For some people, packing a suitcase is the least favourite part of their travel experience. Packing requires patience and organization and let’s face it, most of us aren’t really interested in exercising these virtues. All we want is to hit the road and travel!
Are you looking for practical ways to make packing less tedious and boring than it already is? Then this article is for you. Just follow these steps and you will soon become an expert in packing a suitcase in thirty minutes or less.
- Choose the Right Suitcase
The first step in packing is to choose the right size of suitcase. Before choosing the right size, you should consider:
- The length of your trip – longer trips mean more clothes and toiletries to make your travel comfortable.
- The purpose of your trip – people generally pack light for business trips and pack heavier for holiday and touring trips.
- The mode of travel – air travel demands you pack light, unless you are willing to pay for the extra baggage. Road trips give you more liberty to pack as much as you can.
2. Pack Light
A brilliant way to save time during packing is to pack light. As much as possible, try to cut down on items. To do this, make a list of items you wish to pack. List the items according to the duration of your trip, purpose of your trip and mode of travel.
Next, scale down the items. You can do this by creating a list of preference. Start out with a list of twenty items to pack then scale down to a list of ten.
As you scale, ask yourself, “ if this item is stolen during the trip, can I function without it?”
3. Organize your Wardrobe
Organize your wardrobe before packing. To do this, arrange all the clothes and underwear you intend to wear during the trip. To pack light, mix and match outfits. Repeating clothes during a trip isn’t a bad idea, especially if you know how to mix and match.
Neutral pants and skirts are great to mix with just about any colour and design of shirts and tops.
A maximum of three shoes is ideal for a trip: a casual shoe, a formal shoe and a comfortable pair.
To cut down on bulk, pack minimum underwear, particularly breathable wash and wear fabric that dries easily.
1.Lay out your Stuff – before packing, lay out all items in your priority list before packing them in. Doing so saves you the trouble of last minute additions and subtractions, and worst of all, forgotten items.
Spread out your items on the bed and take an inventory of them before layering them into the suitcase.
2. Think Travel Friendly – a brilliant hack in cutting back time and saving space is to buy pre packed travel friendly items. For example, pre packed sample sized containers of shampoo, soap, conditioner and toothpaste in a waterproof toiletry bag. Use travel friendly containers for jewelries and other accessories like chargers, keys, cards, toothbrush and medications.
You can use transparent compartmentalized plastic bags. These bags are convenient and save time in the packing process.
4. Think Layers 
Layering items in your suitcase creates more space for you to pack more items efficiently. Layering is a skill that is mastered during repetition.
- Bottom Layer: the bottom layer typically consists of rolled up clothes. Roll up light clothes and layer them in such a way that you alternate the neck and helm of tops. This technique cuts down bulk and creates an even flat layer for you to layer more clothes.
To prevent wrinkling, you can place tissue paper between clothes.
Layer your clothes in such a way that the least worn clothes are layered first and the favourite clothes are layered last.
- Middle Layer – Fragile items such as perfume bottles, tea cups, mirror are cushioned in the middle layer. Utilize the sides of your middle layer by filling it in with tiny items like hair brushes, soap bars, and jewellery boxes.
- Top Most Layer – your top most layer is made up of items you need on arrival, for example your night clothes, tooth brushes, towels, bedsheets,hangers, make up bag, toiletry kit and so on.
As you get closer to the end of packing, place shoes heel to toe at the sides of your suitcase. Utilize the nooks and crannies of your shoes by storing smaller items like socks, sunglasses and trinkets in these spaces.
Finish up the top most layer with bulky clothes that take up more space when folded, for example towels, bedsheets, bath robes and blankets.
Spread them on the top most layer of your suitcase and tuck the corners in to create a flat surface that is easy to zip.
- Brilliant Hacks for Smaller Items – smaller unfoldable items easily pack space, if you don’t know the brilliant hacks in storing them. Check these out:
- Roll up belts into a tight small circle and tuck them inside shirt collars.
- Fold up panties and tuck them inside bra cups to free up some space.
- Shoes are not just for storing socks but also for storing jewelry, foldable tank tops and t-shirts.
- Wrap necklaces in seal plastic wraps to keep them scratch free, easy to find and of course save space.
5. Pack your Fun Bag 
Packing a fun bag helps save space in your suitcase. A fun bag contains items to keep you entertained during the trip. They include books, ipods, earpieces, gameboys, chargers, diaries, headphones and mini laptops. Rather than pack these in your suitcase, pack them in a small school bag or satchel. Your fun bag is also ideal for storing credit cards, debit cards and cash.
Packing for a trip can be fun, if you know just what to do. Use these tips on how to pack a suitcase in thirty minutes and you will quickly become a pro in packing your suitcases in thirty minutes or less.
Whether you are traveling on a business trip or sightseeing on any of San Francisco tours, these tips have you covered. Just remember to practise, practise, practise.
Happy travelling!
A professional writer with over a decade of incessant writing skills. Her topics of interest and expertise range from health, nutrition and psychology.
