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I found it...."the 7 DAY SUITCASE"

Message: Hi everyone, I found the email that sheila sent me about the "7 DAY SUITCASE". The premise was that you took enough for 7 days, more would be too much, but it would be enough that you could live for weeks by doing laundry occasionally. she perfected this over the years but said she knew it really worked when she went on a 6 month tour of europe after her and her husband retired. the following grid and list is for a woman, but it can easily be altered for a man. 7 DAY SUITCASE GRID s s sleep option s s o h 6undies 4 bras o h c o pants1 shirt1 c o k e pants2 shirt2 k e slip pants3 shirt3 hose s s pants4 shirt4 s s o h pants5 shirt5 o h c o skirt1 shirt6 c o k e skirt2 shirt7 k e sweater1 sweater 2 umbrella small handbag Scarves gloves 1 dress and parachute type duffle bag are placed flat on top of everything. Packing grid for American Tourister 27-inch Upright(walmart-approx. $60). Has deep outside lockable pockets also. If you use the 21 inch, pack umbrella and handbag etc in pockets outside. Grids are about 2 inches in each block. Choose pants and shirts that will go with at least 3 other pieces to form 3 outfits. Recommend that at least 2 pants and 1 skirt and 1 shirt are black. (I took a black velvet empire waist dress that had gold button all up and down, reaches below midcalf for formal dinners with matching velvet pumps. This could be worn as a duster over shirt and pants also). I also take a long silky white or cream shirt with lace at cuffs and collar that could be worn with any skirt or pants for evening. Main thing is to make everything meet the 3 outfit rule. Include a heavy duty small duffle bag that can be spread flat on top of everything. This can be used to hold purchases during your trip. Iron everything well, then hang and let dry and cool from steam for 24 hours. (if you fold and put in suitcase right after ironing the heat will cause fold wrinkles to set). Lay everything flat on bed and fold longways in half. Then roll before putting in suitcase with the exception of dress. For the dress fold in half/wrap in paper or dry cleaner plastic and place neatly on top of everything after you have finished packing. In warmer weather, replace sweaters and gloves with summer stuff like swimsuits and shorts. Put socks in shoes and wrap in plastic. There is room for one more pair of shoes, one at each end if necessary. If your suitcase has pockets on the outside, put emergency kit* and laundry detergent**, both in ziplock bags, in those pockets rather than inside. CONT

cont If you will be stationary in one hotel for 4-7 days, when you arrive take everything out and shake and hang to let wrinkles out or hang in bathroom for 10 minutes at full steam shower then shake smooth, then hang in closet. If you are moving from place to place, only take out what you need and clean and air the days clothes overnight then roll and place back in suitcase the next morning. The key to less wrinkles, if you do not unpack, is not to disrupt the suitcase. If you are on the go from town to town and you like your suitcase to stay organized, you can make a grid that fits in the suitcase with thin cardboard seperators. Take a box or piece of cardboard and cut out a 4 inch wide strip the length of your suitcase. For as many sections as you need cut out pieces of cardboard the width of your suitcase less 4 inches. Put slits in the middle of each section and fit equal distances apart over the long piece of cardboard. Place grid in your suitcase and use this to keep your items separate. Finally in a small carryon bag such as a tote bag take the following: 3 or 4 paperbacks, camera, Film, 1 shirt, 1 sleepwear, 1 underwear, makeup kit***, jewelry, hotel or trip confirmation papers, emergency papers, purse, 1 wash cloth, snacks. Using a tote bag instead of a formal carryon suitcase allows you to also switch this and use this during the day out sightseeing. Once you pick up your suitcase after the flight, you can pack most of this stuff in the suitcase. Having these items will get you thru the first day if something happens to you suitcase. *Emergency kit-include the following in a medium size ziplock bag; 1 nail clippers, 1 nail file, small scissors, tweezers, bandaids, neosporin, asipirin or tylenol, benedryl capsules, and one small travel sewing kit with needles. Throw away all packaging. **Laundry detergent-put 3 cups of powder laundry detergent and packets of woolite and Shout stain remover in a medium size ziplock. Make sure to put this OUTSIDE in a pocket of your suitcase. This will get you thru about 2-3 weeks. ***Makeup Kit-foundation, powder compact with mirror, eyeshadow and blush kit (one of those flat with multi colors) , mascara, 2-3 lipsticks, eye pencil, 2 nail polish, one small travel nail polish sponge remover (found in travel size). Travel size q-tips and cotton squares, toothbrush, toothpaste, hairbrushes (1 metal covered round one), 4 or 5 quick felt hair rollers, hairspray, small bottle perfume, deoderant. this ends the original instructions.

cont my observations in using this method: You do not need a power converter, curling iron, or hair dryer. Most hotels have hair dryers. As for curling iron, a medium round metal covered brush will do the same thing when heated with the dryer. Dry hair then place quick felt rollers in hair and spray with hair spray. Let cool. By doing this you do not have to worry about converters for different countries. The above sounds like a lot but it really isn’t and gives you enough variety but structure to what you are bringing. I have tried the minimal approach (example: 3 pants 4 or 5 shirts etc) and it just didn’t work for more than a week. I did not have enough variety to carry over for more than those few days much less for 2 or more weeks. I also found the 21 inch pullman just wasn’t enough room and didn’t leave enough room for purchases until I could send them home. The 26 or 27 inch worked. I used the cardboard grid when I was on an escorted tour for 16 day where we were changing hotels every day or two and boy did it work. I hated getting my suitcase all in a mess and was constantly redoing it. The grid allowed me to keep everything in its place. The seperators are only about 2 inches apart and a piece of clothing rolled fit nicely.

This sounds great I think but I guess I am dumb, I don't understand the grid thing and all the letters beside the items. Please explain to this dummy. I am a bad packer

Hi In tropical places, hang part used clothes in the sun for a couple of hours to refresh them. peter

hi annissa, i know it looks funny, but the letters up and down beside the rows of shirts and pants are socks in shoes. place a shoe with a pair of socks inside it on either side of the rows of rolled pants and shirts. A pair of shoes would fit on each side of the suitcase. 1 pair walking shoe, 1 flat pair of trousers shoes, and 1 pair dress shoes. option for one more pair if clothes are light. you would be wearing one of these on the plane. s s o h c o k e if you read further it talks about the clothes being rolled.

duh! it would help if i included the original list of clothing items. 5-6 pairs of pants (2 knit/stretch,2 cotton/polyster, 1 dress, 1 jean) 7 shirts 2 skirts 1 dress 3 shoes(1 walking, 1 flat(black), 1 dress) 2 sleepshirt or pj's 7 undies 4 bras 1 slip 2 hose 3 socks(black, white, 1 color) 2 trouser socks 1 umbrella 1 small black evening bag optional 2 sweaters, scarves, gloves (cool weather) or 2 pair shorts and 2 swimsuits(warm)