You must first become familiar with the guidelines if you’re new to packing light. You must be aware of the permitted luggage sizes, weights, and contents for your carry-on bag.
After you comprehend the guidelines, you may proceed to the tenets that will enable you to maximize the amount of packing space that you are permitted.
The specific items on your packing list will vary depending on where you’re going, how long you’re staying, the weather, and your itinerary. This article’s seven guiding concepts are applicable to all travels.
Grammar and packing are similar. Before breaking the rules, you must be aware of them. Once you have mastered these limitations, you can begin to work more freely.
- Stow “Must Have,” Not “Just In Case,” Items
Lay out all of your clothes and cash before you go for your trip. Next, take two times as much money and half the clothes.
Light packing necessitates compromises.
It is not possible to pack clothing for every eventuality. Only bring outfits that you would typically wear.
Consider packing with the Pareto Principle—also known as the 80/20 Principle.
When it comes to packing, this means you should bring along only the 20% of your clothes that you wear 80 percent of the time. Carry the items you typically wear. You won’t want to wear it while driving if you don’t constantly grab it at home.
Bring along your staple pieces from home that you wear often. More than 80% of the scenarios you would face while driving will be covered by those outfits.
Purchase or borrow what you need in case you find yourself in a circumstance for which you did not prepare. The majority of your “what if” situations won’t come to pass. Avoid carrying more emotional and physical baggage “just in case.”
If a surprise does arise, you can easily remedy it with a short-term fix rather than having to deal with it throughout your entire vacation.
2: Prepare for a Week
I am grateful to Anil at foXnoMad for helping me understand this concept.
Divide your packing list into smaller, more manageable sections. Say you’re going away for two weeks, a month, a year, or forever.
On a long trip, it is impossible to plan for every scenario that could arise.
Pack for one typical week instead. It’s manageable to take a week. Imagine wearing clothes for a week with ease. Your closet would hold a year’s worth of clothing.
Laundry will be necessary if your trip lasts more than a week or two. Pack appropriately.
Between laundry cycles, hand wash your necessities in the sink, including underwear, socks, and t-shirts.
Use a nearby laundromat or an inexpensive wash-and-fold service for longer travels.
You can save time and money in many nations by delivering your soiled clothes to a dry cleaner. The following day, simply pick up a tidy package with your clean clothes.
Wash-and-fold in San Francisco runs $15 for a large bag of clothes that I can use for two weeks. For that much, I could do three loads of laundry and have clean clothes for six weeks—that’s less than the cost of checking a bag on a round-trip ticket. Services in most other cities will be less expensive.
- Layer Up, Not Bulk
Wear layers when traveling through different climates or in chilly weather.
Compared to packing bulky goods like coats and sweaters, packing many thin layers offers greater flexibility and requires less room.
You will never be able to fit everything you need in your bag since one bulky sweater will take up so much room.
Warm base layers or thermal shirts made of merino wool keep you toasty and may be removed or layered with other clothing as the weather changes.
When traveling through different climates, prepare for fall. Imagine crisp mornings, balmy afternoons, and chilly evenings. Get ready for that day.
When I go in the morning, I usually wear a light jacket, a base layer, and a t-shirt. I can take off one or both of the outer layers when the weather changes. I can put them back on after the sun goes down.
This flexibility is provided by wearing lightweight layers, which also keep your pack light. Even less room is needed than for a sweater when you have two t-shirts and two base layers.
When venturing out in really chilly, snowy conditions, go for a fleece jacket or a lightweight down jacket. Above all, remember not to bring your jacket. If it will be cold for your entire vacation, wear it. That will become clear in the next part.
4: Wear It If It’s Bulky
Wear anything heavy, such as a winter-weight coat or sweater, rather than packing it.
Take your coat with you on winter travels. If it is not practical to wear the coat the entire trip for example, if there will be time spent in a warmer climate—then don’t bring any coat at all. When you get there, pick up an inexpensive one at Goodwill and sell or donate it when you’re done. Alternatively, to free up interior room, fasten a foldable jacket to the outside of your backpack.
Sweaters and sweatshirts are no exception. We advise eschewing them in favor of the previously mentioned thinner layers. However, if you plan to use your sweater during the trip, you can pack one for cold weather excursions. It gets cold on airplanes, so sweatshirts and hoodies are ideal. Just don’t let them take up any valuable packing space.
