Packing by the numbers

If y'all don't already know by now, I love to travel. I don't go to exotic places, but I do like to go normal places pretty often. And as you may have heard, one of the things I take a lot of pride in (in a good way, I think), is my ability to pack lightly.  I've been meaning to get some photos of my packing process, but usually it only takes me about 15 minutes (and includes K's clothes), but I lucked out last week! I went a little liberal on the toiletries (no plan means no liquid limits), so this is actually packing "heavy" for me.

Trip details

• Conference for work (business casual): Wednesday-Friday
• College roomie's bachelorette (massages, dinner/drinks): Friday-Sunday
• Method of transportation: Driving (Sac-SF, SF-So Cal, So Cal-Sac)

What I brought (includes my Wednesday clothes)

• 3 pairs of shoes
• 2 pairs of pants
• 1 dress
• 2 skirts
• 1 blazer
• 2 cardigans
• 1 short-sleeve shirt
• 2 sleeveless tops
• 2 belts
• 2 bikinis
• 5 days of unders (in the bag)
• 4 toiletry bags (one for lotions, one for contact lens stuff, one for makeup, one for supplies)
• 1 jewelry pouch
• 1 tech pouch (chargers, headphones, travel mouse, etc.)

Not shown: Laptop bag (laptop, portfolio, laptop charger, external hard drive) and purse

While some people stand firmly behind rolling their clothes, I am a flat packer. I actually ended up with extra space and so I threw in my skinnies, an extra blouse, and an extra belt...just in case.

Some tips on packing:

• I lay my shoes on their sides and then in a plastic bag. Unless I'm carrying anything heavy-ish, shoes go toward the bottom of the suitcase (when it's upright). That way they don't press down on the clothes and wrinkle them as badly.
• Many little bags are easier to pack than a few large bags.
• This suitcase doesn't have a garment area, so I folded the blazer with the lapels out and laid it on top. First thing I did in the hotel was take it out and hang it up.
• If you wear pajamas, I recommend placing them in last. Usually they're the first thing you'll want to grab.
• I had mostly sleeveless tops, but if you have long sleeves, I leave the sleeves hanging over and fold them over on top at the end. Almost like your tops are hugging everything else on top of them.

While it doesn't seem like a lot, there really is no way I could go through all of these clothes even once in my five days of travel (although some pieces are likely to get reworn). But I always like to have a few wildcards just in case I feel like mixing it up!

What did I end up wearing and what got left behind? Check back tomorrow. :)


Are you a heavy or light packer? Any tips?