Adventuriquity

Stretched zipper seams, stuffed packing cubes, and all the wrong clothes… Overpacking, it happens to the best of us. I like to think that each trip I tend to get better at whittling down my pack to the optimal combination of practical clothes. Then one day I find myself wearing all my clothes at once to stay warm, realizing I only packed three underwear, and having to buy a toothbrush.

My first solo long-term trip I brought all the wrong things. I brought a blazer jacket because I thought there was an off chance I would have to dress up for dinners in Europe. I brought black loafers because I thought I wouldn’t fit in with European style wearing tennis shoes. I brought multiple pairs of jeans and nice pants that I never ended up wearing. Effectively half my clothes, including the blazer that sat at the bottom of my bag for 10 weeks, were never worn. Absolutely hilarious looking back at what I packed, but definitely annoying at the time.

Packing can sometimes feel daunting, especially when going on a trip that lasts longer than a week. One thing that I’ve found over the years is the law of bag size: whichever size bag you choose, it will always find a way to be filled. Top tip is to pick a bag you are comfortable carrying two miles and then start your packing list from that size. No one wants to feel like a Sherpa while hauling a stuffed 70 litre pack across Europe in the hot summer wondering why you brought a hairdryer and a second pair of dress shoes.

Once you’ve got your bag, I find that 40-50 litres is a comfortable size for a trip of any length, start with the essentials. Underwear, socks, shirts/tops, shorts/bottoms, and pants, all depending on what climate you’ll be in the most. After the essentials are packed, then the Hunger Games between your other favorite travel clothes begins. To determine how much to bring above the essentials, I tend to use four packing cubes with i) shirts/tops, ii) shorts/pants, iii) underwear, socks, accessories, and iv) meds, electronics, and other random stuff.  If it fits into the cube it belongs in then I can bring it, if not then tough luck.

I cannot promote using packing cubes more. They are the N64 Gameshark of saving time while traveling. There are thousands of different types these days so I suggest browsing for amazon for no more than ten minutes and make a decision based on reviews and size of cubes you like.

One thing to remember is that if you get somewhere and truly need something additional, you can almost always buy it there. So don’t feel like that third charger cord or extra box of bandaids is really necessary to have as backup. On that note, the US is not the only place in the world with medical supplies (I’m definitely guilty of packing an entire first aid kit in the past)!

A good exercise is to simulate a week of travel by laying out your clothes into days/combos and seeing what you would actually wear during the week. If something doesn’t go with more than one other piece, then you should likely ditch it. This exercise combined with writing out an actual packing list item by item tends to give a good perspective on where you stand. When actually packing I find that, at least for guys, that rolling shirts, underwear, and shorts tends to pack into cubes better and leave less wrinkles (there’s a plethora of youtube videos on how to).

It is good practice to try and leave a decent amount of wiggle room in your bag as you will likely find a super sweet tank top or cute dress in the local market that finds it’s way into your ‘essentials’ category. To save on wear and tear of zippers and seams the ideal ‘stuffedness’ of your bag is when your zippers close with the same ease of scissors catching gift wrapping paper for the perfect slide cut. Few things are more devastating than zippers or seams busting mid way into a lengthy trip (one of the few things duct tape struggles to fix).

Last, but definitely not least, double check the weight requirements for the type of transport you plan on taking so you don’t end up paying an absurd fee at the gate when the agent is having a bad day and sends your carry-on to the dreaded scale. If you find yourself a few pounds (or kilos) on the wrong side of the baggage law, easiest thing to do is throw on all the layers you can because the weight restriction is on the bag and not you!

Tune in next time for my actual packing list, types of clothing that work well for travel, and bag set-up for this year long adventure!

-Michael