Wanted: Tips for Packing Light
 

I love to pack lightly because it makes me feel free. I'm developing some techniques on my own and am interested in what others do to minimize "stuff" and maximize efficiency.

There are several great threads on the Europe board about this subject.

Here's one, and you can do a search for others if you need to:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34467252

Ever since I've discovered convertible quick-dry pants, and quick-dry tops and undies, I've been able to reduce the amount I pack by about half. I also pack a small hanger-rack to dry clothes. Great inventions!

It's much easier if you are going to just one climate, but that rarely happens - even within the same area.

Small toiletries, 2 pr. of shoes, one basic color (black/navy) and other items that match. Those bags that you can squish out the air. Quick dry clothes and if you keep moving, no one sees the same outfit !

My husband "commutes" to Russia every other month for work. He swears by those "space bag" things that you roll up & the air compresses out. It really does make his clothes take up less room. We got the American Tourister ones from Walmart. They have the carry on size as well as larger ones.

I am going to give the rollup space bags a try. I checked out the packing light thread Jocelyn suggested and found some good ideas there. Re the convertible pants, has anyone seen any in petite sizes? I am pretty much a jeans person and would probably only wear these if I found a pair that fit really great.

The space bags are a must! When I travel abroad I bring them and pack up all my clothes using the bags. This way I can get more room out of my luggage for things I bought. When were were stopped in Paris and had our luggage checked it was so nice for my panties to be in a bag rather then the floor. They loved it to easy to check. I have never traveled without them, you can double your space and divide clean from dirty etc. You will ove them.

My husband travels a lot for business and one of his tricks is to stick to a color scheme - blues, browns, or grays - so that he doesn't need to take multiple pairs of dress shoes and most everything he packs coordinates with the other items.

Basic clothing for one climate is not what takes up the space - I am not a fan of bringing old underwear and throwing it out, for example. It is the other "stuff" - especially shoes. Limiting those is half the battle.

Jayne, I own a few brands of convertible pants. I'm also rather petite, and my Sportif pants fit the most snugly. There are a lot of brands out there to choose from.

Benj, do the space bags work that much better than one or two gallon size zip-locks?

Yes, in his opinion they do.He takes cereal & contact lens stuff in the gallon bags but clothes compress great in the space saver bags. They are a bit bigger than gallon size. He says jeans really compress well.

He was a hard sell so it has to be good for him to like it. We would see the ones on tv but they mostly involved using a vacuum cleaner to suck the air out. Since he wouldn't have that option for the return trip (from Russia) we needed something that you could just "squish" the air out. When he finally tried them he was sorry he had waited so long.

This last trip he noticed that they didn't want to seal as well. All he did was zip it & then squeeze along the zipper top & it stayed sealed & the air was out.

Leave the jeans at home and stick to lighter weight fabric pants.

I pack only black when I travel and because it all matches, I can take less.

For one week I'll take one dress, two pairs of pants, one skirt, two short sleeve shirts, three long sleeve shirts, a sweater, pashmina and scarf, black casual shoes, black mules for dressy, and I'll wear a pair of pants and jacket on the plane. I've done Italy for 7 days with only carry on.

I have travel favorites that I almost always take, like my dress that folds into a tiny square and only needs stockings, a wrap and a pair of earrings to accessorize. Also, wear your most casual pants on the flight out, since you'll be wearing them 'til they're good and dirty, then wear your best pants on the ride home, since they are the ones you needed to keep presentable throughout the trip.

I bought an indestructable, unwrinkleable REVERSIBLE dress from Travelsmith. At first I thought the idea was silly - but it is a pattern on one side and the other side is black. With some accessories, it is amazing how many times I can wear it. Also, washable and does not need ironing. (I sound like an ad!)

I've seen those Travelsmith reversible dresses and thought they looked neat. I bought the mock neck dress a while back and have enjoyed it. I can put in in a ziplock and it comes out great. Wish I had waited -- it's on sale now. I like their clothes but they are generally a little pricey for me.