How to effectively pack for your trip?

My tips for packing when you are travelling for longer periods of time

Whether you are departing for your Erasmus semester abroad, or embarking on a three month long backpacking journey through South America, the very simple and the most important rule for packing is always the same - do not overpack! In this blog post, I decided to collect all the tips for stress - free packing and travelling, which I learned through trial and error during my travels.

That is how my overpacking looked like. My excuse was that I was leaving for one year. But imagine the hassle of dragging all that luggage through an airport... It was heavier than me!

Clothes

Do not bring tons of clothes on your trip. Bring items that you can mix and match and you actually intend to wear. One of my favourite travel bloggers once posted the following tip for packing clothes: prepare the clothes that you want to wear on your trip and then take half of them away. Because that is the optimal amount and it will still be more than you will actually need. When I moved to Portugal for my Erasmus exchange, I packed a full suitcase of clothes, and I ended up wearing barely half of them.

And remember, people in other countries have washing machines too, so you can simply wash your clothes on the road. Also, it will not kill you if you wear the same T - shirt two days in a row. And by not bringing a crazy amount of clothes on your trip, you can save space in your backpack for souvenirs.

And, what a surprise, other countries have clothing stores too, so you can buy clothes there. This will also allow you to refresh your wardrobe and explore some new styles. Again, bringing fifty kilograms of luggage with you is just a waste.

And a pro tip for packing your clothes: regardless on if you are travelling with a suitcase or a backpack, roll your clothes instead of folding them. There are people who say rolling your clothes is pretty ineffective and it actually does not save any space, but after trying both methods through my several years of travelling, I figured out that rolling is a big space saver, especially if you are trying to travel with a small backpack.

And for me, rolling my clothes when packing works better for two main reasons. The first reason is that it actually saves space if you fold them the right way, and it is way easier to fit them in your backpack. And the second reason is that, when I travel with my backpack, the clothes do not get wrinkly at all, if you roll them tightly enough.

This is how my suitcase with a year - long supply of clothes looked like before I moved to the United States of America. Notice how the suitcase is only half full. I tried putting folded clothes in beforehand, and it was filled all the way up.

Shoes

Choosing which shoes to bring greatly depends on the destination (or destinations) you are travelling to. But a general advice is the following: bring a pair of shoes that is comfortable and will not give you blisters, and a pair of flip flops. You can use them to walk around, and for around the hostel or hotel, so you do not have to walk around barefoot.

The type of shoes you might want to bring with you, also depends on the style of travelling you are planning to do. Of course, if you are planning to do some clubbing, you should definitely bring your favourite pair of heels and your little black dress with you, but you might want to leave these at home if you are planning to trek through the Peruvian jungle. In that case, you should bring a mosquito repellent instead.

Cosmetics and body care

When I travel, I am always torn between bringing a half empty, full - sized shampoo bottle (so I can use it all and then just throw the empty bottle away) and travel sized bottles. And, to be honest, my choice depends on the destination and other factors.

And when I really want to bring as little luggage as possible to my trip, I bring the following products with me: Lush shampoo and body wash bars and the ten in one liquid. Let me explain more about them. The Lush bar will replace your shampoo, body wash and hair conditioner. It smells delicious (there are different kinds) and it lasts a really long time. It is a little bit expensive, but totally worth the investment.

The ten in one liquid is by far my favourite body care product. Why? Because, as the name itself suggests, you can use it as ten different things: body wash, shampoo, hair conditioner, moisturizer, face wash, toothpaste (I am not kidding), mouthwash, detergent for your clothes, mosquito repellent and regular detergent. Of course, do not expect a superb taste, but it does smell good, and what is even more important, it does the job.

If you are a girl, do not bring tons of make up with you. You will not need it. And besides, it feels very liberating to be without make up for a couple of days.

Money

Money is probably the most important thing for your trip. After all, you could not travel without money. Well, it is possible, but that is a story for a different blog post. When travelling for longer periods of time, you need to bring a fair amount of money with you. And the most important tip for carrying large amounts of money with you while travelling is - do not keep all the money in the same spot. To some people, this might seem pretty obvious, but when travelling in Barbados, a girl in my hostel room was travelling with an enormous stash of cash, and she would literally just leave it under her pillow every day. That is not cool at all. Well, unless you want to lose your money.

So what is your safest bet for distributing the money when you travel? First and foremost, it depends on the general safety of the country you are travelling to. This is how I usually travel with money:

First of all, have at least two credit/debit/prepaid cards. Put some money on each one of them. And when you go out, take one of them with you, and leave two of them in the room, but not in the same spot. Sounds like I am paranoid? Probably, but I had to deal with an unauthorized transaction before, and it is not fun at all. So I am rather very careful.

A few years ago, I stumbled across a pretty amazing invention, called the travel bra. The travel bra looks just like a regular sports bra, but it has several hidden pockets where you can hide your valuables. It looks a bit awkward when you need to get the money out (I usually do it at the restroom), but it is as safe as it can get. If you are a guy, they have a similar product - the travel trunks.

Looks like an ordinary sports bra, right? It does, but it is much more useful!

If you are travelling to a country that has a different currency than where you are from, do not exchange crazy amounts of money into that currency when you are still at home. The exchange rate is usually much better at the destination. And once you get to your destination, do not exchange money in exchange shops. Simply withdraw money from an ATM, because this will give you the best exchange rate. Well, you will most likely have to pay a small withdrawal fee, depending on your bank, but your exchange rate will be much better that way. But let’s go back to the time when you are still in your home country. You will have to exchange some money for the expenses you will encounter in the first few days - for the taxi from the airport, food and so on.

When I travelled through quite a few Caribbean islands in one long trip, I decided to ask the person I trust to put some money on my bank account every two weeks. That way, if my card was stolen, it never had crazy amounts of money on it. Another ‘trick’ is also to have some emergency money on your PayPal account, so if something goes wrong, you can simply withdraw it to your bank account. And at this point you probably understand, why you need to travel with more than one bank card. If the only credit card you have, is stolen, you cannot withdraw money from PayPal on it.

Electronics

Those are my must - have electronics that I bring on all of my trips: laptop (one of those book - sized ones that fit everywhere) or a tablet, camera, phone, GoPro, and all the chargers. Do not buy new electronics just before your trip just for the sake of being fancy. The more expensive these items are, the more you will regret if they get stolen or destroyed. And a bonus - having a waterproof phone is amazing. I dropped mine into a swamp in Florida (by accident! ) and it still works. Why? Because it is waterproof, of course. And do not ask how we got it out of the swamp.

You can also bring a power bank to charge your phone in cases of emergency. I bought a cheap power bank that will refill my battery for about forty percent. You can, of course, buy more powerful power banks, that will recharge your battery multiple times without recharging them but I just did not want to spend a lot of money on mine in case I lose or damage it.

If you are planning to do some off the grid travels, I would highly suggest you to invest into a solar charger. You can wear it on your backpack during the day to charge it, and charge all your electronics overnight. The cheapest solar charger only costs fifteen dollars on Amazon, and most of them are waterproof, which is pretty amazing.

Medicines

Do not bring the whole pharmacy with you. I know your mum will probably buy you enough medicines for the whole town, but guess what? Other countries have pharmacies too, and you can buy that same stuff there. It will most likely just be called differently. Of course there are some items that you should bring with you, and those are on my must - bring list: painkillers, medicine for upset stomach (PeptoBismol is the best), Band-aids, and rubbing alcohol (which can also double as hand sanitizer).

Keep in mind that you are not allowed to bring pills if they are not in their original package to some countries! United states of America is one of those countries. Check these rules before you depart.

Miscellaneous items

Bring a journal and a pen. Write down things that you liked, your thoughts and the places that you visited. You will see how interesting it will be to read your thoughts after a few years.

Do not haul books with you. Unless they are in an electronic form. Actual books just take a lot of space in your luggage, but if you have them on the phone, your phone will not be any heavier. I admit it, I occasionally bring books with me on my travels, but since they are library books, I am always super stressed out that I will lose them. Speaking of books, Lonely Planet and Frommer’s travel guides are life savers! So many useful tips for all budgets and travel styles!

If you are travelling for a really long period of time, bring something small that will remind you of home. For me, that item is a keychain that my family and friends bought for me before my first solo trip ever. Of course I would be super sad if I ever lose it, but what would be the point of leaving it at home?

Zip-lock bags of different sizes. Need to make your phone or camera waterproof for a while because it is raining or you will be getting wet? Put it in a zip - lock bag. Carrying a backpack through a downpour and do not want to get your clothes inside it wet? Put them in a zip - lock bag. And a pro tip - keep your passport (if you are travelling with one) and some money in a zip - lock bag all the time. Just in case, you know. There are thousands of uses for zip - lock bags. All you need to do is bring them on your trip. And thank me later.

If you are backpacking, bring a mini sewing kit. Because if your backpack rips in the middle of nowhere, you can repair it. At least temporarily. Happened to me in the Dominican republic, and I am glad I listened to my backpacker friend when he told me to always have a sewing kit with me.

If you are planning on camping or sleeping on somebody's floor, a sleeping bag and a yoga mat are a good idea. Yoga mat will take quite a lot of your space, but you can find really small sleeping bags nowadays, that will not take more space in your luggage than a jacket.

A few words for the end…

When I was still a rookie traveller, I used to dread packing because I knew I will pack too many things. But, after a few trips, I quickly recognized which things should I bring and which items can I leave at home. And hopefully my tips will help you make packing for your trip at least a little bit easier. Safe travels!

All the packing problems will be forgotten when you see that view... This photo was taken on my way from Ohio to Las Vegas.

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