How To Pack Light

Step 1: Bare Your Essentials

Make a packing list and stick to it.. This will help you eliminate the liabilities and make clear what you can't travel comfortably without. It will also help determine what size luggage you will need. The most important extras to pack are underwear and socks. Extra undergarments will help reduce the amount of times you do laundry while traveling. Reuse your packing list each time you travel.

Step 2: Dress Less

Minimize the amount of outfits you pack by selecting a uniformed color scheme. With only two outfits it is possible to mix and match to stretch those two outfits to four. Wear one outfit and pack the other. Keep in mind natural fabrics, although cooler, wrinkle easier and dry slower and knitted fabrics are less prone to creasing.

Step 3: Get Layered

The trick to dealing with colder weather is to layer, not pack heavier clothing. When determining your outfits choose ones that can be worn over each other.

Step 4: Police Your Wardrobe

When traveling overseas do not wear military style clothing. By doing so you could send the wrong message that could cause you harm, especially in a strange country.

Step 5: Don & Ditch

A great idea is to take along an older piece of clothing such as a light jacket or sweater that you can discard. This makes room for souvenirs. If you plan to collect souvenirs, go small. Get jewelry. You can wear it home and save room in your luggage.

Step 6: Bundle Wrap

The goal to streamline packing is to reduce the number of folds. If you individually fold items and place them on top of each other it will cause unwanted folds and wrinkles. And rolling clothing reduces folds but increases wrinkles. Try "Bundle Wrapping". Wrap your clothes around a central core object like a bathroom bag or organizer. Bundle wrap in a specific order so that the large garments will end up on the outside of the bundle. Lay the clothes on top of each other in this order: Jacket, skirt, long sleeved shirt, short sleeve shirt, sweater, shorts. Then roll the clothes tightly around the core object.

Step 7: Feet

When choosing shoes, try to wear one pair of comfortable shoes that go with all of your outfits. You can add a pair of flip flops since they take up minimal space.

Step 8: Hit The Shower

If you have to do laundry while traveling, try doing it in the shower. Only wash your socks and underwear using hair conditioner since silk like hair is a protein. Most hotels supply conditioner. Then wring your clothes tightly in a towel to speed up the drying process.

Step 9: Size Is Everything

Try to stick to airline carry-on size regulations when packing for any trip. Thinking that way will have you thinking streamline packing every time.