The best way to pack a suitcase is by using a bit of care and thought about what your immediate needs are going to be when you first open your suitcase after your arrival at your destination.
Sounds a bit obvious, doesn’t it? If you have ever lived with a “panic packer” then you will know precisely what I mean. A panic packer is one of those people who leave packing their suitcase until fifteen minutes before departure from the house and then they just throw anything in. Actually, once it stops being annoying it’s funny. The way they then have to throw everything out of the suitcase because they packed what they first needed first which means it ended up in the bottom of the suitcase. And if the material is crushable, then the next lot of panic is to find an iron.
Those kinds of packers are the direct opposite of a “petite packer”. A petite packer is one of those people who roll everything up into the smallest possible size ever so carefully, and then squeeze it between items to either stop rattling or damage to breakable items. The great Houdini would have been proud of them.
Then we get the “weight-packers”. These are the packers who drive you nuts by asking which the heavier item is; the dress or the coat. I mean surely they can answer that question better than anyone else when they have both items hanging off their arms? These weight packers aren’t too bad to have around if you need a suitcase packed. At least your things are much easier to find at the destination place and usually arrive in a pretty good condition.
The heavier items being on the bottom of the case means that the lighter ones are on top and if you arrive at your destination at night, the first thing one usually looks for are night clothes.
But the way I like to pack and have all my clothes in wearable condition is quite simple really. Over the years I have done a lot of traveling and I can sure tell some hairy yarns about how suitcases travel. The first thing you as a packer have to be aware of is that no matter which way you pack, there is a very good chance that your suitcase may not even arrive at your destination or at the same time you do. So never put anything into your suitcase that you aren’t prepared to lose.
My packing method is similar to a well-run garden nursery where you have the bigger bins for the bigger gravel or stones and the smaller bins for the lighter items. I am a folder and not a scruncher. When I say folder, I don’t screw everything into the smallest size possible but I do keep the same fold up system as in my bedroom drawers.
I always put the big bulkier items at the bottom. Then I layer those with my underwear top left, stockings in the centre left and sleepwear bottom left; shirts top right, shorts/skirts/slacks bottom right, jumpers and cardigans centre top. Shoes are cleaned and dusted, placed toe inside heel and put on the inside top of the suitcase along with a big plastic bag for dirty laundry.
Packing a suitcase is a personal preference but the best way for me to pack my suitcase is in using an organized system born from experience.
