#1) Always Travel Light
Travel light especially if you are traveling alone or if you plan to do lots of shopping. This is from experience because when I went to Australia last year, I packed so many things there that I had a hard time packing in my shopping at the end of the day. Alright, partly because I didn't expect that I will buy so many things. I thought that stuff in Australia are quite costly but I was wrong. Totally wrong! They are surprisingly affordable!! Especially at Coles and Kmart, and other souvenir places.
#2) Bring Lightweight Clothes
Lightweight clothes take up less space and weight,unless if you are going to cold countries.
#3) Bring Versatile Clothing
Bring clothes that allows you to create more than one look, so you bring less. Don't worry that you have not brought enough clothes because you can always wash and re-wear them if they turned smelly or dirty. If you are unable to do your laundry, just do your shopping and get new ones!
I am going to show you how you can create multiple looks for a week's holiday at the end of this post. There will be 3 sets of clothes and each set consists of the following:
3-4 tops
1 skirt
2-3 bottoms
1 dress/romber
2 outerwear
2 footwear
1-2 accessories
For footwear, stick to neutral colours like black, white, nude, brown or metallic because these colours matches with anything. I always like to bring just a pair of boots and sandals. If I am going somewhere more classy, I would add in a pair of heels. You may want to mix and match your clothes and take photos beforehand so you wouldn't have to think of what to wear everyday.
#4) Do a Packing List
List down the items that you need to bring along. Prioritize the items. When you are not sure whether or not to put something on the list, ask yourself if you really need it and if the item can be easily bought along. If not, leave it out. Avoid last minute packing as there is a tendency of you putting in items that you think you need them and leaving out other more important items. With a packing list, it also prevents you from overpacking.
#5) Downsize Everything
Transfer the required toiletries into travel containers if they are huge and bulky. Downsize other items as much as you can, such as bringing a microfiber bath towel as it's thin and fast-drying, and a collapsible bottle instead of a plastic bottle.
#6) Compartmentalize Your Items
Compartmentalizing your items makes your luggage looks neat and organized, making it an ease to find things. Group your items in categories and use packing cubes, zipped bags or ziploc bags to arrange your items, and it is a great way to keep everything in place.
Place creams in ziploc bags to prevent any potential spillage from staining anything, before you put them into your toiletries bag. You may also want to place a piece of cling wrap over the mouth of your toiletries before screwing the cap on. Place garments in waterproof bags to prevent them from getting wet in the case of raining, especially if you are using a fabric luggage. Place your jewelries, accessories and other small items together in a small bag.
I always like to compartmentalize my items into the following categories:
Cosmetics: cosmetics, make-up remover, cotton bud swaps, comb, scissors, plasters, hair accessories.
Toiletries: cleanser, body lotion, hand cream, shampoo, body soap, conditioner, toothpaste, toothbrush, detergent, insect bite cream, razor.
Inner wear: socks, bra, undies, sleepwear, pantyliners, safety shorts, bath towel.
Clothes
Footwear
Electronics: chargers, USB ports, adapter, extension cord.
Hair: hair dryer, straightener, hair spray, heat protector spray.
#7) Separate Dirty Clothes
If you do not intend to do your laundry during the trip, it is always advisable to separate out your dirty clothes. It is best to place them in waterproof and odorless bags, you wouldn't want them to stink up your whole luggage. Trust me, normal plastic bags do not work. If you really do not have or could not find any of these odorless bags, put them in large ziploc bags.
#8) Bring Only the Required Cosmetics
Go through your make-up routine and bring only what you need. You do not have to bring everything. I usually prefer to put on light make-up and the same make-up for the entire trip so I wouldn't have to bring so many cosmetics. The main priority is to feel comfortable. This is what I usually bring along:
Foundation | Blush and Bronzer Set | Concealer | Black Eyelash Glue | Eyeliner | Mascara - volume | Mascara - long | Falsies | 2 Lip Colours - usually nude and light pink
#9) Leave Some Room
It is advisable to save at least 20% of your luggage space for shopping. But I like to leave at least 50% of my luggage empty with an additional empty carry-on luggage. If you are someone who loves shopping like me, I would suggest filling up just a quarter of your luggage.
As I mentioned earlier, I had a hard time fitting in all my shopping hauls during my Australia trip. I actually went with a 50% filled luggage. But because I bought 2 pairs of boots and that took up a quarter of the luggage, I have to squeeze all my non-food shopping items in the remaining quarter. My carry-on luggage is all filled with food items. And because I brought a hard cover luggage, there is no way to expand it any further. So lesson learnt, use expandable fabric luggage especially if you intend to do lots of shopping. Save the hard cover ones for non-holiday trips like... I don't know? Voluntary work?
#10) Do Your Laundry
It is always good to do your laundry, especially if you are traveling for more than a week. Do it during the trip so you wouldn't have to worry about that pile of dirty laundry after you returned home. Washing and re-wearing your clothes helps to reduce the number of pieces you need to bring and thus creating more luggage space. Just remember to bring detergent along or you can always grab some at local stores.
There are so many ways that you can group your clothes together to form endless number of looks! Alright, so I have grouped the clothing into 3 sets as mentioned in #3, and I'm going to show you how you can easily mix and match them into 8 different outfits for each set of clothes.
Set A: Pink Layered Blouse, Black Tee, White Tee, Black Cardigan, White Floral Dress, Denim Studded Shorts, Denim Torn Shorts, Red Polka Dot Long Cardigan, Owl Metal Necklace, Black Skirt, Red Cherry Shawl, Black Sandals with Pearls, Black Laced Boots.
Set B: Maroon Celine Paris Tee, Denim Jacket, Black Jeggings, Leopard Shawl, Gray Long Cardigan, Black Dress, Gold Leaf Necklace, Brown Leather Sandals, Black Skirt with Daisies, Brown Shorts, Thin Brown Leather Belt, White Loafers, White Chiffon Blouse.
Set C: Oversize Striped Blouse, White Knitted Cardigan, Brown Boots, Olive Green Skirt, White Cropped Tee, White Sunflower Shorts, Boy Leopard Snapback Cap, White Wooden Heel Sandals, Black Blouse, Polka Dot Romber, Torn Boyfriend Jeans, Navy Long Cardigan.
