Vacationing is always fun, but the pre-game for vacationing, known as packing, is not always as joyful a process. From being indecisive, to running out of time, to poor utilization of space, packing can be a great deal of stress for some people. Here are some helpful tips to minimize the pain of packing.
Before you start, plan.
Depending on the length of the trip, and how antsy you are, you’ll want to plan your packing list 3-5 days before you leave, and leave enough time to pack.
Some questions to ask yourself:
What will the weather be like? Is it worth bringing ten sun-dresses, or three jackets?
What will be easy and cheap to purchase there? Clothing can be cheap to acquire in a lot of places, so it might be better for you to pack light, and just buy some clothes when you get there.
Will you want to bring back a lot of gifts and souvenirs? If yes, then you’ll need to think about how much room you might need to leave/if there will be anything that can get used up.
Utilize hollow objects.
Most of the time, this means shoes. Stuff socks and whatever other smaller objects you have. (My friend once stuffed her ipod into a shoes along with other clothing items.) It’s also often a good idea to make shoes the bottom layer–provided, if you’re packing Louboutins, you better scrap what I just said.
Leave bendable/compressible objects last for the nooks and crannies.
If you have one of those hard plastic suitcases, this might not work as well for you, but if you have the soft suitcase, this will be a nice trick. Often times, small make-up packs can be slid in the corners, as well as books, socks, and clothing that can be rolled up, which can save you substantial amounts of room.
If you’re really, really pressed for room, and there is no other way, stuff in s different dimension
Unfortunately, it’s not as sci-fi awesome as it seems; there are no wormholes or alternate timelines necessary to do this. Just keep stuffing once you’ve lifted the suitcase right side up. Because you’ve been compressing all your items into the suitcase while it was lying flat on the ground, you’ve exhausted room in that dimension. But chances are, once you’ve flipped it to be right-side up, and gravity is giving you some help, you’ll have a little more room at the top of the suitcase to utilize.