Learn to pack like a pro
While you might not have the skills of famous Japanese organising consultant Marie Kondo, that doesn’t mean you can’t pack like a pro when you take your next holiday.
Packing for an overseas adventure
When you’re travelling overseas for an extended period, you’re going to want to cram as much as possible in your suitcase without being over the weight limit. The question is: do you fold, roll, or just chuck your clothes in a suitcase at the last minute? The way you pack can make a big difference to the amount of space you use. Scrunching your clothes will result in creases, while packing moments before you leave for the airport can end in tears when you realise you’ve forgotten your favourite bathers. Let’s explore some practical ways to pack for an overseas adventure.Packing technique 1: Cubing
PROS: Packing cubes are a relatively new concept, and make it super easy to organise your clothes into separate compartments, with plenty of sizes to choose from. You can purchase a threepiece bag packer that’ll help you find particular clothes without making a mess of the rest of your luggage. CONS: Packing cubes are an extra expense, but most people who purchase them say they pay for themselves quickly.Packing technique 2: Folding
PROS: Folding is the quickest and easiest way to pack. You open a draw, grab your folded clothes and put them in your suitcase. CONS: When folding, you’re more likely to crease your t-shirts and other thin clothing items. Folded clothes take up more room in your suitcase and leave fewer gaps for other items.Packing technique 3: Rolling
PROS: If you roll, rather than fold your clothes, you’ll be able to find specific pieces easily, as they’ll be laid out in a row instead of stacked on top of each other. If you want to be even more organised, you can roll entire outfits together. When you fill your suitcase with rolled clothes, you’l
A combination of rolling, folding and cubing works well when packing.
Checking your weight
Have you ever stepped on the scales, jumped off, and then repeated the process while holding your bag to find out how much it weighs? This is an awkward manoeuvre that should be left to the likes of Olympic weightlifters. If you’re overseas, you might not even have access to scales – you definitely don’t want to lug them around with you. Weighing your luggage is now so much easier, with a variety of small, easy-to-pack travel scales. The Go Travel Digi Scales are so small they can fit in your pocket. With an LCD screen, you can get an accurate read of how much your bag weighs and no longer have to worry at check-in.Packing chargers and gadgets
You arrive at your accommodation and look for your phone charger among your clothes. When you finally find it, it’s caught in a tangled mess of cables and five different adaptors. This problem can be solved with a few different gadgets. If you can’t minimise your charging cables, it’s best to organise them. There are numerous tech cases available – ranging in price and size – that can store all those clumsy cables when you’re travelling. If you’ve still got a zip-lock bag full of adaptors, it’s time to upgrade. The Jackson Worldwide Travel Adaptor will allow you to plug in your charger anywhere you travel – it even has USB ports so you can charge more than one device at a time.
There’s an art to packing chargers and gadgets.