My fiance will tell you that I over pack, and perhaps I do slightly, but I haven’t checked a bag in over 10 years. I stuff my carry-on duffel bag completely full, but no matter what, I always fit everything I need into carry-on bags. Today I wanted to share three travel tips to help you pack and create multiple outfits with limited space.
Note** this is the duffel bag I use for longer vacations (a week or more) and this is the duffel I use for weekend or under a week trips (it even has a separate section at the bottom to pack your shoes). Both are airline approved and can be stuffed in the overhead bin or under the seat! Roller bags are easier to carry through the airport, but they are harder to stow on the plane, which it makes it more likely that you’ll have to gate check your bag. I prefer to have my things with me at all times.
Figure out what events and activities you’ll be attending prior to packing
The first of my three travel tips to help you pack and create multiple outfits with limited space is to figure out what you’ll be doing on your trip. Do you have to dress nicely for a meal with grandma? Are you planning on taking any hikes or participating in other outdoor activities? If you are going to be doing outdoor activities, make sure you also check the weather to see what kind of attire you’ll need.
If it will be raining, see if the place you’re staying has umbrellas to borrow. If there are umbrellas you can use, this will eliminate the need to pack your own.
Make a list of all the events/activities you know about so you can assess what kind of clothing you need, what you can get away without packing, and how you should allocate your luggage space. As a side note, always wear your biggest items on the plane. This is a simple way to free up luggage space, plus planes are always cold so it’s worth it to wear extra layers.
Decide on a color palate
This sounds kind of silly if you’re not used to it, but when you’re trying to create multiple outfits with limited space, it’s important to decide on a color palate for your trip. The key to creating a lot of outfits from a few pieces is to bring clothing that works together. Clothing doesn’t have to match, but it does have to go together. For reference, denim doesn’t count as a color as it acts like a neutral. A great pair of jeans goes with everything!
If you bring a red coat, green pair of pants, and blue dress, it’s going to be much harder to create multiple outfits. My rule of thumb is to stick to mostly neutrals, and pick one or two colors to use as accent colors.
For example, if you do decide on bringing a red coat, plan on red being your accent color for the trip. Stick with neutral colored clothing to wear under the jacket so you can wear the red jacket with pretty much any outfit you put on underneath.
If you decide on neutral outerwear, you can have more fun with the colors of tops, accessories, or even pants. It’s all about figuring out outfits that can be mixed and matched.
Pack items with multiple uses or items that can be styled differently
Multi use items can be jeans, sweaters, or boots. You can style jeans with a sweatshirt and sneakers for day time, but you can also dress them up with heels and a blazer at night.
Same thing goes with boots. Pack a pair of boots that you can wear with pants or with a dress/skirt. This will limit the amount of shoes you need, and give you multiple outfit options depending on the event or activity.
A great way to get multiple styles out of a jacket or coat is to layer it with a hooded sweatshirt. You can instantly make the piece feel much more casual by layering a coat with a hooded sweatshirt underneath for daytime (make sure the hood and potentially the cuffs of the sweatshirt show). Just remove the sweatshirt for night and dress it up with jewelry and nice shoes.
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Traveling itself can be difficult, and packing for a lot of events and activities is one of the hardest parts. Follow these three travel tips to help you pack and create multiple outfits with limited space so that you have everything you need without having to wait in line at baggage claim! Happy and safe travels!