My mind sees packing like a giant game of Tetris – everything will fit into place but does need the occasional jiggle around and doesn’t need you to sit on your case to close it nor have someone who is stuck in an airport try and help close it but actually end up damaging it!
This is how I pack for a long haul holiday/flight – it’s a guide but it helps.
First things first – Make a list of everything you’ll need.
To do this, start with going through your general day from waking up through to going to sleep.
For example – waking up you check your phone or watch, so pjs and charging cables straight off. Then into the bathroom, so toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash, deodorant – you get the general idea. ‘walking’ through your day will help identify what you need and use, even the little things that you may overlook – saves you buying them in the airport or on holiday.
Check your luggage size against the sizes your airline will accept – some airlines are really clamping down on oversized bags, it could work out cheaper to buy a new suitcase than pay their staff bonus! Tip – Buy one of the handheld baggage weighing scales, simple little things that clip over your handle and as you lift they tell you how much they weigh. They aren’t 100% accurate but based on my experience they are pretty damn close!
From the list above, lay everything out ready to pack. Now, if you’re able to take a cabin suitcase and checked suitcase then take the option, use your cabin suitcase to store your battery devices (example action cameras, toothbrush, shaver etc) and pack 1 or 2 days worth of basic clothing (including swimwear). This covers you in case your checked bags have a holiday elsewhere but also means you have quick and easy access to things if you’re able to use your location on arrival until your room is ready. Just don’t forget, liquid rules in airports still cover your cabin suitcase! Stick these in your checked bag.
Now you have 2 options, play full-scale Tetris with everything and different people prefer different ways of doing this (such as rolling t-shirts rather than laying them flat or folded), but don’t forget that empty space in shoes – perfect for rolled socks!
or your other option and this will make a huge difference – compression based packing cubes. The first time we used these we were amazed by the space saving but were also convinced we’d forgotten stuff! We hadn’t, the cubes simply did their job.
Packing cubes come in a couple of different types (and plenty of sizes) – simple zipped cubes that just make things look neat and make it easier play Tetris or the better ones have a secondary outer zip which compresses the packing cube – these can quite easily reduce the spaced used by 50% – making suitcase Tetris even easier!
A tip with liquids, whilst they shouldn’t pop or leak, you never know how your suitcase is being handled in the airport – it might be treated with love and care or it might be thrown around like a rugby ball, who knows. The point being, the insides could be bouncing around like someone on a bungee rope!
Buy some sealable plastic bags, and pop items into these before squeezing the air out and closing the top of the bag – yeah it looks a little odd and yes you need to open them all when you get to your holiday, but it’s cleaner and easier than having the aftermath of a bottle go pop or leak – even a little leak can find the places you didn’t even know existed in your suitcase!
If you’re like us, you might have non standard suitcases – by non standard I mean they aren’t all black or grey and don’t blend in with every other suitcase on the belt. If you do have a standard suitcase then I recommend getting a coloured or unique strap – it’ll help you see it at least!
We use Retreev luggage tags, some tags that attach to your luggage – they don’t hold you’d details visible but they do have a QR code which can be scanned if someone finds your luggage.
We also have Apple AirTags inside the cases, yes it does rely on the network and bluetooth, but something is better than nothing. Just be wary of checking them at the airport because until things catch up it will show them at the last registered location – so when you get to your destination and check they might still be showing somewhere else until they register in their new location! Nothing like being stood in Grenada by the luggage belt and Find My is showing your luggage in Gatwick…….(it was in Grenada, just needed to wait a little longer for it to update!)
So along with the Retreev tags and the Apple AirTags we also have an old school piece of paper within the suitcase itself with our contact details. It’s in the extreme event but I’d rather not see my lost luggage one day appearing on ‘Storage Wars’ or the like because it couldn’t be returned to me!
Packing Cubes – Available on Amazon and many other places.
Retreev Luggage Tags – Available on Amazon or direct from https://retreev.com
Star Wars Luggage – These are American Tourister but they don’t make these anymore.
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