking shoes that are still reasonably stylish and not clunky. This outfit gets the dirtiest from being on an overnight flight, so it doesn’t get reworn til flight home the following Monday - so it’s got a full week to air out.
Sun: White top, black capris, walking shoes
Mon: A different white top, beige capris, walking shoes (with client, but in casual setting)
Tue: (with client, business casual) Turquoise / seafoam green ruched dress with turquoise cardigan, dressy sandals
Wed: (ditto) Gray / beige dress, gray patent Repetto ballet flats
Thur: (ditto) Blue / black fitted dress, black cardigan, black flats
I’m just touring by myself Fri/Sat/Sun. There’s absolutely zero reason I can’t rewear any of the 3 dresses with the walking shoes, or re-wear the capris and tops and throw on the cardigan from Tues. I fly back on Mon morning.
So for 9 days (Sat - Mon) that’s 3 tops, 3 bottoms, 3 dresses, 1 casual jacket, 2 cardigans, 4 pairs of shoes (and I could have gotten away with fewer but specifically chose certain shoes for these dresses).
Add workout clothing, scrubs, underwear and toiletries - done. It’s all rolled up in my carry-on and honestly I have tons of room left over - I’ve packed about a dozen magazines in there, a guide to France and a guide to Belgium. My carry-on just contains my computer/iPad/converters and my work-related materials, and then I have a cross-body wallet for my passport, phone and euros.
My coworker and I have to schlep 10 heavy suitcases / boxes for our meeting in Paris, so packing light is an absolute essential for me.
There is a lot of empty air space between clothing that is just laid flat. Also, rolling minimizes wrinkles as nothing is creased, and if packed properly, won’t move around. I wasn’t a convert until I tried this last month. Several things were left rolled for days and when I went to grab and wear, there were hardly any wrinkles, if at all.
Yes, I’m rewearing clothing. The 2 maxi dresses and one black skirt ( with 2 tops) are for evenings. We have 10 evenings. Some things twice, some things three times.
For days that leaves me with 3 skirts, 2 dresses, the maxi skirt is really a tulip skirt and covers my knees for vatican, easy to walk around during the day. I’ll wear that 2 times and the the other things for 8 days. I probably will take out one dress…but they are both so lightweight and role to nothing.
Y’all quit trying to make me a minimalist…haha!
I roll and use packing cubes. My biggest challenge is traveling in places where there are wild temperature swings – packing for three seasons is a bit challenging! If I take my hiking boots, I wear them on the plane. Saves me lots of space. Generally, the only other shoes I take are Teva sandals that I can walk in forever.
If it fits in your suitcase and you are within weight limits and you want to bring a particular item, go ahead and include it. There’s no contest as to who can get away with bringing the fewest number of pieces. If you want to bring the extra dress, bring it. I think it is silly for people on here to tell you that you are taking too much, when you’ve already said it all fits comfortably in your suitcase.
Now, if you had said that you are desperate to eliminate a couple of items, advice as to what could be eliminated would be useful.
When you roll things up, it’s amazing how many little cracks and crevices in the side of the suitcase you can tuck things into.
I’m not a world traveler (just one across the pond trip this summer) but do plenty of short trips and I find that what works best is to bring the clothes in my closet and drawers that I LOVE. The favorite sun dress. The favorite all around sandal. The favorite cardigan that I seem to wear with EVERYTHING! Then I sometimes pack with color in mind. So neutral skirts that can be paired with many colored tops. These tops can also go with skirts, shorts or jeans. There is comfort in having those things that I love to wear ! And then at least one black and one white top that can be worn casually or dressed up.
Haha, nottelling - I personally love to come back with fewer things than what I left with! This is also the time to do things like use up little perfume samples, older makeup, a toothbrush that is worn … It’s just me but I get a lot of satisfaction from dumping all that stuff!
I actually put on a certain dress the other day, looked in the mirror and said - nope, this isn’t flattering. I seriously considered adding it to my bag from France, wearing it there on my touring days to get final use out of it, and dumping it! I have a client who shares this same predilection and we have light-hearted contests as to who can come home with the least.
My absolute best was a family trip to a lodge in Minnesota, where I wore nothing but really old, yucky clothing (since it was all going to get filthy anyway) and returned home with just the clothing I wore.
But I’m a major declutterer / minimalist type in general.
re post 31–It is too a contest!
We went to Greece a few years back and I pretty much wore the same thing every day. All my pictures look alike. It was really hot and we were outside nearly all the time so I kept wearing the coolest top I had. I just washed it out at night and hung it to dry. Once I just rinsed it out, rolled it in a towel and put it back on. It was great. I came back with a suitcase of unworn clothing. After that trip I went looking for quick dry, non-wrinkle travel clothes and pared down considerably.
Really, the biggest trick is finding clothes in non-wrinkle fabric. Most roll to nothing. Not too bad these days for women but I wish there was more light-weight, non-wrinkle options for men.
I have an IT bag in the 20 inch size. It has wheels but is SUPER lightweight. Love it. Now it’s my go-to bag.
Wear a neck/waist belt in Rome–especially in train stations, subways, escalators etc. ALL the time. Take a purse that has a locking mechanism like a Travelon purse.
“When you roll things up, it’s amazing how many little cracks and crevices in the side of the suitcase you can tuck things into.”
Yes. I could fit in an extra dress or top in an already stuffed suitcase if it’s rolled. You can even get a t-shirt to fit inside the otherwise-wasted space inside shoes.
The bundling method, OTOH, strikes me as a big hassle. It only works if you are staying in one place the entire time, and unpack your entire suitcase.
Wow, at first I thought OP was packing for month. That’s quite a lot of clothes for 10 days, but to each their own.
For my men’s dress shirts I generally just fold them the traditional way and lay them on top, so they’re the last thing packed. I usually only roll my casual clothes. I also tend to save the rolling and squeezing in for the return trip if I bought things during the trip. If you have to tightly pack on the outbound leg then you haven’t left yourself any room to buy stuff. Although you could always plan on buying another bag/suitcase for your return trip, and on a trip to Italy that’s probably a good plan too.
My sister likes the bundle approach and it is faster on the packing end. One fell swoop at the folding part and no individual rolling. It does keep things unwrinkled also.
I don’t like it because I can’t immediately find the top/pant I’m wanting to wear. For me, it would be harder to pare down–now I can just grab something out when it’s rolled. And it is easy to use that little bit of extra space when something is seperate rather than part of a bundle. With the bundle method you have to take the whole thing out to get at one item. But if you’re someone who unpacks totally when getting somewhere for a while it may work better.
I quit using packing cubes also unless for costumes/entire outfits that need to stay together.
To me, the packing cubes just add unneeded bulk, but that’s just personal preference.
I bought some packing cubes to see if I would like them and I didn’t…takes up too much space. Can’t use those nooks and crannies. They might work better for checked luggage for me, but not carryon.