i am getting ready to start packing for a 2 week trip; methodically planning my clothes.My DH hasn’t given any thought to his packing, nor will he until a couple days before. We typically each have our own suitcase & a carryon with a couple days of clothing. I started thinking about reading somewhere that you should pack your suitcase 1/2 his & 1/2 here in case 1 gets delayed. That just seems to be too much thinking involved. So, just curious what other Fodorites do?

We mostly each pack our own, though there are some joint items that go in either. However, I never, ever check luggage on the way to my destination (I check bags on the way home, though) so much smaller chance of luggage getting lost. I would insist on doing the 1/2 and 1/2 thing, though, if we needed to check bags on the outward leg of the trip.

I travel solo... so I'm on my own.

Well said.

We each have our own bag, and check them. Never lost a bag.
Couldn't do half and half as he packs way more stuff than I do.
My camera gear takes up my carry-on so I always check a bag.

Sometimes we check bags and other times we don't. we usually take two carry-on sized spinners and I use cloth packing cubes. Since we are both men and wear basically the same sizes except for trousers we mix clothes in both suitcases.
Last year we had one of the two bags delayed for four hours but we managed without problems.

Both our bags arrived in Istanbul 2 days after we did some years ago. Since then I have always had a spare t shirt and underwear in cabin bag. (My carry on is generally full with camera, ipad, and compressed down jacket.)
I couldn't bear to share a bag, we have 2 small ones rather than a larger one. We would be bickering before we left if we had to share

We usually have separate suitcases, but we both put underwear and some clothes in our backpack, so that we are not without anything should one suitcase get lost or delayed.

Shared once, never again! We used to put one outfit in the other's suitcase, just in case. Now we take an take an extra outfit in our own carryon. I share with no one!

Never, you pack it you carry it is our motto. We never check just carry on.

We both pack separately, hand carrying the clothing items that would be most difficult to replace in case a checked bag is lost or delayed (for me that would be a swim suit and bras and one pair of good walking shoes).

I love the ebag cubes - I use them essentially as portable drawers, never completely unpacking or repacking. Everything stays organized and neatly folded in its own space. I got some cubes for my husband, and his stuff is still as jumbled as ever. I can’t even imagine sharing a suitcase with him!

We we are on a four-week trip in France right now, and packing and unpacking has been a breeze for me. Not so much for Mr. Sloppy Packer, though.

I have known some same sex couples who are the same size and wear each other's clothes constantly. No problem for them!

I get the stuff I need out, and she packs it. We usually travel light, and don't take what we don't need.

Got a 15 night cruise coming up shortly, which can be a bit more of a challenge in what to take. But we'll be smart casual every evening, and not carting a DJ or posh dress.

And the cook does the clothes washing every night, which helps keep the luggage wight down.

Are you sure you want the soup?

"The COOK does the clothes washing ----". Boy, are you living in the last century, LancasterLad!!!!!!!!!! My lovely wife would have my guts for garters and I'd be sleeping on the couch for a year if I referred to her that way!

I pack both suitcases, with the allocation of items based on efficiency in packing and in using since we usually live out of our suitcases rather than emptying them out.

As a solo traveler, I've often envied those couples who can allocate items across bags. So I'm curious -- for those who have said they would never do so, or never again do so, why? What problems have you encountered?

For one kja, if I take something from the suitcase my wife will scream that I wrinkled her stuff. Then I would not find my stuff anymore anyway.
As for you pack you carry, my wife is not my cook nor my laundrywasher but I carry her luggage.
Well she chooks much better than me though.

We share one small suitcase and each carry a cross-body bag. Mine always seems to have a lot more stuff in it than his, though.

I do all the packing, as I'm a packing wizard, and my husband is clueless about packing. (He brought the wrong suit to our wedding, and realized two hours before the ceremony that it was much too small. He left the jacket open and kept the trousers closed with the belt.) Before we got married, his housekeeper packed his suitcase, so I guess she's to blame for the suit.

Our typical luggage configuration would be one suitcase, one under-seat carry-on, one small backpack and one large shoulder bag. The suitcase we usually take is also carry-on size, but we usually check it.

For packing efficiency, I mix things in all of the bags. The suitcase is filled with clothing. (My wizardry involves getting two weeks of clothing for two people into a single rolly carry-on suitcase. My daughter says it's like the little clown car at the circus.)The smaller under-seat bag (which is also a rolly) contains shoes and toiletries (all liquids under 100ml). The backpack contains electronics, camera(s) chargers, umbrellas (very small), and depending on the season, wind-and-water-resistant jackets (unlined). The large shoulder bag contains everything we might need while on the plane. I always put the necessities for one night in one of the carry-on items, whichever has enough room. I almost never wash anything when traveling; I've only washed things in an emergency. The things I need to change every day (socks, underwear) take up very little room and can be crammed into little spaces. I stuff some of it, in little bags, into the shoes, which serves the double purpose of keeping the shape of the shoes.

Unless we're just staying one night in a place, I unpack everything. My wizard-y system requires starting from scratch, so I empty the bag on arrival. If I'm staying somewhere just one night, I put a night's worth of clothing and toiletries in one of the other bags.

We're going to the US in a few weeks, where we need to be somewhat dressed up one night. I also have a year's worth of gifts for my family, since none of them came to Italy at all this year. I'll put most of the gifts in the suitcase along with whatever else I can cram in; this will have to be checked because some of the gifts are liquid. The shoes, as usual, will go in the under-seat bag. Much of our clothing will be in a very small lightweight garment bag. It will not arise to my usual levels of efficiency, but it can't be helped.