My first big trip where I remember packing myself was when I went to China for 2-3 weeks with a college group. I vividly remember checking in, the airport staff weighed my bag and it was already too heavy. My dad was trying to pull stuff out to shove in my backpack, my student group was waiting for me, and I was panicking. I ended up lugging the massive suitcase around during our trip, probably using 1/3 of the stuff I packed, and had to pay extra money for being overweight during the in-country flights we took in China as well. It was a disaster and one I haven’t forgotten. 

Since then, I have really worked to minimize my packing habits and I am happy to say that our family has really learned the skill of packing light. We often only travel with two carry on suitcases, even for our 2 week Italy trip. You might be asking….but why travel light. There are a couple reasons we do this. 1) We really want to limit paying any luggage fees 2) Traveling with kids and a bunch of suitcases adds to the chaos 3) Suitcases take up a lot of space in hotel rooms and 4) Less packing has turned into less stress both before, during and after the trip.

Here are my tips for packing light. 

• Clothes that are easy to mix & match, layers, non-wrinkle – This is probably the hardest part: minimizing clothes. All of the below is relevant for adults and kids. We buy things that can be dressed down or up for the occasional nice meal. We also try to pack items that can easily mix & match, layer up, and bonus if they are non-wrinkle materials. We usually do not buy new clothes for trips, we buy less but more premium items that we can wear often and will hold up. Finally, I personally usually only pack one type of an item, for example, one pair of jean shorts, one skirt, one athletic short, one nice blouse, etc. We have learned to be ok with wearing clothing multiple times and not worrying too hard about fashion. Here is a link to some of our favorite items:
  • Allie: Athleta Pants, Athleta Skort (great dress up option), Left On Friday swimsuits can double as underwear & bra and you can mix and match to make different variations, I also love basic neutral colored t-shirts/muscle shirts from Athleta & Lululemon
  • Ryan: Patagonia joggers, Patagonia long-sleeve sun shirt, Hybrid swim shorts (these dress up really well)

• Simplify products – This tip is more for the women, but I have really cut down the makeup and hair products I bring on trips. Mascara is my must have, and then I usually have a cream eyeshadow pencil. Also, the only hair product I bring is my beloved Living Proof dry shampoo (travel size). It is amazing and I highly recommend it. I do not travel with a hair blow dryer (usually available at hotels) or any straightener/curling iron, although I know some women have different hair needs than me. If I know shampoo or conditioner will be available, I won’t travel with that either. Also, we do not travel with anything full size, I have travel size items that don’t take up as much space. 

• Only two pairs of shoes – Shoes take up a lot of room in suitcases. Each person gets two pairs of shoes, usually tennis shoes and sandals. Everyone wears tennis on the plane since they are bulkier, and we pack all the sandals. I personally wear Teva sandals, and I love how they can look nice with a dress too. Ryan and I also have water shoes that can be worn as tennis shoes. He will also use these when he works out and they work well.

• Packing cubes – I love my packing cubes. Each person gets one cube for clothes, which really helps me to ensure I don’t pack too much. Then we have one extra small cube for underwear & swimsuits. It is really great for packing, but also when we are settling into a room I can easily throw the cubes in drawers and it helps us keep organized throughout the week. We just upgraded to these cubes with compression, but there are a ton of other options on Amazon.

• Pack a duffel bag – We always find that we tend to leave a vacation with more than we traveled with, so we started traveling with an extra duffel bag. Patagonia Black Hole bags are our go to because they pack easily, have backpack strap options, and are super durable. We will usually pack it in one of our carryons or backpacks, and then on our trip we can fill it with misc. items we buy or dirty laundry. When we travel home, we can either carry it on or check it. 

We have learned this skill through many different trips. I highly recommend for each trip you take, just try to minimize one thing and see how it goes. You will be surprised how you can get through a trip just fine without that one item you were thinking of packing for the “just incase” moment. 

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