One Bag to Pack Them All

The Young One needed to pack for a 9 week trip (more about that later). With all the regulations about how many bags and weight of the bags, packing had to be efficient. I was taught to roll clothes to pack in a suitcase. I thought that was a good way to go until I saw a post written by my WAM colleague, Veronica Fish.

Veronica packed last year for a month long trip to Japan. In a carry-on bag! Is that efficient, or what? Fortunately, Veronica detailed the how she did it on her blog. I thought she would be rolling up her things, too, but her method was to stack and fold.

So, The Young One and I followed Veronica's method. The clothes chosen were a mix of casual and business casual tops, a couple of sweaters, a pair of jeans,chinos, plain black slacks, and one dressy outfit, as well as undies and a pair of sneakers. She also packed a pair of pajama pants and tee (a hang out in the apartment outfit or for sleeping), a beloved Minecraft zippered hoodie which will do multi-duty as a robe, light jacket, and bathing suit cover-up. There were enough items to get through a whole week. The Young One has access to laundry facilities.

Stacking 3 or 4 tops and folding them into an envelope shape seems to me much neater than rolling. All the clothes chosen were easy care and required no ironing. We didn't pack the clothes in a carry-on, but one bag to pack them all was the rule. The total weight of the suitcase plus the clothes was only 25 lbs. Half the weight allowance!

The Young One was bringing her laptop and a pen tablet so was going to use her laptop back pack as her carry on. Then we got to thinking that a back pack might be a red flag going through security so I gave the Young One a brief case type computer bag to use.

Besides the laptop, she packed her purse, gum, a journal and assorted pens and pencils, a bag with clean undies and socks, deo, toothbrush, and a travel toothpaste (Just in case the luggage went on a different trip for awhile as happened to me on a trip to Minnesota). She'll buy regular sized toiletries at her destination. For the flight, The Young One wore jeans, a favorite tee, fleece jacket, and a pair of slip on shoes which can also double as dressy shoes.

So, if you're planning a trip and don't want to take more than you need, follow Veronica's packing method.  Or save it for future reference which is what I did.