Over a year before my projected departure for a year-long (or two) trip around South America, I have already done my packing list.
I’m excited, yes, but another reason for my uncharacteristic advanced preparation is that I don’t want to overpack anymore.
I still remember my 70-day solo backpacking trip in Europe when I filled out my 45+10L backpack. It certainly wasn’t fun walking around with such a heavy bag! Plus, if you’re not an organized packer like me, you’d have to unpack everything every time you arrive in your hostel, just to find an item to use for that day.
Of course, I had a reason for bringing so much clothes in Europe; it was winter, so I knew I had to layer up. I had one sweater, one fleece jacket, one windbreaker, one leather jacket, and another thick jacket, among a number of short- and long-sleeved shirts, tights, and pants.
Taken on the day of my departure to Brussels.
I brought all these (and more) to Europe!
All the jackets I brought turned to be not enough for the -15 deg C weather there. Interestingly though, I still ended up not using a lot of the clothes I brought (hint: it’s cold, so you don’t sweat!). If I hadn’t borrowed those winter clothes from Greencycle friends in the Philippines, I would have left them behind in Europe.
Learning a lot from that Eurotrip, I vowed not to overpack anymore, especially for backpacking trips where I have to transfer from one city and country to another in just a matter of days or weeks. It’s highly stressful, not to mention hard on the body.
In preparation for my 2015 South American trip, I have already bought a beautiful Kelty Redwing 40L backpack, ordered through Amazon (thanks, Kin!), to make sure I don’t bring too much stuff with me again. I love my local Montanara brand, but they had gone out of business and I couldn’t find any local backpacks that meet my specifications (front loading, lots of pockets, etc.).
I just bought this beautiful one via Amazon.
To help me pack more efficiently, I will also use packing cubes. These are zippered travel organizers that come in different sizes. Most come in sets of three to four, and are used to pack clothes, underclothing, toiletries, and other miscellaneous items that would otherwise just clutter your bag.
I used to put my things in plastic bags before packing them into my backpack. The plastic bag doesn’t only organize my stuff, it also protects my clothes from getting wet (flashback to the time when my backpack took a dive off the pier in Caramoan and into the water. Ugh. Don’t ask me why it happened because I still couldn’t understand it!).
Packing cubes are great travel organizers.
The plastic bag is also great at filling in all the spaces in my backpack. However, it doesn’t really give me a quick look at what’s inside. So every time I needed something from my bag, I would have to take out everything and look in every plastic bag.
Enter packing cubes–the ultimate travel organizers! Anma Lifestyle sent me a set to try out, and I was skeptical at first. How could these small fabric containers help me with my packing? They looked too small for my clothes.
Organizing your stuff is easy peasy with packing cubes.
I soon learned that you can indeed stuff several days’ worth of clothes in those organizers. I crammed four shirts, 1 microfiber towel, five pairs of underwear, and two pairs of socks in just two cubes. I used the other one to store my Kindle, address book, notebook, camera charger, phone charger, Kindle charger, and several other smaller items.
A fellow travel blogger, seeing me with only one carry-on, asked how I could stuff over a week’s worth of clothes and shoes + laptop + DSLR camera in one backpack. My answer was simple: packing cubes + the willingness to wash clothes while traveling.
ANMA Lifestyle’s set of three packing cubes.
I love Anma’s set; the design is nice, and the material is flexible enough. However, they use a strip of ribbon as a slider in the zipper and it came off really easily. Before I leave for my next trip, I would have to replace it with a string or something else, otherwise zipping it close without a slider would be a pain. I hope their next batch would have something sturdier.
That said, I’m now a fan of packing cubes for life. Who knew accessories like this could make our travels so much more comfortable? I can’t wait to use them again for South America!
How about you? Do you use packing cubes when you travel?
17 Comments. Leave new
I always use packing cubes in my travels. When I go to an extended camp and travel with a backpack, I also use those plastic compression bags. You pack your clothes inside the bag, roll them up, and all the air comes out. It is a space saver! They are, normally, at Daiso Stores.
I will arrive in the P’Pines on the 15th of Jan. with no plan, que sera sera. I’m carrying a Grid-IT organizer for my electronics, I love it. I use ziplocks for my clothes, saves a lot of space.
Hey Max. I have some compression bags. I’ll try using that over the holidays, if not, I’ll also try ziplocks. I’ve used those in my climbs before, never thought of using it for my travels. Thanks for reminding!
Yup those cubes whatever brand/size really are useful things. Plus when you’re not using them, they fold away to practically nothing and slip into nooks and crannies. Very helpful for keeping everything organised as well.
Yixiong
We love packing cuddles! It is very useful, especially when organising outfits for various sectors of a trip – typically only two to three cubes are needed at each “base” so the rest of the luggage remain undisturbed.
Great article.
Ling Tan
I used packing cubes during our trip to Europe this year and I will never travel without them. It’s amazing how much you can fit in them. We’re headed back to SA too in late 2015 – but will only be gone 6-8 weeks. Looking forward to it!
Hi Dana! Hope we can meet up somewhere in SA!
Aleah, get a menstrual cup and you won’t need all those pads (maybe a small pack of 5 for emergencies).
Sharon, I’ve seen those things and they look so weird! I’d rather use tampons than those cups hahahha
new look si blog ah 🙂 (napadaan lang)
Thanks for dropping by, Jeffrey hehe
omg. you heading to SA next year? when? im heading there too end of year till next mid jan 2015.
Hi Karen. I’m leaving mid-year 2015 and will be going around there for a year or more. 🙂 Less than 1 month is too quick for such an expensive trip!
Though we don’t have any trips to anticipate, but Packing cubes would be a must haves for us. Honestly we’re still newbie in packing.
Any idea where I could get this one Aleah?
I’m not new to packing but I must say, I’m glad I got to try this out. I won’t travel without a set of cubes again hehe I linked to Anma’s page somewhere in the text. You can look at their products there. They have some nice travel purses as well. That said, you can also find packing cubes everywhere, esp in travel stores.
Love packing cubes! I get off on organization.
Yay to an organized baggage! I’ll buy more of these haha