This past fall semester I studied abroad in London at the London College of Fashion. This was an amazing experience getting to study Fashion Communications at such a prestigious school. However, to do this I had to travel “across the pond”, and fit all of my belongings into one checked bag, a carry on, and a personal item…for three months. I am not one to pack light for any trip, so I knew this would be a struggle for me. Since this was really my only option, I had no other choice but to learn to pack light. Here is how I did it!
Make cuts on what clothes you don’t NEED
This was tricky for me because I was going abroad to study fashion, so how was I supposed to pack less clothes? I had to go through category by category, looking at pants first and deciding what I wanted to bring. Then I would sort pants in categories to see how many jeans, dress pants, cargo pants, etc I had. For example, I really didn’t need five pairs of jeans ,so I picked two favorites and that is what I rotated through every week along with some other types of pants.
Use packing cubes
These were essential for me in order to get everything I wanted into my bags. I had a couple packing cubes that were purchased through ebags, and I found these very helpful to organize my clothes in. Rolling my clothes turned out to help save space within these bags, as well as looking up how to fold sweatshirts, jeans, underwear, you name it, to be more compressed and compact.
Know that you are going to buy more abroad
I would be lying to myself if I said I was only going to wear what I packed. When you have a shopping addiction like me, how can you travel to a new country without doing some shopping?! For example, I knew I wanted to buy a pair of tall black leather boots. So instead of packing extra shoes because I had the room, I packed two pairs of sneakers, and one pair of short boots. Even if it is not clothes, you will most likely be buying something from your time abroad to take home with you. It is important to remember you don’t need to have everything, and that you can always buy your shampoo, or anything else you know you’ll need once you arrive.