Whenever I am asked for tips for packing for overseas travel, I always begin by asking questions.
1. How many of you are traveling?
2. How long are you going for?
3. Are you going to be in one hotel the entire trip?
4. Will you be doing business AND pleasure?
5. Will you be using planes, trains and automobiles?
6. Do you mind paying someone at every juncture to handle your luggage?
7. Will you have to carry your luggage up stairs?
8. Will your hotel room(s) be large enough to keep large luggage out of your way?
9. Do you really need all that stuff when you travel?
10. Do you know the answers to all of these questions?
When is packing a lot ok? IF you are going to only a single hotel, there are only 2 of you, and you don’t mind tipping a lot. If there are more than 2 of you, then it becomes questionable whether your luggage will fit into the smaller taxis overseas.
If you have multiple business occasions and similarly multiple casual situations where you will be with the same people over and over, then you may want to pack bigger, but if you will be going to multiple stops, you still want to minimize where you can. The length of your trip from 7 days to 3 months should not change your packing very much, you will just have to clean your clothes more times. But, if you will be traveling to multiple locations, using planes, trains and automobiles (especially trains), may have to carry your luggage up at least 1 flight of stairs, and staying in smaller hotel rooms to conserve money, consider packing light, like something you could carry on.
I try to pack for trips of up to 3 months into something the size of a large carry-on. I almost never carry my luggage on though, as the rules about liquids are too harsh, AND I don’t like to carry my luggage through airports at stopover cities. But a large carry-on is the size that is easiest to deal with in transferring luggage, in getting into a trunk, in getting on and off trains, and for hauling up stairs at railway stations and hotel rooms. So my large carry-on and my backpack. My wife carries a large carry-on size and a large tote, and her purse.
Now how do you get everything you need into such small quarters? Let’s look at what allows you to pack light.
1. Assume you will wash out clothes while traveling and/or have clothes cleaned.
2. This leads to the second tip for packing for overseas travel, pack clothes that wash and wear easily, and often also mean that they look better after periods in suitcases as well.
3. Wear clothes multiple days between cleanings.
4. Try to make TWO pair of shoes work, and never more than 3 pair (that includes the pair you are wearing to the flight).
5. Bulkiness is the enemy of packing light. If it is bulky, consider finding a substitute or not bringing it at all
6. A suitcase that is a little oversized, i.e. under-packed when you leave home, is not a bad thing if you are planning on just a few souvenirs. But if you are planning on major shopping, consider buying an inexpensive bag overseas that is sized right for the amount of stuff. Inexpensive bags
My tips for packing for overseas travel include an iPhone app for international travel.
uPackingListFree (Free), uPackingList ($1.99; ability to add quantity, picture, & notes to each item) and Packing Pro ($2.99). For $3 Packing Pro provides a lot to like, and great flexibility. Packing Pro has some nice features, like building a basic list based on male/female, # of days, # of children, destination temperature, international or domestic, wash by hand or machine and whether food prep will be by you or restaurants. Building a list for just me (male), for 2 months, in a mild US destination with washing machines and kitchens produced a list of 94 items. Nicely, 13 of those items were a Pre-Trip To-Do List. I reduced that number by 1/2, and then added back 50 new items.
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