Are you vacation ready? Pack light & wise this summer 2018

Many times we miss flights because of extra luggage. When you have too much luggage to haul around the vacation becomes a pain rather than fun. Traveling with kids and luggage is a difficulty on parents can understand. Adding to all these troubles is the fear of lost baggage at airports. So our aim here is how to keep the travel luggage minimal so that we travel with one cabin luggage or check-in luggage.

Image Redefined will try to address this particular concern of Packing smartly for your next vacation in this blog. Be it a flight journey or a train journey, we shall help you in your decision making and choice of dresses and accessories to keep your luggage minimal.

Pack only the Essentials

Stick to the basics of packing only the minimal requirements when traveling. Unless it is a health concern I would never suggest packing food for the trip. Keep your meds but avoid general food in the luggage.

So as a rule of thumb make a checklist of most essential things you need for a particular trip like the following

1. X no of Outfits (note outfits and not dresses, discussed in details below)

2. Y pairs of innerwear

3. Don’t forget your Denim jacket so to add it up as a layer when temperature changes in the flight. You can also wear it on a dress which you will feel is slightly skimpy otherwise.
4. Carry Scarves or Stoles if you are not traveling at a very hot place, it surely adds up the to the style quotient

5. 1 pair of sunglasses

6. Flippers & Casual shoes, 1 pair each

7. Minimized grooming Kit, Make up kit

8. Med box minimized

9. Charging equipment, the gadget you cannot do without

similarly others

You will need to prioritize them in an ordered list and then start packing the items with the highest priority. If you still have space when you are done with your barest minimum essentials you can think of other items.

Little Items add up to become a mountain to lug

Small items are often a tricky choice. We have this feeling that how much space will this little sunglass consume. We end up packing 3-4 different ones when we hardly use one or two of them and rest go untouched the entire trip.

Similarly, one pair of Sandals and one pair of multipurpose shoes is enough. You will really not need 5 different pairs of shoes and 3 sunglasses and 5 belts. Take only the best and the most versatile item among your choices that can solve multiple purposes and save space.

The Little Ganpati Ji, that your mother gave you does not need to be forced to travel with you physically. He is very much present with you all the time, so let his idol rest in its place while you travel light.

How to plan your travel outfits? Purposeful and Minimal clothing during vacations

The question is do I need that gorgeous heavy dinner gown during my vacation? The answer is NO, a big fat NO. Vacations are occasions where you need to unwind and unload. So do not carry heavy dresses unless you are attending a marriage and cannot do without the dress you purchased specifically for the occasion.

When you are traveling you will still need multiple outfits. For an average 4-5 day vacation you will need about 10-14 outfits. But that never means 10-14 dressers or pairs of clothing. You can mix and match 6 different garments to make 12-20 different types of outfits. So planning your outfits ahead of your travel is very important.

Learn about the activities you will be engaging in during the vacation. Since this is summer time most of us will be encountering a lot of water so plan what outfits can be teamed up for water activities. Seriously 3 swimsuits are not required. You can even do with NO swimsuit and combine a stole with innerwear to make a cute and fashionable swimwear.

Take along fewer bottoms in neutral colors that can be mixed with almost anything. Take more tops than bottoms, especially those that are versatile and can be worn in different situations. A floral print shirt over a striped t-shirt works like a vest and can also be worn single with sleeves rolled up. Don’t carry very light colors they get dirty fast.

One quick tip if you are having problems with limiting your outfits is sticking to one or two color theme. I used Blue and Yellow on my last trip and it was noticed better and appreciated by my friends and family more.

Plan your day wise look and the places you will visit, accordingly pack your clothes and look at repeating them by either adding scarf, jacket or wearing it differently. Always carry one pair extra so even it rains etc, you are sorted.

Utilize the space within the space, get creative with your travel packing

Here are some quick tips to save space and limit your baggage to one check-in baggage and a handbag.

1. Roll your clothes to save space, avoid creasing and need for ironing them again at your hotel. It also makes clothes easy to find and retrieve from the baggage.
2. Put your rings, necklaces and little accessories in the sunglass case.
3. Roll the socks and stuff them into your shoes.
4. Takes small packs of everything possible like tooth-paste, sunscreen etc.
5. If you like reading, put your choices on your Kindle. It could be even better if you can leave the Kindle back and use the PDF / Kindle version on your Phone / Laptop.
6. Buy an all-purpose wash that can act as shampoo, body wash & hand wash.

Similarly, look around and find more creative ways of saving space in your baggage.

Make the best use of your handbag

Normally I prefer two pieces of luggage when I travel. One medium strolley and one handbag that I can sling on. Decide what you need during the travel time and put those into the handbag. Very often the handbag is not weighed at Airport and is excluded in our luggage limit. So make the best use of that.

You can put your real purse in the handbag as well. It keeps your hands free and is very useful if you are traveling with infants or toddlers.